New Public Service Public Sector Human Capital Development as a Driver of Thai Bureaucratic Reform: Lessons from the New Public Service

Abstract

          This article aims to analyze the role of public sector human capital as a strategic lever for bureaucratic reform in Thailand. It adopts Strategic Human Capital Management (SHCM) and the New Public Service (NPS) framework as its primary theoretical lenses, proposing a balance between strategic performance and public value creation. SHCM emphasizes the alignment of human resource development with organizational strategy, while NPS highlights public service ethos, civic responsibility, and citizen engagement. The analysis identifies key structural and cultural challenges in public sector human capital management in Thailand, including seniority-based systems, hierarchical organizational cultures, limited digital competencies, and incentive structures that insufficiently embed public service values. The NPS framework advances an alternative perspective by repositioning public officials as co-creators of public value in collaboration with citizens, rather than merely policy implementers. This article contributes to the field of Thai public administration by developing an integrated SHCM–NPS framework. This framework serves as a conceptual foundation for designing human capital policies and practices that support sustainable bureaucratic reform. The study is conceptual and analytical in nature, drawing primarily on the synthesis of theoretical frameworks and existing literature.