The relationship between Thai politicians and civil servants according to the bureaucracy theory

Abstract

Stylizing the relationship between government officials and Thai politicians under Weber’s theory of bureaucracy, that government officials are agents and politics are agents, may not be correct in the context of the Thai system. Even though Thai politicians have an executive role ,in terms of command in the bureaucracy, they do not have absolute power. Even the Thaksin government, which enjoyed unprecedented political influence, was constrained in its attempts to control the Thai bureaucratic state. On the other hand, Thai civil servants usually act as agents.  Some venture into the realm of principals. This causes tension in the relationship between Thai politicians and civil servants- interaction in cooperation and representation. The agents in the Thai civil service recruitment system are still incomplete according to the bureaucracy theory.