The King Prajadhipok’s Institute Act

KING PRAJADHIPOK’S INSTITUTE ACT, B.E. 2541 (1998)
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His Majesty King Bhuimibol Adulyadej is graciously pleased to proclaim that : whereas
it is expedient to have a law on the King Prajadhipok’s Institute; it is, therefore, enacted by
the king, with the advice and consent of the National Assembly, as follows:

Section 1. This Act shall be called the “King Prajadhipok’s Institute Act, B.E. 2541”
Section 2. This Act shall come into force the day following the date of its publication
in the Government Gazette.
Section 3. Definitions :

Section 4. The President of the National Assembly shall have charge and control of
the execution of this Act.

CHAPTER II
The Institute Council and the Secretary-General
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Section 8. There shall be the King Prajadhipok’s Institute Council, consisting of:

(1) the President of the National Assembly as the Chairperson of the Institute
Council;
(2) a Vice-President of the National Assembly as Vice- Chairperson of the Institute
Council;
(3) ex officio members, i. e. the Leader of the Opposition in the House of
Representatives, the Director of the Budget Bureau, the Secretary- General of the House of
Representatives and the Secretary-General of the Senate;
(4) two members elected from Chairpersons of standing committees of the House
of Representatives and one member elected from Chairpersons of standing committees of
the Senate;
(5) eleven other qualified members appointed by the King upon the
recommendation of the Chairperson and, Vice-Chairperson of the Institute Council and members
of the Institute Council under subsections (3) and (4) and;
(6) the Secretary-General a member and secretary of the Institute Council.
Rules and procedure for the election of members of the Institute Council under
subsection (4) , and the qualifications of those under subsection (5) shall be in accordance with
the regulations of the Institute.

Section 8 bis. In the event that a position under Section 8 becomes vacant for any
reason and there is no person yet holding that position, the King Prajadhipok’s Institute Council
shall consist of the remaining persons holding positions under Section 8 . In the event that
the vacant position is the position under Section 8 (1), the Vice President of the Council shall act
as the President of the Council.

Section 9. The Institute Council shall have the powers and duties to control and
supervise all activities of the Institute, in particular the following areas;

(1) to lay down policies and supervise the operation of the Institute;
(2) to lay down policies and supervise the management of the Fund, as well as to
consider the allocation of fund for the Institute’s affairs;
(3) to approve the master plan and operation plan of the Institute;
(4) to issue regulations on the allocation of responsibilities and administration of
the Institute;
(5) to issue regulations and lay down rules related to finance and properties of the
Institute;

(6) to approve the expenditures of the Institute;
(7) to approve the award of certificates and diplomas to those who have
completed the curriculum of any course of the Institute;
(8) to issue regulations on personal management of the Institute related to the
prescription of position, salary rate, wages, remuneration, welfare and other benefits, placement,
appointment, approval of salary or wages, retirement, discipline, punishment, petition, and
appeal against punishment of officials and employees;
(8 bis) to issue regulations on the uniforms, clothing of the President, Vice President,
members of the Council of the Institute, including personnel and trainees, academic pins,
emblems, marks or symbols of the Institute;
Such regulations shall be published in the Government Gazette;
(9) to issue regulations on the qualifications, rules and procedure of selecting the
Secretary- General, the conduct of his or her performance and the entrustment to other person
to act ad interim or on behalf of the Secretary-General;
(10) to appoint and dismiss the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General;
(11) to perform any other activities as prescribed by law to be the powers and duties
of the Institute.

Section 10. A qualified Committee member shall hold office for a term of four years.
In the case where a qualified member vacates office before the expiration of his or
her term, another person appointed to replace him or her shall hold office for the remainder of
the term of the person he or she replaces.
A qualified member who vacates office upon the expiration of his or her term may
be re-appointed but may not hold office for more than two consecutive terms.
In the case where a qualified member vacates office upon the expiration of his or her
term and the King has not appointed a new qualified member, the outgoing qualified member
shall continue to perform his or her duty until a new qualified member is appointed by
the King.

Section 11. In addition to vacating office at the expiration of term under section 10, a
qualified member vacates office upon:
(1) death;
(2) resignation;
(3) being bankrupt;
(4) being an incompetent or quasi-incompetent person;
(5) being sentenced by a final judgement to imprisonment, except for an offence
committed through negligence or a petty offence.

Section 12. At a meeting of the Institute Council, the presence of not less than
one-half of the total number of members is required to constitute a quorum.
At a meeting of the Institute Council, if the Chairperson is not Present or is unable to
perform his or her duties, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside over the meeting. If the Chairperson
and the Vice- Chairperson do not attend or are unable to perform their duties, the members
present shall elect one among themselves to preside over the meeting.
Resolutions of the meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes.
Each member shall have one vote. In case of a tie in votes, the Chairperson of the
meeting shall have an additional vote as the deciding vote.
Any proceeding related to the meeting which is not specified in this section shall be
in accordance with the regulations of the Institute Council.

Section 13. The Institute Council shall have the power to appoint a committee or
sub-committee for considering or operating other affairs in accordance with the entrustment of
the Institute Council.
The provisions of section 12 shall apply mutatis mutandis to meetings of committees
or sub-committee.
Section 14. The President and Vice-President of the Institute Council, members of the
Institute Council, committees or sub- committees under section 13 shall receive meeting
allowances or any other remuneration in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the
Institute Council.
Section 15. There shall be a Secretary- General of the Institute responsible for the
administrative work of the Institute and there may be one or more Deputy Secretaries-General as
prescribed by the Institute Council to perform duties as entrusted by the Secretary- General.
Qualifications and procedures for the appointment and dismissal of the SecretaryGeneral and Deputy Secretary-General shall be in accordance with the regulations of the Institute
Council.
The Deputy Secretary-General shall vacate office upon the vacation of the SecretaryGeneral.
Section 16. The Secretary- General shall hold office for a term of four years and may
be re-appointed, but may not hold office for more than two consecutive terms.

Section 17. The Secretary-General shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) to administer the Institute affairs in accordance with the objectives and policies
of the Institute Council;
(2) to direct all officials and employees of the Institute;
(3) to recruit, appoint, promote, reduce or deduct salary or wages, and discipline or
dismiss officials and employees under the regulations prescribed by the Institute Council;
(4) to lay down rules on the conduct of work of the Institute, provided that it shall
not be contradictory to or inconsistent with the regulations, rules or resolutions of the Institute
Council;
(5) to represent the Institute in respect to its external relations and
to that end, he or she may delegate his or her authority to any official to perform any specific
activity on his or her behalf, however, it must not be contrary to the rules prescribed by
the Institute Council

Section 18. The rates of salaries of the Secretary- General and Deputy SecretaryGeneral shall be determined by the Institute Council.
Section 19. There shall be an Administrative Board of the Institute consisting of the
Secretary-General as the Chairperson and other member of not less than four but not more than
seven in number appointed by the Institute Council with the recommendation of the SecretaryGeneral.
The Administrative Board of the Institute shall have the powers and duties to control
and supervise the conduct of work of the Institute and the projects approved or entrusted by the
Institute Council.
The Administrative Board of the Institute shall vacate office upon the vacation of the
Secretary-General, and the provisions of section 16 shall apply mutatis mutandis

CHAPTER III
Fund

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Section 20. There shall be established a fund of the Institute called the “Fund for the
Development and Propagation of Democracy” , which will be a revolving capital fund to finance
the operation of the Institute, consisting of:
(1) an initial fund allocated by the government;
(2) subsidies allocated from the State budget;
(3) grants from abroad including those from international organizations;
(4) money or properties donated to the Fund;
(5) interest or other income;
(6) other money and other properties vested into the ownership of the Fund.
The Government shall allocate the initial fund under (1) and the subsidies under (2)
directly to the Institute in a sufficient amount for necessary expenses for the accomplishment of
the objectives of the Institute.
Section 21. Income derived from the Fund under Section 20 and other income of the
Institute shall be transferred to the Fund without being remitted to the Ministry of Finance under
the law on treasury reserves and the law on budgetary measures.
Section 22. All real estate acquired by the Fund through donation, purchase with the
Fund’s income, or exchange for property of the Institute will be under the ownership of the
Institute.
Section 23. Properties of the Institute shall not be subject to the execution of
judgments, and any person cannot set up prescription as a defense to the Institute with regard
to its Property.

CHAPTER IV
Accounting and Auditing
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Section 24. The Institute shall set up and maintain an appropriate accounting system
in accordance with the categories of the main work and shall keep books of accounts with entries
of receipts, expenditure, assets and liabilities which shall represent the actual and appropriate
conditions of work in accordance with their categories together with the particulars that are the
sources of such entries. There shall be internal auditing of accounts at regular intervals.
Section 25. The Institute shall prepare and submit to the auditor a balance sheet and
receipts and payments accounts within ninety days after the end of the fiscal year.
The State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand shall be the auditor of the King
Prajadhipok Institute for every fiscal year. The State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand shall
prepare and submit an audit report to the Institute Council within one hundred and fifty days
from the end of each fiscal year.
Section 26.The Institute shall submit an annual report to the Institute Council for
resubmitting to the President of the National Assembly. Thisannual report must show the balance
and the receipts and payments account which have been audited by the auditor together with
the report of the auditor and the report of the Institute’s achievement for the preceding year.
The President of the National Assembly shall submit the annual report under
paragraph one to the National Assembly for acknowledgment.

CHAPTER V
Monitoring, Examination, and Evaluation
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Section 27. There shall be a Committee to monitor and evaluate the performance of
the Institute consisting of a Chairperson and other members of not less than two but not more
than four in number appointed by the President of the National Assembly with the approval of
the Institute Council.
The Provisions of section 10, section 11, section 12, section 13 and section 14 shall
apply mutates mutandis.
Section 28. The Committee to monitor and evaluate of the perfomance of the
Institute shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) to monitor, examine and evaluate all works of the Institute and of the SecretaryGeneral by listening broadly to all opinions concerning the performance of the Institute;
(2) to report the result of such monitoring and examination of works of the Institute
and of the Secretary-General to the Chairperson of the Institute Council every six months;
(3) to annually evaluate the achievements of the Institute and report such
evaluation to the Chairperson of the Institute Council.

CHAPTER V BIS8
Penal Provisions
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Section 28 bis. Whoever uses the uniform, clothing, academic pin, emblem, mark, or
symbol of the Institute, or anything else that imitates such things, without the right to use or show
in any way that he or she has a Certificate, Advanced Certificate, Honorary Certificate, Honorary
Advanced Certificate, Certificate of Achievement, or Diploma, or holds any position in the Institute
to which he or is not rightfully entitled, if done in order to make other people believe that he or
she has the right to use, or has the academic status or position mentioned above, shall be liable
to imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding fifty thousand baht, or both.

Section 28 ter. Whoever
(1) forges or imitates the uniform, clothing, academic pin, emblem, mark or symbol
of the Institute, whether it is done in any color or by any method.
(2) uses something that is forged or imitated according to (1)
shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding one
hundred thousand baht, or both.
If the offender under (1) is also an offender under (2) , the punishment shall be
imposed for only one offense.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
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Section 29. There shall transferred to the Institute all powers and duties, activities,
assets, rights, liabilities, including budgets of the Office of the Secretariat of the House of
Representatives, only which are related to the King Prajadhipok’s Institute, and the Museum of
the National Assembly, only which are related to the King Prajadhipok Museum, which are actually
existing on the date this Act comes into force.
Section 30. Any parliamentary official or employee of the Secretariat of the House of
Representatives and of the Secretariat of the Senate, who, requests to be transferred to work as
an official or employee of the Institute, must submit notification of his or her intention in writing
to a superior who has authority to recruit and appoint, within ninety days as of the date this Act
comes into force. Such official or employee shall be transferred to be an official or employee of
the Institute, in accordance with an agreement between the President of the National Assembly
and the Institute.
Parliamentary officials or employees transferred to be officials or employees of the
Institute, shall receive salary or wages including other rights and remuneration equal to the
amount formerly received until he or she is duly placed and appointed to hold office in the
Institute. However, the Institute shall not appoint such person to receive salary lower than the
amount formerly received. The salary or wages including other rights or remuneration to be
received further shall be in accordance with the regulations of the Institute, but shall not be less
than those provided by the law on officials of State enterprises.
Section 31. The transfer of official under section 30 shall be deemed that such official
departed from his or her office because of the dissolution of his or her position. He or she shall
be entitled to receive gratuity or pension under the law on gratuities and pensions or the law on
the gratuities and pensions fund for Government officials, as the case may be.
For the transfer of an employee under this section, it shall be deemed that such
employee departs from his or her office because of the dissolution of his or her position without
fault and he or she shall be entitled to receive gratuity under the rules of the Ministry of Finance
on gratuities for employees.
For the purpose of counting a working period for calculating the total amount of
gratuities or pensions under the regulations of the Institute, any official or employee transferred
under section 30 who intends to collect his or her official working hours or working hours while
being a parliamentary official or an employee before the transfer as working hours of an official
or employee of the Institute, as the case may be, shall have the right to do so by indicating his
or her intention to not receiving gratuity or pension.
The declaration of intention not to receive any gratuity or pension under paragraph
three shall be done within ninety days as from the date of the transfer. In the case of an official,
the law on gratuities and pensions shall apply. In the case of an employee, he or she must
express his or her intention in writing with signature as evidence and then submit it to the
Secretariat of the House of Representatives or the Secretariat of the Senate, as the case may be,
for further submission to the Ministry of Finance.

Countersigned by :
Chuan Leekpai
Prime Minister

NOTE : The King Prajadhipok’s Institute Act is enacted to establish the King Prajadhipok’s Institute
as an academic institution under the supervision of the National Assembly. The objectives of The
King Prajadhipok’s Institute are to disseminate knowledge about politics and democratic
governance to the public, and to study, research, and identify problems and solutions for
democratic development in a systematic manner. The ultimate goal of the King Prajadhipok’s
Institute is to strengthen the stability and sustainability of democracy under the constitutional
monarchy.