The Legal Problems in Water Management: A Case Study of Paknamchawang Sub-District Municipality, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study the legal problems related to water management. This is the qualitative research to study the documentation and in-depth interviews from key informants. The key informants are purposively selected. The tools used in the study are structured interviews. The data is analyzed by content analysis revealing that in legal problems related to water management, several laws involve. This has caused the local administration to encounter the problem of enforcing relevant laws and lack of coordination among the agencies resulting in the delay in solving the problem in a timely manner. Besides, there are no specific laws related to water management as well as not having the real transfer of power over water management to local governments. The problem solution in managing each agency has no integration. As each agency follows their own missions, the maximum benefits do not occur to the people affected by the flood in Paknamchawang Sub-District. Therefore, that the water management of Paknamchawang Municipality can be successful requires the specific laws which are not separate and the agencies responsible for water management will need to integrate and cooperate.