Bangkok Metropolitan Council

The Bangkok Metropolitan Council, or BMC (Thai: สภากรุงเทพมหานคร, romanized: Sapha Krungthep Mahanakhon (RTGS)) is the legislative branch of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the government of Bangkok City. It is vested with legislative power and the duty to scrutinise the administration of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration with the Governor of Bangkok as head of the executive.

The Council consists of Bangkok Metropolitan Councillors (Thai: สมาชิกสภากรุงเทพมหานคร, romanized: Samachik Sapha Krungthep Mahanakhon), who are elected directly by voters in each of Bangkok's 50 districts. In recent elections, a district may return more than one councillor, therefore the number of councillors composing the BMC often fluctuates between elections. The number of councillors to be elected per district is prescribed by the Election Commission, in accordance with the registered population in each district.

The Council has a fixed term of 4 years, and elections are often out of sync with gubernatorial elections. The most recent elections took place on 22 May 2022.

The current (13th) Bangkok Metropolitan Council consists of 50 councillors.^[1]

The council is divided into 11 general committees with five to nine members appointed by the councillors themselves:

1. Committee of Cleanliness and Environment
2. Committee for Checking the Minutes of Sittings and for Considering Closure of the Minutes of the Secret Sittings
3. Committee for the Affairs of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council
4. Committee for the Public Works and Utilities
5. Committee for Education and Culture
6. Committee for Health
7. Committee for Community Development and Social Welfare
8. Committee for Local Administration and Orderliness
9. Committee for Economics, Finance, and Follow-up of Budget Utilization
10. Committee for Tourism and Sports
11. Committee for Traffic, Transportation, and Drainage

The Secretariat of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council (Thai: สำนักงานเลขานุการสภากรุงเทพมหานคร) is the executive agency of the council. The secretariat helps the council in all its roles including drafting of legislation, organisation of sessions, minutes and procedures of the council. The secretariat also helps members of the council by providing research and legal counsel. The secretariat is headed by the Secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council (Thai: เลขานุการสภากรุงเทพมหานคร) The current secretary is Manit Tej-Apichok. The secretariat itself is divided into nine sections:

1. General Administration Section
2. Council and Committee Meetings Section
3. Working Committees Section
4. Legislation Section
5. Legal Section
6. Foreign Affairs Section
7. Council Service Section
8. Academic Section
9. Secretary Section