Provincial governors “should levy taxes’

BANGKOK: Former Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang, now Secretary of the newly-formed Mahachon Party, which will contest national elections in February, has advocated sweeping devolution of tax-raising powers from Bangkok to the provinces. Speaking with the Gazette in an exclusive intereview, K. Chadej said, “Giving provincial governers the responsibility to set budgets for essential services rather than [only] administer them will lead to resources being allocated faster and more appropriately.” Provincial governors currently receive funds from two central government budgets. The first is the subsidy budget, which covers essential services such as health, education and police and is set annually by central government. In addition, governors may request special budgets for major projects such as new roads. “[Mahachon] has adopted decentralization as part of its manifesto [ahead of the 2005 general election] to ensure that the people who know the provinces best – the governors – can make their own decisions on what is best for their region,” he said. K. Chadej was transferred from Phuket in 1999 to become Governor of Kanchanaburi and later became the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport. He resigned from that post to become Secretary of Mahachon.