This thesis studies the development of “the municipality” and its impacts on local power from the 1932 Revolution to the 1957 Coup d'Etat of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat. The study reveals that the development of municipal rule during the period under study can be divided into 3 stages. During the first stage (1933 - 1937), the municipal administration was modeled after the national government with an emphasis on the power of its legislative body. This was in accordance with the policy of the People's Party in providing the Thai people with a local political forum for the understanding of and taking part in the newly introduced constitutional rule. The second stage (1938 - 1944) saw a serious effort on the part of the state to restructure the municipal rule by strengthening its administrative power so that it could better serve Pibulsonggram’s “nation building” policy at the local level. เท the third stage (1947 -1957), following the 1947 Coup, the municipal rule experienced decline, being subjected to close supervision of the state. Civil servants increasingly controlled the running of the municipal affairs. This control not only weakened the power of the municipal government but also rendered it less independent. Yet, the introduction of the municipal rule allowed non - bureaucratic local elite to take part in the allocation of local resources for the first time, either through election process or through appointment. Finally, this political development also put local power on par with the bureaucrats in the administration of local affairs.
