Creating government policies that address the unique demands of the populace has long been a difficult task. The conventional practices of creating policies solely by individuals in positions of authority are evolving in the modern day. Although there has been an increase in public participation, Thailand is still unable to create a truly inclusive policy-making process due to a lack of platforms for stakeholder collaboration, access issues with the legislative process and budget data, and a lack of forward-thinking.
The “Hackathon,” a marathon of brainstorming prototypes, actionable steps, and deliverables, is increasingly being used as a platform for policy design. In order to engage in diverse dialogue, exchanges of worldviews, movements, and tools to build well-rounded policies, the event brings together people from many backgrounds, such as scholars, entrepreneurs, the marginalized, youth, policy makers, and so on.
The event “Hack Thailand 2023,” organized by ThaiPBS and many other organizations, is an example of this. It aims to develop policies for Thailand over the next ten years, providing a chance for the government sector, policy makers, and politicians to work with the civic sector and to draw on data from both the empirical and emotional realms. Health, social issues, the environment, the economy, politics, and education are all included in the discussion.
Tanawat Suwannapan, a teacher and activist who participates in the creation of educational policy, emphasizes the value of having a platform for collaboration because any policy targeted at only one set of people could have an impact on the entire society. As a result, including additional perspectives in the process of designing policies will undoubtedly help us spot any potential flaws or opportunities that are sometimes missed when only a select set of people are involved.
“When individuals have a say in anything, they begin to feel a sense of ownership. People will see possibilities and feel hopeful when they begin to talk about subjects that were previously ignored or rejected as unrealistic. Increasing social consciousness or even a social agenda that is pushed into legislation could result from this, he continues.
Currently, policymaking is constrained.
Tanawat also said the following in addition to the platform on which to collaborate with the public sector:
Limitations on regulations: If lawmakers and experts participated in the policy-making process alongside the general public, it would establish a crucial mechanism for modifying regulations to match policies based on the needs of the general public.
Lack of access to budget information, no one outside the government has a clear understanding of how budgets for the implementation of various programs are being used or dispersed, therefore budgets could be altered in many different places. Budget transparency is questioned when all pertinent fiscal data is not systematically disclosed to the public, which impedes the development process.
“Under our current budget framework, I do think it is possible to develop policy. The issue is that it prevents us from demonstrating where the money will come from for a specific program we implement or recommend to society, Tanawat said.
Additionally, most political parties fail to maintain policy plans and long-term effects when policy prototypes are given to them because most policies are stopped when their tenure end.
An innovative approach dubbed “statistical foresight” should be used in policymaking, according to Pannin Sumanasrethakul, director of foresight at ThailandFuture. It is a comprehensive, forward-looking strategy to envision or anticipate probable future scenarios and reconsider how we may set up things right now to develop and react to future scenarios.
She continues, “This forces policymaking to move beyond just [alleviating] our current pain towards how we can improve our future.”
There are also organizations and associations working in the private sector. They propose that the government sector join their platforms, support, promote, or accredit these organizations so they can assist in facilitating resources or networks for the implementation of policies.
The president of the Thai-Chinese Students Association, Sruang Sidhisaman, also advises the government to expand its current programs and plans. He has been designing a “Trilingual Thai” policy prototype to help ethnic Thais overcome the language barrier.
“I’ve received calls from a number of foreign organizations looking to hire Chinese-speaking recent grads. They didn’t make contact with the government. In order to create contacts, there are already a number of organizations, groups, corporate councils, as well as cultural and economic councils. They are usable by the state. However, the policies and viewpoints that we [the private sector] suggest to the government shouldn’t be employed exclusively by the government, as this would make them less adaptable or feasible in terms of inclusivity, he adds.
The road to developing policies is long and involves many parties with different identities and needs. We must make sure there are enough forums for people to participate on so that policies can be carried out. To create the most comprehensive policies, tools, and implementation strategies that leave no one behind as much as possible, we also need to encourage collaboration amongst all parties.
