Governor rates his first year on the job
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt has given himself five out of 10 for his performance in his first year in office.
Brushing aside criticism of his lack of achievements, Mr Chadchart, who won the governor election by a landslide on May 22 last year, said it was a matter of opinion.
He was speaking at an announcement about his first year in office at City Hall on Tuesday.
When asked by reporters to rate his performance as governor, he gave himself a five out of 10 on account of 11 policies that he had been unable to deliver and other policies which were deemed impractical and suspended as a result.
He explained the suspended projects include the plan to set up lactation rooms and mobile libraries in communities.
Among the undelivered policies were those pertaining to traffic and urban economic management, Mr Chadchart said.
He also admitted problems arose involving work between the governor team and City Hall officials. “The officials may have found we’re moving a little too quickly,” the governor added.
More technology will be introduced to bring down any working barriers with the officials and to facilitate public services, he said.
He was also mulling broadening the online services currently available, such as Traffy Fondue, to help with applications for licences.
Traffy Fondue, an app developed in 2021, has been used in several cities, including Bangkok, to lodge complaints to get problems fixed swiftly.
Mr Chadchart said he was adamant his work in the remaining three years as governor would exceed public expectations.
He insisted he assigns equal priority to ground-level projects for communities and large-scale city policies.
A Nida poll on June 4 found that 75% of respondents were happy with Mr Chadchart’s performance, 47% were quite happy, and 27% were very happy. However, 14% said they were quite unhappy, whereas 10% insisted they were very unhappy.
Mr Chadchart said he would not change his current group of top-level executives at City Hall, including the deputy governors he hand-picked.
He added he would see to it that meritocracy is adopted in considering promotions of officials and swift action is taken against unfair transfers.