Feasible Reforms for Thailand's Forest Governance System

Abstract

This thesis aims to propose feasible reform directions for forest governance in Thailand that will provide greater social and environmental benefits from forestry and help overcome identified forest governance deficiencies. A review of the literature on forest governance suggests that 'good' governance plays a key role in ensuring sustainable natural forest management. Thailand has laws and institutions that, arguably, ought to ensure sustainable use of forest resources. Unfortunately, these forest governance actions to safeguard Thailand's forests have not achieved the expected result of reducing the destruction of forests, nor have they ensured social equity in the use of forest resources. This thesis draws on academic literature, legal sources and informal media - such as newspaper articles - and blends these with the 'voices' of directly involved stakeholders to diagnose the issues and arrive at a view about where reform is needed for the forest governance system in Thailand. The research is, therefore, underpinned by an engaged policy research methodology. Such a philosophy equally values the contribution of experts and of stakeholders in helping to define the issues and possible solutions to problems within a system and enables the development of a reform program that is more likely to deal with the full suit of relevant issues.