"Pakorn" reveals plans to reform the civil service system, including dissolving 11,667 agencies and aiming to cut recurring expenses to 30% within 8 years.

Pakorn revealed plans to reform the civil service system, including dissolving 11,667 agencies, coupled with freezing staffing levels, eliminating unnecessary positions, and ceasing the creation of new agencies. The goal is to reduce recurring expenses to 30% within eight years.

On August 11, 2569, Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilapraphan revealed the guidelines for reforming the public sector human resource management system. He stated that this was in line with the government's policy statement to Parliament, aimed at addressing the country's fiscal structure. Currently, over 70% of the budget is for recurring expenses, leaving limited funds for investment in national development. Therefore, the government recognizes the need to restructure the public sector workforce and agencies to increase efficiency.

Mr. Pakorn stated that the Cabinet has approved the principles for managing public sector human resources, setting the current staffing level as the maximum limit and promoting the sharing of human resources between agencies to ensure efficient performance and contribute to long-term national development.

Regarding workforce restructuring, unnecessary positions will be reviewed and eliminated, including academic and general positions. Positions in non-essential programs will also be reduced. It is confirmed that this will not affect other essential positions. At the same time, the roles and responsibilities of each agency will be modernized, and digital technology will be integrated to increase efficiency in work and public service. This goes beyond simply using computers for document printing; it's about elevating government services to a digital format.

Regarding the restructuring of government agencies, Mr. Pakorn stated that the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) has proposed ceasing the establishment of additional central government agencies in the regions from August 11, 2569 onwards. Existing agencies will be reviewed and gradually dissolved to avoid disrupting public services. Currently, there are approximately 10,000 such agencies, which will be gradually reduced over the long term.

Mr. Pakorn acknowledged that the impact of the reduction in agencies and personnel would not be clearly reflected in the budget burden in the first 1-2 years, but would have a long-term effect coupled with the introduction of technology to improve the efficiency of government operations. He emphasized that the key principle of modern public administration is to shift the role of the state from a "controller" to a "facilitator" for the public, providing services efficiently and at the lowest possible cost.

In terms of workforce management, the government aims to review the approximately 30,000 existing vacancies in order to reduce the number as necessary. Each agency will be required to assess its mission and submit a plan to the Civil Service Commission before a comprehensive action plan is developed.

Mr. Pakorn stated that the government aims to reduce the proportion of recurring expenditures from the current approximately 70% of the total budget to no more than 30% in order to increase the proportion of investment spending and create fiscal sustainability. Although the implementation will not be completed within the government's four-year term, it is expected to take approximately eight years to achieve the goal. He emphasized that if reforms are not started today, the fiscal burden will fall on future generations.

The government also aims to restructure public sector agencies by reducing the number of central and regional agencies by 10% by 2027, from the current 1,657 central agencies, 2,193 regional agencies, and 7,817 regional agencies. This will be coupled with a slowdown in the establishment of new agencies and continued efforts to improve public sector efficiency through four main approaches: reviewing work processes, leveraging digital technology to enhance service delivery, integrating responsibilities between agencies, and transferring appropriate tasks to local administrative organizations or other sectors to reduce duplication and increase the efficiency of public administration in the long term.

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