The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand of 1997 stipulates the rights and liberties of Thai citizens to receive free basic education for the duration of not less than twelve years. It ensures the right of local organizations to participate in the provision of education which also facilitate the decentralization of educational management functions. The National Education Act (NEA) of 1999 which was amended in 2002, stated that Thai people have equal right to receive basic education of quality of free of charge for duration of at least 12 years. The Act also set out the legal foundations for decentralization of education finance and administration functions aimed at making education more responsive to local needs (IBE 2011). The Decentralization Act of 1999 is the legislation that established and governs the framework for decentralization (MoF 2004). Promotion of Non-Formal and Informal Education Act of 2008 and Vocational Education Act of 2008 are legislation governing the provision of non-formal and vocation education.

The Directive of the Ministry of Education OBED 293/2551 (2008) provides for the implantation of the Basic Education Core Curriculum 2008 (IBE 2011).

At the MoE, there are three umbrella bodies: (1) Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) (covering both primary and secondary education); (2) Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC), and (3) Office of the Vocational Education Commission (OVEC). There are also the Office of the Permanent Secretary (OPS) and the Office of the Education Council (OEC, formerly ONEC under the Prime Minister’s Office). Recently, the Office of the Higher Education Commission and the Office of the Private Education Commission (OPEC) were centralized under MoE (UNESCO 2011).
 
In terms of the mandate for decentralization in the 1999 NEA, 175 Educational Service Area (ESAs) were created around the country to administer education at the local level and in 2008 these were increased to 185 areas. Policies and planning functions are centralized at the MoE. Educational development plans such as provincial five-year plans, annual plans and operational plans are prepared and implemented by the agencies involved at the provincial level. The local authorities are responsible for the management of education as well as the formulation of local education polices in their areas (UNESCO 2011).

 
Despite the reforms of 1999 and 2002 which fostered unity in education under the MoE, there are still numerous ministries involved in the management of education such as the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and the Ministry of Defence (UNESCO 2011).

Other than the Ministry of Education, there are other institutions such as the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA), the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology that are also key players in education matters in Thailand. The Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA) is responsible for assessing all Thai educational institutions, both public and private and all levels of education from pre-school to graduate education, with the aim to assist educational to improving their performance and standards (UNESCO 2011).

The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) is responsible for overseeing the overall economic and social development including the education sector. The Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology is an agency under the Ministry of Education that is mainly responsible for education research and advocacy (IBE 2011).