United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Overview of DRR in Thailand
Road Network in Thailand is broadly classified into three road types based on its functions. The first type is the national highways that connect provinces and big cities. Around 60,000 km of national highways is taken care by the Department of Highways. The second type is the local roads. The 410,000 km of local roads serve within local communities or villages. They are under the responsibility of local governments. The third type, which comes under the Department of Rural Roads (DRR), is the rural roads. These rural roads serves 2 main functions namely, 1) to connect communities together within each provinceand 2) to link the national highways and local roads together into an integrated road network system. DRR is in charge of more than 42,201 km of road and bridge network in Thailand of which 37,835 km is paved road. DRR is supported by a total of 4,343 staff distributed in 16 bureaus (at the main headquarter), 18 district offices and 75 provincial offices.DRR’s vision is to develop and to complete the national road networks in a sustainable manner for the happiness and welfare of people. DRR’s mission includes 1) todevelop and upgrade rural roads in order to enhance transportation as well as to maintain an integrated and sustainable rural development, 2) to construct missing links, bypasses, and shortcuts in order to solve or alleviate traffic problems, 3) To support local administrative organizations, enabling them to develop effective management of local roads in accordance to DRR standard, and 4) to align the organization with the Thai public sector development strategy.
One of the important tasks in 2010 is to accelerate the conversion of earth road to paved road (under the ‘Dust-Free Road’ project) under the government’s “Strengthen Thailand” program Benefits from the dust-free road project includes a reduction in dust-related health problem. Residents along rural roadside as well as the road users will gain better health. The project benefit also extends to capability in all-seasons transportation. As both industries and agricultures need to transport their product via rural roads, therefore the project help reduce loss due to transportation and eventually reduce the logistic cost.

Problem Statement
Traditionally rural roads are designed and constructed based on local requestsi that matched with road network masterplan developed and approved by the central government agency. The roads so-provided, did not fully meet the needs of local people. Short of communication accelerated misunderstanding between road infrastructure provider and local people. Local people knew only that they submitted their request for transportation facilities but never knew in detailed about design, land acquisition, construction and maintenance. The public’s lack of understanding in DRR’s work procedures, either during design, construction or during maintenance stage, may give rise to unnecessary resistance and complaint. In some cases, negative or opposition feedback might occur if a proposed route did not meet the locals’ need. People then thought that the land they had to donate or being compensated by equivalent money was not worth its original value. Situation may be adverse enough, cause premature termination of some construction projects. Such problem may potentially become more serious and complicated with the involvement of more parties, leading to deeper misunderstanding, mistrust and conflicts between locals and rural road development agency. However, at the end of the day, it is the people who will lose most as a result of lost opportunity to have new road infrastructure that is aimed at improving their quality of life.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
To lessen any less than positive impact of road construction to the public and to gain their support, confidence and trust at every stage of road construction, DRR decided to provide high quality service delivery and public participation through a variety of ways.Firstly, timelines for project delivery is emphasized by offering the public the project schedule that detailed the steps involved and its duration. The public is encouraged to use this to help track the progress of the project. This in turn motivates the project team to complete the work in time. Secondly,courteous,accessible and client-oriented public service delivery is advocated. This includes making public services readily and conveniently available to the public at times. Where possible,the concept of “One-Stop-Service” is adopted so to minimize people to commute to different locations to get endorsements or approval from the different offices in DRR. Thirdly, prompt processing of enquiries, applications or claims from the public is emphasized. There are currently more than eight channels of communication that the public can get through to DRR. The department has also set time limits within which individual case must be processed and solved. Fourthly, there is great emphasis in reduction of paperwork to meet regulatory compliance and the promotion of a paperless work environment. DRR is systematically converting traditional method of paper reporting to the internet-based monitoring and reporting system. Lastly, the people affected by the roadwork are invited to provide constant feedback to DRR throughout life of the road. This is in line with the department’s idea of rural development for the people by the people. The benefit gained includes reduction of negative feedback and opposition in all process of roadwork which in turn will aid in faster completion of the project. As the people benefit from DRR’s effort, DRR will gain the confidence and trust from the people leading to improved relationships and strengthening the foundation for better cooperation in future projects. Moreover, the efforts will help to cultivate a mindset that the people are not just road users but are also road owners. In 2010, the “Dust-Free Road” project was initiated to convert more than 3,000 km of earth road into paved road. With more than 900 individual construction projects, the “Dust-Free Road” provided DRR an excellent opportunity to implement its high quality service delivery and public participation. Besides improving the quality of the roadwork, the project has helped boost Thai’s economy by providing employment opportunities to almost 200,000 locals. The project has also led to an estimated reduction in cost of dust-related sickness by more than 830 million baht a year. Moreover, the project has helped reduce the cost of vehicle maintenance and fuel savings by more than 950 million baht a year. Based on the polls conducted by government agencies (e.g. Office of the Public Sector Development Commission) and universities (e.g. Chulalongkorn University), more than 80% of the locals surveyed are satisfied with the service provided by DRR and with the quality of the road systems.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Director-General of DRR, Mr. Vichan Kunakoonsawas, originated the need for strong public participation in roadwork development, with clear directions for better innovation and improvement of public services. Adopting pro-active approach in developing a culture of public participation in DRR, Mr. Vichan personally oversees the implementation of all policies related to public participation including monitoring the effectiveness of the policies. The Director-General also take charge of the assignment of all bureaus in the department involved in roadwork. All bureaus are specifically instructed to consider both positive and negative impacts to the public that may arise from the roadwork operation. In particular, the impact on stakeholders in the vicinity of the construction side including neighboring residents, contractors, other government agencies, local government and DRR officials. These bureaus are responsible to implement public participation in their work processes and have to report to the executive meeting on a monthly basis. All bureaus involved in the roadwork must meet the engineering specifications and standards while adhering strictly to DRR’s regulation and policy. Other government agencies involved in the roadwork development shall collaborate closely with DRR and the public to aid faster construction and to improve project effectiveness and transparency.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Incorporate public feedback One of the key strategies adopted is to actively consider the public inputs and feedback related to public service delivery satisfaction, Two-way communication is advocated where on one hand, DRR listen carefully to what the people really needs while at the same time imparting knowledge and understanding to the people on roadwork. This is aimed at achieving the highest people’s satisfaction with the services provided by DRR. Promote partnership The second key strategy is to promote partnerships between the public sector, private sector and people through a variety of methods. Firstly, different activities for public participation are developed in the construction process. Public hearing is mandatory in each major step of roadwork development (i.e., survey and design, land acquisition, construction and maintenance and road safety) of DRR. Secondly, a tripartite MOU is signed among government officials (represented by DRR project engineer), Contractor representatives and the locals. Thirdly, the locals in the vicinity of the roadwork are invited to observe, investigate and give comments on the construction process according to the approved standards and specifications. As part of good public relationship, the DRR officials and Contractor must promote the benefits to the people of the new roadwork development.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Public participation is a very effective way to provide the public services in the convenient, efficient and transparent manners. DRR adopts the problem analytical results and actively implement main strategies into the actual practice. Increase efficiency One way of increasing efficiency in roadwork is to actively engage the public as key stakeholders of the rural road at each and every step of the roadwork development. DRR has developed several initiatives to improve and promote public participation as follows: -Since 2006, DRR has maintained a strong Rural Road Volunteers (RRV) program comprising of more than 7,300 members of the public in 75 provinces throughout Thailand. The RRVs are the locals living in the vicinity of DRR’s rural road. Through this program, DRR is able to establish a direct channel of communication with the people, constantly updating them on road maintenance and construction matters. -The Rak-Tang Rak-Thin (Maintain-Road Love-Land) Project provides the locals along an rural road the opportunity to work together with DRR’s maintenance officers to keep the roads in the good working conditions and to educate about 4,000 local people about roadwork. The project aims to cultivate the people with a mindset that they are important stakeholders of the roads (and not just road users) who must help DRR to monitor road quality. -A 3-Party Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is mandatory for all DRR projects that calls for meetings involving 1) Local People, 2) Government Sectors and 3) the Contractor. The tripartite meetings aim to benefit the public by constantly updating them on the project details, gathering feedback and recommending necessary measures to alleviate any negative impacts of the roadwork project. -DRR has signed Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the local universities to provide quality training to DRR personnel in public participation. -DRR provides avenues for the public to participate in the actual road construction. DRR provides checklists on how to monitor the road project and also provides channels for feedbacks to the project team for necessary improvement. DRR executives have transferred the decision-making process to the Regional and Provincial levels on issues encountered by on-going construction projects. The decentralization is aimed at reducing red tapes, the amount of paperwork and enabling DRR officials to solve the issues at hand faster. DRR seeks and employs appropriate technologies, such as emails, websites (e.g. www.dustfreeroad.info), to enhance communication and coordination among the many parties and stakeholders in all of DRR’s projects. DRR has empowered project engineers to be instructors who can effectively transfer technical knowledge in roadwork to the local people, permitting roadwork to be monitored and utilized in a sustainable way. Improve access and promote equity DRR promotes equity by extending service delivery to the less-privileged groups in the community. DRR enables service delivery to a wider population, in particular, through mechanisms that promote social inclusion such as improving the sidewalks, bicycle lanes etc. taking into account roadside safety and accessibility of every road users such as the disabled, the elderly, bicyclist, runners etc.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Transforms administration The main obstacle lies in the transformation within a large organizational framework rather than incremental improvements. There is a need for DRR’s personnel to fully embrace the concept of public participation in roadwork and improving their knowledge, understanding and acceptance that the public can participate in the projects, and emphasizing service-oriented, transparency and accountability in their daily work. Secondly, there is a need to improve the role of Project Engineers by cultivating service-oriented mindset and acting as instructor to transfer knowledge on the construction to the people as well as building good relationships with the public and among the stakeholders. Thirdly, there is a need to building understanding among the stakeholders through acceptance and reduction of resistance as well as increased cooperation at every step. The ways to overcome the above obstacles are innovative methods, tools and techniques. Firstly, modernization is applied to initiate activities for people participations in every DRR’s roadwork projects as two-way communication. Secondly, the 3-Party Memorandum of understanding (MOU) is required for every DRR projects which calls for a tripartite meeting of 1) Local People, 2) Government Sectors and 3) the Contractor. Thirdly, steps are taken to change the mindset of locals along the rural road so that they will engage with DRR’s officials and participate in helping to keep the roads in the good conditions throughout the life of the roadwork. Lastly, the people and stakeholders are educated of the many key processes and details of roadwork projects leading to their better understanding and acceptance. As one of the changes to organizational culture, the DRR’s Director-General, Mr. Vichan Kunakoonsawas, has adopted a approach which is not based on blind adherence to a Master Plan but one that take into careful consideration of public’s opinions. He has personally instructed every unit in the department to apply public participation concepts to every projects to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability. As administrative reforms, one of the improvements of administrative system imitated by the Director-General is to allow DRR executives to decentralize the decision-making authorities to the lower management levels which has led to an increase in work efficiency and better sharing of work responsibilities.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Resources Public participation experts are given proper training office, together with a working team of government and public sectors from Department of Rural Road. Its role is to set objectives, prepare operation plan, assign performance indicator, define follow-up methods and conduct evaluation. The Interdisciplinary teams responsible for implementing public participation in all processes comprises of not just one but several departments within DRR. For example, the participating departments include Planning division/Exploration, Design and Appraisement / Construction / Analytical, Research and Development / Laws / Mechanical / Maintenance / Safety / Operation unit in each department and each province are the supporting and running party. A board of committee that includes management level, acts as a controller and assessor of the work process. The evaluation meeting is held consistently in monthly basis. The department allocates sufficient budget to generate knowledge and understanding regarding roadwork system that includes a clear line item for the organization of public participation meetings and events. Suitable cost-effective technologies, such as emails, websites (e.g. www.dustfreeroad.info), are exploited wherever possible for better project coordination, monitoring, and also receiving feedback from public. Resource mobilization Policy and local conditions analysis is employed to ensure that the limited resources are used in an effective and efficient manner by the roadwork executives responsible resource management on the roadwork. Implementation plan, that includes budget and staff allocation, is developed using problem analysis, resource analysis and strategies. An action plan is next established for budgeting and staff allocations to support the implementation effectively and efficiently

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Introduction of new concept The great emphasis on public participation in roadwork process has prompted the organization and staff to continuously improve their work culture procedure and also to build new culture of public-oriented service. Internal and external audit organizations review work processes, encouraging staff to be accountable for their own work and to be ready to be assessed at all times. As a public service to the people, DRR is responsible to deliver a roadwork service to the people’s satisfaction through convenient, fast and safe road. To meet this end, DRR is constantly reviewing and improving new roadwork framework and processes while developing new ones. It is also a major policy of the department to have this implemented regularly and continuously. Locals and road users’ level of satisfaction is a good representation of not only the degree of sustainability in the roadwork but also the level of success in the rural road development project. Success in rural road volunteer program also indicates degree of sustainability. By engaging the public in every steps of the roadwork process, the people tend to feel that they too are the stakeholders of the rural roads. As a result, whenever their roads are damaged, they feel a more urgent need to request the rural road district office to repair the damage promptly. In many instances, while waiting for the actual repair, the people also has the initiatives to first carry out some temporary repairs. The success of the rural road development was imitated by several organizations under Ministry of Transport for example, the marine volunteer program.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Awards previously obtained Since DRR has developed its public service, the roadwork efficiency, effectiveness, and also transparency can be recognized. Consequently, DRR was awarded from external assessment organizations. The awards include: • Public Sector Management Quality Award in 2009 from the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, Thailand (OPDC). DRR was evaluated in the development of public service scoring at 4.9397 out of 5.0000 from 150 public organizations. • Two awards of the Quality of Public Service in 2010 - Innovative Service in road construction (Dust-Free Road project) from Department of Rural Road, Ministry of Transport - Award in Convergence between each government sector, process of payment in real estate expropriation • Award in Navigation of standardized transparency from the Office of Civil Service Commission, Thailand (OCSC) in 2009 and 2010 • Integrity Award in transparency organization from the Office of National Anti-Corruption Commission, Thailand (NACC) in 2010 Lessons learned Success in public participation in roadwork leads to improvement in the efficiency and quality of the organization, becoming part of the organization’s culture. Furthermore, successful public participation in roadwork results in a leading organization trusted by both the public and other organizations. Public participation in roadwork for adopting the concepts into other suitable units such as to road safety unit where people participate in keeping the road safe. Success in rural road development through effective public participation in every step of road works should be shared at the international levels. Our success in implementing public participation can be used as a case study that may be applied to other countries having the same challenges in developing rural roads. As the result,all parties involved in this process gain more understanding in the road work. Creating the strength of community improving participation in investigating and monitoring process resulting in more transparency. In addition, this could encourage the asset ownership awareness of publicity.


Institution Name:		Departmennt of Rural Roads
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Dr.Chakree Bumrungwong
Title:		Director International Cooperation Division
Telephone/ Fax:		+ (66) 2 551 5717
Institution's / Project's Website:		+ (66) 2 551 5714
E-mail:		chakree_b@drr.go.th
Address:		9 Phahon Yothin Road, Bang Khen
Postal Code:		10220
City:		Bangkok
State/Province:		Bangkok
Country:		Thailand

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information