Currently, local leaders, once elected, can stay in office until they reach 60, the mandatory retirement age. While each village head is elected by residents, kamnans are indirectly elected by village heads. This is not the first time the tenure of those local leaders has been up for review. In 1972, the coup led by Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn set the term of local leaders by forcing them to retire at 60. And unlike in the past, some local leaders lack public spirit and the will to do their best for the community.

Source: Bangkok Post April 11, 2017 21:56 UTC