The Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) (, Acronym: อบจ.) is a devolved local government body in Thailand.Office of the Council of State of Thailand, Provincial Administrative Organization Act 1997 and AmendmentsOECD, Country Profile: Thailand It is developed from the existing provincial council which provided advices and recommendations on behalf of local people to a centrally-appointed governor. Each province (excluding Bangkok, which is administered by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) can have one provincial administrative organization. Due to separation of powers, a provincial administrative organization, headed by a chief executive, and a Provincial Administrative Organization Council () are separate bodies that work together. Local elections are held every 4 years to elect the PAO chief executives and council members, the most recent PAO local election was in 2025.

History Early history During 1892 - 1932, Siam (then Thailand) employed a four-level administrative division, like the People's Republic of China today. The country was divided into several provinces (), each of which contained many prefectures (). Each prefecture was subdivided into districts () and subdistricts () respectively. After the Siamese revolution of 1932, all prefectures became provinces in their own right.

In 1938, the Thai government proposed that each province, aside from being run by a centrally-appointed lord lieutenant () or governor (), must also have an advisory council composed of local people.ราชกิจจานุเบกษา, พระราชบัญญัติสภาจังหวัด พ.ศ.๒๔๘๑, เล่ม ๕๖ ก, หน้า ๑๘๗, ๑ เม.ย. ๒๔๘๒ (Provincial Council Act 1938) council provided advice and recommendations to the governor. In addition, the council also acted as an auditor for the province. The council had at least 9 members selected from all districts in that province. Each district was entitled to one councillor. If the population of one district exceeded 30,000, the number of members could be found by dividing the population by 30,000 and take the quotient. However, if the remainder of the division exceeds 15,000, one member was also added. For instance, the district with a population of 80,000 will have [80,000 ÷ 30,000] = 2 councillors. Since the remainder is 20,000, one additional member is needed. Therefore, the overall number of councillor is 2+1 = 3.

Mathematical Complexities In 1955, the minimum number of councillor was changed from 9 to 12. The mathematical process of selecting councillors became more complex. If the overall number of councillor was less than 12, an adjusting value is computed by dividing the population of that province by the minimum number of councillor (in this case, 12). All districts in that province were then sorted in terms of their populations. The district that had the highest population got one more councillor. If the overall number of councillors was still less than 12, the population of the latest selected district was subtracted by the adjusting value before the process was repeated. In addition, another class of councillors was selected from local municipalities and other people appointed by the interior minister .ราชกิจจานุเบกษา, พระราชบัญญัติระเบียบบริหารราชการส่วนจังหวัด พ.ศ. ๒๔๙๘, เล่ม ๗๒ ตอนที่ ๑๑ ก หน้า ๑๗๖,๘ ก.พ. ๒๔๙๘ (Provincial Administrative Structure Act 1955) One year later, it was realised that there were too few councillors. The minimum number of provincial councillors was raised from 12 to 24. The divisor was dropped from 30,000 to 15,000. If the remainder of the division exceeded 7,500, one more councillor was added.

Example of determining the number of councillors in 1956 The province A has a population of 261,000. The adjusting value is [261,000 ÷ 24] = 10,875 The populations of all districts are shown below. If the population was less than 15,000, the number of councillor is one. If, however, the population exceeds 15,000, there is one more member per each 15,000. If the remainder exceeds 75,000, a member is added. District Population Number of Councillors A 7,500 1 B 12,200 1 C 16,000 1 D 21,000 1 E 9,500 1 F 30,000 2 G 65,000 4 H 82,000 5 I 9,000 1 J 8,800 1 Total 261,000 18 Since the number of councillor is 18, the process repeats 6 more times. All districts are ranked with respect to populations. In the first round, district H get one more councillor. The adjusted population for district H is 82,000- 10,875 = 71,125. The process repeats 5 more times. The population of the selected district is then reduced by the same adjusting value. The whole process can be shown below. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 District Population District Population District Population H 82,000 H 71,125 G 65,000 G 65,000 G 65,000 H 60,250 F 30,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 District Population District Population District Population H 60,250 G 54,125 H 49,375 G 54,125 H 49,375 G 43,250 F 30,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 To sum up, districts H and G have 6 and 2 more councillors. The numbers are added in the preceding table.

Simplification and Reformation In 1967, the government led by Thanom Kittikachorn proposed that the number of councillors depended on the population of that province, that is:ราชกิจจานุเบกษา, พระราชบัญญัติระเบียบบริหารราชการส่วนจังหวัด (ฉบับที่ ๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๑๐}, เล่ม ๘๔ ตอนที่ ๑๐๒ ก หน้า ๘๖๑ Population Number of councillors Up to 199,999 18 200,000 - 499,999 24 500,000 - 999,999 30 1,000,000 and greater 36 Kittikachorn's government also simplified the process of selecting councillors. Each district was entitled to one councillor. If the overall number of councillors was below the minimum number according to the table above, all districts were sorted. The district that has the maximum population received one more councillor. If the overall number of councillors was still below the minimum number, the population of latest selected district would be reduced by the adjustment value before ranking all districts again. The adjusting value was calculated by dividing the population of that province by the relevant minimum number of councillors.

In 1997, Thailand introduced the new constitution written by delegates of its people. The provincial administrative organization was introduced as a separate body from the provincial council, but the work closely with each other. The provincial administrative organization is managed by the president, who was expected to be a replacement of the centrally-appointed governor. The council is chaired by one of its member and is expected to provide advices, recommendations and plans to the president. The number of provincial councillors, like Kittikachorn's government, depends on the population as shown in the table below. Population Number of councillors Up to 499,999 24 500,000 - 999,999 30 1,000,000 - 1,499,999 36 1,500,000 - 1,999,999 42 2,000,000 and greater 48

Example of determining the number of councillors in 1997 and onwards Due to the simplification of process, the process of determining the number of councillors involves only ranking and adjusting the population. Province A initially has 10 councillors. The required number is 24, so there must be 24-10 = 14 rounds of ranking and adjusting. Once the ranking is completed, the district with the highest number of people is selected. The selected district then has its population adjusted before the process repeats. The determination process can be show below.

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 District Population District Population District Population District Population District Population District Population H 82,000 H 71,125 G 65,000 H 60,250 G 54,125 H 49,375 G 65,000 G 65,000 H 60,250 G 54,125 H 49,375 G 43,250 F 30,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500

Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 Round 11 Round 12 District Population District Population District Population District Population District Population District Population G 43,250 H 38,500 G 32,375 F 30,000 H 27,625 G 21,500 H 38,500 G 32,375 F 30,000 H 27,625 G 21,500 D 21,000 F 30,000 F 30,000 H 27,625 G 21,500 D 21,000 F 19,125 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 D 21,000 F 19,125 H 16,750 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 C 16,000 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 B 12,200 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 E 9,500 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 I 9,000 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 J 8,800 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500 A 7,500

Round 13 Round 14 District Population District Population D 21,000 F 19,125 F 19,125 H 16,750 H 16,750 C 16,000 C 16,000 B 12,200 B 12,200 G 10,625 G 10,625 D 10,125 E 9,500 E 9,500 I 9,000 I 9,000 J 8,800 J 8,800 A 7,500 A 7,500 As a conclusion, districts H and G have 6+7 = 7 and 5+1=6 councillors respectively. Districts D and F have 2 provincial councillors. Each of other districts is entitled to 1 councillor.

Election Eligible citizens aged 18 or over whose registered address is within the province separately elect (1) the chief executive of the provincial administrative organization (executive branch) and (2) the provincial administrative organization council members (legislative branch). Councillor candidates are selected according to the number determined by population of that district. President is selected on a first past the post basis. The candidate with most votes becomes the president. The elected president selects two to four vice presidents and up to five assistants, all of whom must not be the council member.

The legislation has been put forward to gradually increase the power and responsibilities of the provincial administration organization. Some responsibilities, however, remain with the centrally-appointed provincial governor. This implies that Thailand employed two-level local administration. The first level is a local government, including municipalities, subdistrict administrative organizations and provincial administrative organizations. All of these bodies are headed by an elected president. The second level is a regional branch of the central government, headed by the governor.

Future Move Forward Party and its predecessor, Future Forward Party, proposed that the two-tiered local administration in Thailand, including the branch of the central government (or the regional government) and the local self-governing government, be completely reformed. They suggested that the regional government should be dissolved and the governor of each province should be elected and take the role of the president of the provincial administrative organization.Chamnan Chanrueang, Why we need to abolish the regional government, 11 March 2022Move Forward Party, Referendum on the abolition of the regional government, n.d. (Menifesto document of the party) This effectively shorten the chain of command from the central government to the local government. All public services, except for judiciary and military, will be managed by local governments. If the proposal was successful, all provinces will be led by an elected (rather than centrally-appointed) governor who are overseen and advised by an elected provincial council. The provincial administration organization will become an integral part of the province itself.

Roles