Politics in Telecommunication Cable Undergrounding Policy Process in Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1 to study the development of the policy process for bringing telecommunications cables underground in Thailand and 2) to study and analyze politics in the process of bringing telecommunications cables underground in Thailand. This research used a qualitative research. Key informants include political leaders and policy decision makers, government sector group and a group of private sector telecommunications, totaling 10, used purposive sampling. The research instrument used was in-depth interviews and group interviews. Analyzed by typological analysis and presented descriptively.

The results of the research revealed that 1)The sequence of development of telecommunication cables underground can be divided into 3 important periods: (1) the period before the administration of the country under the National Council for Peace and Order (2) the period of administration under the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). National Peacekeeping during the year 2014 - 2019 (3) after the administration under the National Council for Peace and Order in the year 2019 – 2021, and 2) Politics in the process of telecommunications cables underground policy in Thailand can be divided into 2 phases, namely (1) politics in policy making of telecommunications cables underground and (2) politics in the process of telecommunications cables going underground.