Office of the Official Information (OIC) - FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

The followings are the most frequently asked questions. The Office of the Official Information Commission has compiled these interesting questions in a Q & A format:

Question	Procedural methods in submitting the information under Section 7 (1), (2) and (3) to be published in the Royal Gazette
Answer	In order to submit the information to be published in the Royal Gazette, one should follow the following steps: 1. A submission letter signed by the government departmental chief or an official of an equivalent rank should be submitted to the Secretariat to the Council of Ministers; 2. At least 1 originals or copy of the information signed by the authorized person must be submitted for publication. In addition, 4 clear copies of the originals signed and certified by the authorized official of rank 5 or equivalent rank should accompany; 3. In printing the material submitted, contents of such material should be vertically printed; 4. In order to expedite the correctness of the publication of such information, the state agency submitting such information is reminded to submit such information in the form of “word format” recorded (not a PDF or JPEG file) on a disk. Any further inquiries, please contact Royal Gazette Division, Nithitham Office, The Office of the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, Tel. 02-280-9000, ext. 124-6
Question	Fees relating to photocopies of the official information
Answer	Fees under the Official Information law shall be collected in accordance with Section 9, paragraph 3. That is, if there is a specific piece of law which requires the collection of fee, fee collection shall be in accordance with such specific law. For example, fee collection on the making of copy of the household registration under the Population Registrar Act or fee collection on the making of copy of the land title deed under the Land Code. However, if the specific laws do not provide any specific terms or conditions on fee collection, the provision of the Official Information Act shall apply. In other words, if any state agency is to charge any inspection fee for the copy or certified copy of information, such state agency shall have to obtain an approval from the Official Information Commission prior to the collection of such fee. In this connection, upon obtaining approval, fee can be collected. However, the Official Information Commission has stipulated the central rules for fee collection for making copies of official information in accordance with the Announcement dated 7 May 1999 which shall be deemed the approved fee collection. For example, a fee of not more than Baht 1 shall be collected for the copy of information on A4 size paper or a fee of not more than Baht shall be collected for the certified copy of information. The collection of fee shall be collected at the actual cost. Moreover, any state agency desiring to collect such fee shall have to obtain an approval from the Official Information Commission on case-by-case basis. In practice, certain state agencies shall allocate photocopy machine for service. It is important to note that this shall not be an obligation upon such state agencies under any Announcement or the law relating to the official information. The state agencies shall proceed with the photocopy machine as they deem fit.
Question	Concerning the inquiry of the construction cost quotation, would it be possible to disclose such quotation to the contractor?
Answer	At present, the disclosure of the general price for the construction shall be deemed to be disclosed in the bidding process or invitation for bidding. In addition, the computation of the general price could be obtained from the state agency in charge of such matter. In this connection, the resolution of the Council of Ministers has dealt with this matter in particular.
Question	Concerning the disclosure of information under Section 9 of the Official Information Act: 1. Section 9 (2) of the Act prescribes that “a policy or an interpretation” which does not fall within the scope of the requirement of publication in the Royal Gazette under Section 7 (4), would that mean that the resolution of the Council of Ministers shall apply in addition to Section 7 (4)? 2. Could the policy of the Sub-district Administrative Official-Head be included in this Section 9, if not where should this information be kept then? 3. Which type of any other information as prescribed by the Official Information Commission under Section 9 (8) be included? Please advise accordingly.
Answer	Please be advised that the Council of Ministers’ resolution to be published in the Royal Gazette shall be in accordance with Section 9 (7). As to the application under Section 9 (2) where the administrative agencies have set out policies or guidelines for general public to follow in addition to the rules fixed by the Council of Ministers. As a result, the Act also prescribes that Section 9 (2) shall provides official information available for public inspection at the office of such state agency having jurisdiction over such matter. As to the policies of the Sub-district Administrative Official-Head, they can be entered as information under Section 9 (2). As to the information under Section 9 (8), the Official Information Commission prescribes that the following information can be disclosed as follows: 1) Information relating to the price bidding or bidding process executed by the authorized person shall be made available for inspection least 1 year; 2) Information relating to the procurement during the month in question, the list of payments in such procurement shall have to be made available in accordance with the summary table in the form So Ko Ror 1 which shall exhibit the details of procurements.
Question	Inquiries on examination papers In the event that the state agency holds an examination for their executive where the score of the examination takers do not reach 60% and they request for the disclosure of (1) the score they made; or (2) the answer sheet. The question is whether the state agency can disclose the information in (1). The state agency had disclosed information to the person who made such request already. As to (2) the inquiry has not been responded. Therefore, I would like to inquire if I would be able to request to inspect the information in (2) and would the state agency be able to reserve the right not to disclose or not?
Answer	Please be advised that official information under the official information law can be inspected by general public. However, there are certain type of information which the state agency reserves the right not to disclose depending on the discretion of the state agency having possession over such information. If general public believe so, they might not request for further inspection. If they view that they still have the right to inspect, they may appeal such objection to the non-disclosure of information they requested for. Upon such objection, the Information Disclosure Tribunal shall contemplate as to whether there should have been a disclosure of information as requested or not. As for items (1) and (2), item (1) was already disclosed. However, the person requesting the information in item (2) can inquire the state agency as to whether the state agency would disclose such requested information or not. The person requesting such disclosure can appeal to the Official Information Commission for their further action.
Question	Personal information and the result of the recruitment of personnel in the case that Mr. A had applied for the promotion in his organization and he wished to obtain information on the scores he earned and the scores earned by others in the same examination. The selection rules of any promoted personnel depend on the board selection. What steps to be taken further in order to comply with the provision of the Act in respect of disclosure of information requested?
Answer	Section 25 of the Official Information Act B.E. 2540 specifically prescribes the right to know of a person as to his personal information. As a result, if the person requests for the disclosure of his scores from the examination her took, the state agency shall be obliged to make available of such information for personal inspection. However the state agency objects to the request for such disclosure, the state agency shall have to provide a justified reason to such non-disclosure and notify such person that it shall not disclose the information requested so that such person may exercise his right to appeal. As for the request for the inspection of the others’ scores, such request is considered a request to inspect such other persons’ information. Section 24 of the Act provides as to the consent of such other person. As such, the person requesting information of others shall have to send his request together with the consent of other persons for consideration. In the absent of the consent, the state agency shall have to deny the request for disclosure and that the person requesting such information shall have the right to appeal. There were some precedents with respect to the interested person requesting for disclosure of information in the examination for position promotion. The Information Disclosure Tribunal only disclosed the information of the score of the person who earned 60% only and did not disclose the scores of others. Any other information relating to the rules or guidelines for recruitment are deemed disclosable.
Question	The meaning of “State agency”: 1. Section 4 of the Official Information Act defines the term of “State agency” as state agencies. The question arises as to whether the State agency shall include the ‘public organizations’ according to the Public Organization Act or not. Due to the fact that under other legislations, the ‘public organizations’ shall include “other state agencies”. However, according to the Official Information Act, the wording “Independent state agency and such other agencies according to the Ministerial Regulations” are used. Taking into account the Ministerial Regulations issued under the Official Information Act, there appears not such other state agencies. The question arises as to whether the “public organizations” shall be obligated to comply with this Official Information Act or not and to what extent if they are to comply with due to the fact that the handbook of the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (“OPDC”) prescribes that the public organizations shall have to comply with all the principles and guidelines as stipulated in the Official Information Act. Then, please advise how to proceed with the Act properly. 2. Due to the fact that the Official Information Act B.E. 2540 has been enacted and in force prior to the Public Organization Act B.E. 2546 and since the enactment of the Official Information Act, the public organizations have not been established as the State agencies, would it be possible if the legislations be improved in such fashion that there be clearer practices in relation to the interpretations of all the provisions?
Answer	The word “State agency” is readily defined under the Official Information Act. However, the public organizations were established following to the enactment of the Official Information Act shall be obliged by the law establishing such public organizations to comply with the provisions of the Official Information Act since they are defined as the state agencies. In addition, any organizations or bodies which are under supervisions of any Ministers are deemed the centralized government bodies which shall be under the supervisions of such Ministries. In complying with the provisions of the Official Information Act, the state officials of such agencies shall have to coordinate with the Office of the Official Information Commission for better understanding in the provisions of law and for further proper performance. In relation to the modification of the laws, the working panel is working on it. The Office of the Council of State is monitoring the agenda on modification of law as well.
Question	A written request for the information of the contractor which is in control of the Sub-district Administrative Organization. Factual inquiries: The contractor filed an inquiry letter to the Sub-district Administrative Organization 1 requesting the latter to submit the procurement bidding document to every candidate contractors every time there are bidding process for procurement of service or goods. However, the Sub-district Administrative Organization did not comply with the request of the contractor whereby the Sub-district Administrative Organization informed the contractor that the contractor shall have to request for the bidding document at such time the bidding is in place. The question is raised as to whether it is lawful for the Sub-district Administrative Organization not to proceed with the request of the contractor. Please advise as to: (i) the accurate path or steps to be taken for further action; and (ii) any future reference of any documentation.
Answer	According to the fundamental right of general public in relation to right of inspection and/ or the right to copy (with or without certificate of true copy) of information under the Official Information law, it is the duty of the state agency to do so. However, there is no specific term as to such procedures. There are only the rules of practice that the state agency shall have to provide as much documentation for the price inspection under the procurement regulations. (It is noted that the state agency shall be obliged to make a list of contractors for their internal reference. If the contractors wish to obtain the document, they should be registered with the state agency so that they can obtain the documents in the future). Duties of the state agencies are that: posting the bidding documents and forwarding the bidding documents in accordance with the regulations. The duties include making available such bidding documents at their place of business for convenient inspection of general public. The bidding documents can be mailed to the prospective bidders if the law allows. However, if the bidding documents cannot be sent, the relevant state agency should keep the contractors informed so that they could be able to intervally inspect such documents. It is not economical for the state agency to keep informing the contractors with only one request.