OECD bid drives sweeping overhaul of Thailand’s bureaucracy
Thailand plans legal and bureaucratic reforms for OECD membership by 2028, including a review of 3,708 regional offices and three anti-bribery laws
- Thailand is reviewing 3,708 regional government offices as part of a major bureaucratic overhaul aimed at supporting its bid to join the OECD by 2028.
- The offices are being assessed for potential consolidation, restructuring, or abolition, specifically to address overlapping responsibilities with other state and local bodies.
- Government ministries have been given a three-month deadline to justify the continued need for these offices or submit restructuring proposals.
- The reform strategy includes a "One Roof" model to consolidate ministry offices in the same area and expanding digital services to reduce the need for physical locations.
Thailand is reviewing 3,708 regional government offices as part of a wider overhaul of its bureaucracy and legal system aimed at supporting the country’s bid to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by 2028.
Ministries have been given three months from Cabinet approval to justify the continued need for the offices and submit restructuring proposals to the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission.
The offices represent more than one-third of the 10,010 central and regional government units operating outside Bangkok. They will be assessed for possible consolidation, restructuring or abolition, particularly where their responsibilities overlap with other state bodies or local administrative organisations.
The review is part of Thailand’s broader accession roadmap after the Cabinet set a target of securing OECD membership by 2028, according to an official update from the National Economic and Social Development Council.
Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt said OECD accession should serve as a catalyst for modernising the public sector and bringing Thailand’s administrative and legal standards into line with international practices.
Thailand faces global economic volatility, geopolitical tensions, an ageing population and an environmental crisis that cannot be addressed effectively through traditional bureaucratic structures, he said.
Pakorn described OECD membership as a matter of national interest rather than politics. The ultimate objective, he said, was not merely to join a group of developed economies, but to improve people’s quality of life and strengthen Thailand’s global competitiveness.
Super Licence and AI legal review
Pakorn identified Thailand’s permission-first, or pre-audit, regulatory system as a major obstacle to economic activity.
The government plans to place greater emphasis on post-audit inspections and digital technology, reducing unnecessary approval procedures and limiting officials’ discretionary powers. The changes are expected to reduce opportunities for corruption and improve public confidence.
One proposal is a “Super Licence”, under which businesses could obtain a bundled permit through a single application instead of seeking separate approvals from several agencies.
The government also plans to use the central Law Portal to broaden public participation in regulatory reviews.
A system called TH2OECD, powered by agentic artificial intelligence, is being used to compare more than 9,000 Thai laws and regulations with over 260 OECD legal instruments. The gap analysis is intended to identify provisions that must be amended to meet OECD standards.
Thailand has an estimated three million public-sector workers, comprising about 1.75 million civil servants and 1.24 million people in other categories of state employment. That is equivalent to approximately one public employee for every 22 residents.
Anti-bribery laws could delay 2028 target
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, said Thailand had completed about 25% of the accession process.
Thailand has received 10 of the OECD’s 25 questionnaires. Eight government agencies have submitted responses, while six OECD committees or missions have conducted fact-finding work in the country.
A major obstacle is compliance with international anti-corruption standards. Thailand must join the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and participate in the Anti-Corruption Forum before the technical assessment can proceed fully.
Three legal changes are required:
- Amend the law to cover bribery of foreign public officials. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is working on the amendment.
- Strengthen corporate liability for involvement in bribery, also under the responsibility of the NACC.
- Prohibit businesses from treating bribes as tax-deductible expenses. This measure is under the Revenue Department.
The two NACC measures must be enacted through acts of Parliament, while the tax measure can be introduced through a royal decree.
Because parliamentary timetables cannot be guaranteed, the legislative process could delay Thailand’s original two-year accession timetable beyond 2028.
NESDC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore plan to ask the OECD to allow parallel processing. Under the proposal, technical assessments and fact-finding could begin once the Cabinet endorses the three draft measures and the legislation enters the parliamentary process, without waiting for the laws to take effect.
The draft Revenue Department decree will first be submitted to the OECD for review. If accepted, it will be forwarded to the Cabinet for expedited approval.
Agencies that do not require amendments at the level of an act, including the Bureau of the Budget and the Office of the Council of State, are expected to complete their work within the planned timeframe.
All participating agencies have been instructed to prepare action plans specifying activities and deadlines to help shorten the accession process.
Regional offices face overlap review
Thailand had 10,010 government offices operating in the regions as of June 2026, up from 9,990 before 2017.
The total comprises 2,496 provincial-level regional administration offices and 5,321 district-level offices, giving a subtotal of 7,817. Another 2,193 are central-government offices located in the regions.
The figures exclude the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education and the Royal Thai Police, which operate under specific legislation.
Agencies that have expanded their regional presence include the Office of the National Water Resources, Bureau of the Budget, Customs Department, Department of Mineral Resources, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Office of the Permanent Secretary for Justice and Department of Skill Development.
The OPDC compared the 10,010 government units with the country’s 7,842 local administrative organisations and found overlapping responsibilities, public confusion over which agency provides particular services and concerns about value for money.
Of the total, 3,708 offices have been identified for urgent review. Many were established under laws allowing ministers to create regional units, contributing to an excessive number of offices performing similar work in the same areas.
Examples include Regional Treasury Offices 1–9 under the Comptroller General’s Department, highway district offices, rural road district offices and Customs Department checkpoints.
The government’s restructuring strategy has two main components.
- The first is a “One Roof” model, under which offices belonging to the same ministry and operating in the same area would be consolidated under a single administrative unit. Provincial commerce offices, which combine the Commerce Ministry’s local responsibilities, have been cited as a possible model.
- The second is the expanded use of digital technology for services and administrative work that can be conducted electronically. This would reduce the need to establish additional physical offices and could lower personnel costs.
The reforms cover civil servants, government employees and permanent staff working in the regions. They are intended to reduce duplication, control public-sector expenditure and improve the efficiency of government services.
