In Thailand, voluntarism and use of volunteers in general is far behind that in Western countries. Volunteer contributions are occasional rather than regular and the troupe of so-called "executive volunteers" is still very small although it has been initiated and growing, especially in state enterprises such as the Government Savings Bank, in the past few years.
Finally, as mentioned above, many NPOs are now non-functioning. An unconfirmed study in the early 1990s estimated that thousands of them were in that state with no less than 800 million Baht deposit remaining idle in their bank accounts.
3. Issues related to NPOs in Thailand
3.1 Legal and Policy Environment of NPOs in Thailand13
・The Civil and Commercial Code includes Sections 81-97 and 1274-1297 on foundations and associations respectively.
・The National Culture Act (1942) states that the National Culture Commission under the Ministry of Education is responsible for examining the objectives and monitoring activities of foundations and associations.
・The Trade Association and Chamber of Commerce Act (1966) requires all trade associations, including those organizations whose objectives are nonprofit sharing, to register with the government.
・Cremation Welfare Act (1974) gives authority to the Department of Public Welfare to oversee activities of cremation associations throughout the country.
・Labour Relations Act (1975) states that labour unions and employers" associations represent a separate category of association whose members must operate the same type of enterprise.
・In 1980, after the end of insurgency activities of the Communist Party of Thailand, the Royal Thai Government (RTG) showed a more liberal attitude toward the nonprofit sector in general. The government started to relax rules and regulations related to CSOs, resulting in many development NGOs being set Up.
・In 1981, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) consulted with 12 NPOs. The NPOs then organised an NPOs assembly to discuss rural development strategies including Government-NPOs coordination, resulting in the formation of a GO-NPO Joint Committee.
・In 1984, the RTG launched the Rural Development Fund overseen by the Rural Development Section of the Office of the NESDB and indicated that they realised the need for NPOs involvement in rural development.
・The 6th NESDP (1987-1991) states that the private sector, including NPOs, should actively participate in rural development.
・The 7th NESDP (1992-1996) includes the role of economic/business organizations and philanthropic/social development organizations and recognises their role in the development of human resources, life quality, natural resources and the environment.
・In the 8th NESDP (1997-2001), the concept of civil society is clearly stated to support and promote various types of civil characteristics in the state.
3.2 Obstacles to further development
Impact of political situation in Thailand
NPOs, due to their close relations with and influence over grassroots people, have become an alternative political force in Thailand. They would like to assist and improve the people's quality of life, fundamentally, by peaceful means. NPOs therefore stand in between the conservatives, the power-that-be who wanted to maintain their advantaged position, and revolutionists, those who wanted to overturn the government of the country by any means including use of violence. They have been shunned by both, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s when the country was mostly under dictatorial role of the military and in turn, deep ideological division among the people.
