Abstract
Over the past five decades Thailand’s electricity arrangements have evolved from largely self-regulated state-owned utilities, to limited private-sector participation (under small power producer and independent power producer programmes), to officially approved plans for retail competition. A recent shift to a “National Champion” self-regulated monopoly model for generation and transmission maintains a focus on privatization but de-emphasizes competition and independent regulation, and raises substantial concerns for small consumers and the environment. This historical narrative traces the governance of the Thai electricity sector, including “electricity reform” in its various manifestations. In the context of Thailand’s ongoing social and economic transformations, we examine the roles of government, utilities, NGOs, multilateral institutions, and the private sector in shaping electricity governance. Key features include politically potent electric utilities that have been able to successfully reject certain aspects of neo-liberal reform (competition, regulatory oversight) while embracing others (stock market capitalization); a significant cadre of well-placed individuals able to benefit from transfers of public assets to the private sphere; and a civil society that has had difficulty in identifying and preventing electricity sector activities that run counter to the public interest.
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