INTRODUCTION AND SETTING
Introduction
Both provincial and local administrations play a crucial role in translating government and central administration policies into practice based on local demographics and the needs of the local population. As previously mentioned, the provincial and local governments have a duty to translate government policy into practice based on local demands, and one of the national agendas that has recently been focused on and transferred to the provincial-level administration is to strengthen international cooperation .
Problem Statement
According to the data collected by the Ministry of Home Affairs, they show that the provincial government cannot effectively implement and implement a sister city relationship policy. This study will examine the provincial government's implementation of sister city relationship policy to determine the nature of sister city relationship policy implementation.
Purposes of Study/Objectives
Research Questions
Limitations
The Khonkean Provincial Government has established two sister city relationships, while the Khonkean City Municipality has established two sister city relationships. Rayong Provincial Government has established two sister city relationships, while Rayong City Municipality established one sister city relationship.
Researcher Assumptions
The partner cities include seventeen sister city partnerships of the Chiang Mai Provincial Government, and five sister city partnerships by the Chiang Mai City-Municipality.
Definition of Terms
On the other hand, deliberate implementation can lead to the success of the sister city relationship. A summary of the key implementing factors in the implementation of the sister city relationship policy are as follows.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Policy Implementation
- Background
- Top-Down Approach to Implementation
- Models of Policy Implementation
- Strategic Alliance as the Sister City Relationship Implementation
- Policy Implementation Failure
- Success Factors in Policy Implementation
Sabatier (1986) conducted a study on environmental and higher education policy and identified six characteristics of the top-down approach as follows. The implementer must know what the purpose of the policy is to create action plans in line with objectives.
Sister City Relationship
- Background and History
- Sister City Relationship at Present
- Benefit of the Sister City Relationship
- The Process of Establishing the Sister City Relationship
The sister city relationship can be traced back to the post World War II era. There are many tangible and intangible benefits that can be derived from the sister city relationship.
Key Implementing Factors for Sister City Relationship
- Sister City Relationship’s Key Implementing Factors
- Case Study Reflecting Key Success Factors
- Tentative Model of Successful Sister City Relationship Implementation 41
- Thai Government Administration
- Thai National Government Policy on International Cooperation
- The Role of Regional Government Administration on Sister City
- The Process of Establishing Sister City Relationship in Thailand
Initially, both the provincial government and local government can establish a sister city relationship with any city that is compatible. A detailed explanation of the process of establishing a sister city relationship will be elaborated in a later section.
Sister City Relationship by Provincial Government
- Chiang Mai Province
- Khonkean Province
- Rayong Province
- Pathum Thani Province
All levels of Thai government agencies are involved in the process of implementing the sister city relationship policy. It was found that the implementation of sister city relations policy by the provincial governments is.
RESEARCH METHOD AND DATA COLLECTION
Selection Criteria
- Provinces Selection
- Key Informant Selection
The selected samples are based on the provincial ability to implement a sister city relationship policy. First, the chosen province should have had experience in establishing a sister city relationship with another city of another nation. Second, the province must have capacity in terms of budget and other required resources to implement policy for sister city relations.
Third, the province must contain a municipality, preferably a city-municipality, that has had experience in establishing a sister city relationship with another city from another nation. This research selected key informants who are civil servants involved in the implementation of a sister city relationship policy. The key decision maker will be able to emphasize the scope and importance of a sister city relationship policy to the organization and the province.
Research Methods
Their key informants include representatives of central, provincial and local government, and the provincial chamber of commerce (a representative of the private sector). Private sector (8) Representative of Provincial Chamber of Commerce .. The interview questions can be found in Appendix C 2) Documents overview. In terms of document reviews, the documents of the sister city relationship were reviewed since 2000, which included, but were not limited to, meeting reports, projects, activities, the organization's budget, memoranda of understanding, letters of intent, travel reports and local news.
A clear strategic plan The existence of clear written goals, objectives, projects and planned activities that can be achieved before signing. Enabling environment Having an enabling environment before signing a twinning relationship, such as a clear policy and performance standards of the central government. The results of the survey were also used to complement the qualitative results of the interviews and reviewed documents.
Termination Criteria
The survey question was formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs based on the key implementation factors. If one of the interviewees felt the need to withdraw from the interview, the researcher will eliminate all the information obtained from both the subjects and the organization before the interview. Any information on paper documents will be shredded with a paper shredder, and any information on a computer or personal laptop will be permanently deleted.
Analysis
- Content Analysis
- Process of Collecting and Analyzing Data
Problems related to the implementation of sister city relationship in Rayong Province from the perspective of Rayong City and Municipality. Fortunately, it is not entirely impossible for a provincial government to pursue twinning policy activity. The roles and responsibilities of the ministry are to assist the provincial governments in the implementation of twinning policies.
Surprisingly, sister city relationship policies face all the weaknesses of the top-down approach. The evaluation process of the sister city relationship policy by the government, the provincial government and local organizations is still lacking. However, the central and provincial governments never realized the impact of the sister city relationship policy.
FINDING
Sister City Relationship Policy Implementation
- Central Government
- Chiang Mai Province
- Khonkean Province
- Rayong Province
- Pathum Thani Province
Therefore, Chiang Mai Province cannot actively initiate projects or activities just for the sister city relationship. Chiang Mai city municipality has also established a sister city relationship with other international cities. Due to the central government's rules and regulations, Khonkean Province shares similar characteristics in establishing a sister city relationship strategy as Chiang Mai Province.
Regarding the sister city policy of the provincial government, the city explains that the city-municipality has participated in many activities between the province and its partner. Singhpunnaphat (personal communication, September 25, 2020) explains that the municipality is ready with resources to support the provincial government in implementing the sister city relationship policy. The city-municipality has not been involved with Rayong Province regarding sister city relations policy.
Key Implementing Factor in implementing Sister City Relationship Policy
- Factors in Implementing Sister City Relationship Policy by Thai
- A Summary of Key Implementing Factors in Implementing Sister City
Different central agencies place different restrictions on the implementation of sister city relationship policies by regional governments. On the other hand, for the provinces that are unable to implement the sister city relationship policy, most local organizations have little or no knowledge of the sister city relationship policy. The lack of an implementation budget is the main problem found in the implementation of sister city relationship policies for provincial governments.
. the effectiveness of this method is highly dependent on the provincial government's leadership and awareness of sister city relationship policy among local organizations. Lack of budget is the biggest obstacle to the implementation of sister city relationship policy by provincial governments. Unfortunately, not all organizations that are involved in the sister city relationship policy have an evaluation or reporting process.
Quantitative Result (Descriptive Statistic)
- Finding 1
- Finding 2
- Finding 3 Strategy
- Finding 4 Participation
- Finding 5 Management
- Finding 6 Attitude
- Finding 7 Evaluation
The most common problem encountered in the implementation of the sister city relationship is the lack of budget for implementation. Almost half of the established provinces have a committee or organization that oversees sister city relationship issues. About 70% of provinces organized a meeting to discuss sister city relations before signing and about 30% did.
More than half of the local organizations in the provinces that have established a sister city relationship know and understand about the sister city relationship policy. The evidence from the interviews shows that there is no evaluation process in the implementation of a sister city policy. As a result, many see the sister city relationship policy as a failure and even as a waste of budget.
Sister City Relationship Policy as Top-Down Approach Implementation
- Sister City Relationship Policy Implementation Through the Top-Down
- Conditions for Effective Top-Down Approach Implementation
- Top-Down Approach Implementation Limitations
Three layers of administrative bodies are involved in the implementation of the policy; the central government, the provincial government and the local government. Therefore, it can be concluded that the sister city relationship policy cannot fully meet the success conditions of the implementation model of the top-down approach. The provincial governments have never had a good evaluation process to determine the degree of success of the policy.
Therefore, the central government is still unable to determine the degree of success of the policy. The implementation of sister city relationship policy involves three different layers of implementers – the central government, the provincial government and local organizations. This research mainly focuses on the study of features and characteristics of provincial governments' implementation of sister city relationship policy.
CONCLUSION
Sister City Implementation by Thai Provincial Governments
- The Process of Implementation and Key Implementing Factors
- The Level of Success in Implementing Sister City Relationship Policy by
- Sister City Policy Implementation: The Top-Down Implementation
- Sister City Relationship as Strategic Alliance
- The Theory of Top-Down Implementation Approach
The Ministry of the Interior is the main center responsible for the policy of sister city relations. This section will only elaborate on the provinces that were able to implement sister city relationship policy even in the existing restrictions. The province cannot initiate any activities for the sister city relationship as they face many restrictions from the central government.
It was found that there are seven characteristics of the implementation model of the top-down approach, with the sister city policy having six similarities with these characteristics. Therefore, it can be argued that the characteristics of twinning policy implementation use a top-down approach implementation model where the central government initiates the policy for the regional. Central government expects provincial government and local organizations to mobilize policy; however, the central government never approves a budget for twinning activities.
Recommendation
- Evaluation: Missing Evaluation and Monitoring Process
- Readjusting Functions and Roles
- Integrating the Central Government, the Provincial Government, and
Therefore, the central government will not be able to determine whether the policy is beneficial to the province. For the central government, the Ministry of Home Affairs still questions the usefulness of the policy and its implementation in the province. The lack of an evaluation process by regional and central governments has a critical impact on the effectiveness of policy implementation.
First, the ministry needs to conduct some sort of academic study of the policy to better understand the policy and to make further improvements. The Ministry of the Interior must implement a follow-up or evaluation method that shows the positive outputs and results of the policy. A skilled and active employee can at least ensure a smoother implementation process and continuity in the policy.
Further Study
Letter of Intent and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). to establish [sister cities/twin cities/friendship cities/partnership cities/etc.]. name of the Thai province) and . Signed in duplicate at (Place) on (date) in Thai, (language of the other city) and English, all texts having equal validity. Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding/etc.]. on the creation of [twin cities/twin cities/friendship cities/partnership cities/etc.]. hereinafter jointly referred to as the [“Participants/two Parties”]);.
The [Participants/Both Parties] will encourage their respective agencies to maintain direct contacts with each other for cooperation under this [MoU/Agreement/MoU/etc]. The [Participants/Both Parties] shall consult with each other on the modalities and programs of cooperation in the implementation of this [MoU/Agreement/Memorandum of Agreement/etc.] by convening annual meetings or other meetings as necessary for monitoring and evaluation achieving joint projects and ensuring concrete results and mutual benefits. This [Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement/Memorandum of Agreement/etc.] shall enter into force on the date of signature and.
