Political control and corruption in thai bureaucracy

The development of Thailand’s bureaucracy began from the time of the old old Kingdom of Sukhothai (late 13th century). The bureaucracy was formally organized on the premise that it existed to serve the King. The staff was comprised of close relatives of the King and commoners who rose to high—ranking posts on their own merits or through the King’s personal patronage. Thai bureaucracy continued relatively unchanged until the second half of the 19th century. Threats from colonial powers forced first King Mongkut and then his son King Chulalongkorn (1868–1910) to make major changes to strengthen internal unity in order to face this external challenge.