King Prajadhipok’s Institute Journal

Selective Application of Legal Principles in Political Cases:

2026-04-18T15:15:58+07:00

This article examines the phenomenon of abusive judicial review in Thai constitutional law by applying the theoretical framework developed by Rosalind Dixon and David Landau to analyze the conduct of the Thai Constitutional Court in major political cases between 2007 and 2020.

The central research question investigates whether Thailand’s system of judicial review is susceptible to abusive deployment under the Landau–Dixon framework, and to what extent the Thai legal system provides adequate institutional safeguards to mitigate such risks. The study adopts a qualitative legal research methodology, combining doctrinal analysis with case-based analysis. Six Constitutional Court decisions are selected: five target cases—the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai Party (2007), People Power Party (2008), the constitutional amendment ruling (2012), Thai Raksa Chart Party (2019), and Future Forward Party (2020)—and one control case, the Democrat Party ruling (2010).

The analytical framework operates on two levels. At the macro level, four abusive indicators derived from Landau and Dixon are applied: court capture, procedural irregularities, distorted reasoning, and selective application of legal principles. At the micro level, four comparative doctrinal criteria are employed: interpretative methodology, standard of proof, scope of judicial discretion, and impact on the democratic minimum core.

The findings reveal a consistent structural pattern across the study period. The Thai Constitutional Court demonstrates a tendency to apply more permissive evidentiary standards and expansive interpretative approaches in target cases involving majority-aligned political parties, while imposing stricter standards and heightened burdens of proof in the control case. This doctrinal asymmetry indicates a form of ideological capture rather than overt institutional court-packing.

The article advances the “Thai Model of Abusive Judicial Review,” consisting of three structural components: ideological capture and systematic selective application of legal principles. The article concludes with policy recommendations aimed at restructuring the judicial selection process and establishing a robust framework for reason-based accountability, thereby strengthening institutional checks on judicial power in alignment with democratic and rule-of-law principles.

The Role of Local Government Organizations in Building Grassroots Democracy:

2026-05-06T15:13:36+07:00

This academic article analyzes the role of Thai local government organizations in building grassroots democracy through three strands of new institutionalism: historical institutionalism, sociological institutionalism, and rational choice institutionalism. Rather than treating local governments merely as administrative units, the article considers how local institutions shape democratic practices and civic life at the community level. Historical institutionalism helps explain path dependency and institutional continuity; sociological institutionalism illuminates the influence of informal norms, values, and political culture; and rational choice institutionalism clarifies the incentive structures that shape the behavior of local actors. The synthesis reveals that Thai local government organizations contribute to grassroots democracy by creating spaces for citizens to engage in public affairs, developing community social capital, enabling citizens to recognize that their participation can influence public decisions, and sustaining local institutional arrangements that allow democratic culture to accumulate over time. These roles are conditioned by the relationship between formal rules and informal norms, the presence of mechanisms that allow citizens to experience the consequences of participation, the stock of community social capital, and policy continuity across administrative terms. The article proposes that Thai local governments should be strengthened through institutional reforms that reshape local incentives, the consolidation of civic participation mechanisms in both physical and digital spaces, and partnerships between local government organizations and educational institutions so that democratic learning among children and youth can be meaningfully connected to local governance processes.

Toward a New Equilibrium in Spatial Governance:

2026-04-10T13:31:28+07:00

This article develops policy recommendations for establishing a “new equilibrium” in area-based management through the institutional design of municipal authority aligned with spatial capacity. It interrogates institutional misalignment and structural rigidity in the governance of large and rapidly growing cities, while drawing on comparative insights from asymmetric decentralization in selected foreign contexts. The analysis demonstrates that a crisis of institutional misalignment—embedded in a symmetric, uniformity-driven paradigm—has produced a decoupling between formal authority and functional responsibilities. This decoupling has, in turn, eroded municipal problem-solving capacity and constrained the ability of local governments to address the complexities of large-scale urban governance. Comparative evidence from Japan and France indicates that a shift toward asymmetric decentralization constitutes a viable institutional response, enabling more differentiated, capacity-sensitive governance arrangements that better align authority with context-specific demands in metropolitan areas. Building on these findings, the article advances two policy propositions to reconfigure state–municipal relations and restore institutional equilibrium: (1) the adoption of capacity-based, negotiated delegation agreements to institutionalize a contractual mode of intergovernmental relations; and (2) the stratification of municipal status based on spatial capacity through the designation of “metropolitan municipalities” with differentiated authority.

Past, Wicked, Future: Using Collaborative Governance and Ethics to Prevent Local Government Organization Corruption in Thailand

2026-05-25T13:08:46+07:00

This academic article analyzes the role of good governance in preventing corruption in local government organizations of Thailand. Corruption is not individual official behavior, but a product of distorted power structures shaped by centralization, political intervention, and an ingrained patronage culture. Decentralizing by delegating power from central to local government organizations seemingly enhances local administration independence, but the effective absence of a strictly balanced oversight mechanism design leads to a power gap. This permits local-level authority to be instrumentalized for seeking illicit benefits rather than a public interest mechanism. Consequently, local government organizations facing structural risk factors may fall into a vicious cycle of exercising power in a manner devoid of good governance principles. Therefore, a new approach to designing local administration mechanisms linked to good governance is proposed in a multi-sectoral power sharing framework. State-citizen interactions are restructured in an equivalent power-sharing partnership between public, private, and civil society for policymaking, resolutions, and oversight. Transitioning from a controlling state to one coordinating the public interest builds a foundation for local democracy that is effective, transparent, and engaged with the people.

Parallel Dynamics from Local Communities to Parliament:

2026-04-02T14:36:40+07:00

This article employs an interpretive qualitative research methodology with three primary objectives: (1) to analyze the operational interaction mechanisms between grassroots civil society organizations (CSOs) and political actors in driving peace policy proposals from the Southern Border Provinces into the parliament; (2) to examine the negotiation dynamics, the role of the legislative institution as a pressure-reducing mechanism, and the challenges encountered under structural security constraints; and (3) to synthesize a parallel dynamics model. Data were gathered through a triangulation method encompassing in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and public forums, drawing from a purposive sample of 20 key informants, evenly divided between 10 political actors (Members of Parliament and Senators) and 10 civil society actors. The data were systematically analyzed using thematic analysis.

The research findings reveal that both sectors exhibit highly fluid agency in mobilizing peace policies through their respective dedicated channels. Grassroots civil society acts as a "space opener and policy initiator from below," operating through five core actions: creating alternative public spheres across more than 200 listening forums, drafting alternative policy proposals, fostering public awareness, building multi-level network alliances, and implementing cross-cultural humanitarian actions between Buddhist and Malay-Muslim communities. Concurrently, political actors and the legislative institution function as "policy amenders and transmitters." Crucially, they simultaneously serve as a "structural safety-valve" that mitigates and transforms sharp out-of-system conflicts into formalized institutional processes through representative democratic mechanisms and diverse political party strategies. The success of this translation depends heavily on party ideologies, the preservation of ethnic and religious constituencies, and personal networks.

Furthermore, this study introduces the “Parallel Dynamics Model” to conceptualize policy alignment, which comprises three interconnected mechanisms: (1) the information resource transmission and transformation mechanism, which channels out-of-system conflicts and identity-driven collective emotions into peaceful institutional deliberations; (2) the co-created space and institutional policy co-production mechanism; and (3) structural challenges and securitization. The latter reveals that the policy alignment remains highly dependent on individual actors and faces systemic pressures from the enforcement of special security laws, information operations (IO), and the deep-seated distrust of the central government—all of which serve as formidable structural barriers preventing the full and seamless implementation of peace policies in the operational sphere.

Everyday Peace through the Voices of Local Communities:

2026-04-18T15:15:27+07:00

This article is part of the research project entitled “Enhancing Public Participation in the Southern Border Peace Process”. The study examines how meaningful public participation can contribute to the transformation of a society by protracted violence in Thailand’s southern border provinces, with particular emphasis as recognizing local people’s voices as an integral part of the peace process. For more than twenty-one years, civil society organizations have worked collaboratively to address the unrest, with an emphasis on advancing peacebuilding efforts that reflect the needs and aspirations of the local people.

However, a crucial question remains: the very “people” who are often referred to in peace discourse have rarely had meaningful participation or ownership in shaping the peace process from their perspectives.

This study seeks to amplify the voices of local communities—exploring how they wish to participate in peacebuilding efforts in their own context—and to convey these perspectives to key policymakers, senior government officials involved in peace negotiations, and representatives from the opposing groups. The aim is to ensure that the people’s collective voice and their vision of peace are recognized and integrated into the broader peace process.

Driving Carbon Footprint Management in the Hospital Business:

2026-05-19T16:17:38+07:00

This research aimed to: (1) examine the overall operational activities of each department within the hospital business; (2) investigate departmental activities contributing to waste generation, carbon dioxide emissions, and electricity consumption; and (3) propose policy and practical recommendations for reducing the carbon footprint of each department in the hospital business to provide a benchmark for other organizations and to drive Thailand’s low-carbon health initiatives forward. A qualitative research approach was employed using a purposive case study of a private hospital in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 key informants, including senior executives, department heads, and operational personnel directly responsible for carbon footprint-related activities and with at least one year of work experience in the organization. Non-participant observation and documentary analysis were also conducted. The study applied the Carbon Footprint for Organization (CFO) framework based on the guidelines of the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization), integrated with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14064-1:2018 standards. Research instruments were assessed for content validity and Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) by three experts. Data were analyzed using content analysis and validated through triangulation techniques.

The findings revealed that the carbon footprint development process in the case-study private hospital consisted of five key components: (1) executive leadership and strong policy commitment; (2) systematic identification and classification of greenhouse gas emission activities according to Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3; (3) participation of personnel at all organizational levels and the promotion of a green organizational culture; (4) investment in clean energy technologies, including solar energy systems, refrigerant replacement, infectious waste management, and energy-efficient air-conditioning systems; and (5) integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles and Sustainable Healthcare concepts into organizational strategies. Electricity consumption and infectious waste management were identified as the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The study proposes policy recommendations, including the development of hospital-level greenhouse gas reduction master plans, incorporation of environmental indicators into quality management systems, establishment of collaborative networks with public agencies and development partners, and alignment of organizational strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 3, 7, 11, 12, and 13. These measures are expected to strengthen the role of private hospitals as leaders in advancing Thailand’s low-carbon healthcare system.