Life in ThailandThai ways of living - be it countryside or city - have their own distinct styles, rhythms and habits. The kingdom, and especially Bangkok, is also home to an interesting variety of locals and expatriates. Learn about the views and lives of local and expatriate communities, in addition to helpful tips for those exploring and living a Life in Thailand.
Conflicts between conservationists and villagers who reside in forest areas have long provided a topical source of discussion as all sides seek to find a practical solution.
Since villagers are typically blamed for deforestation and residing in areas deemed inappropriate, efforts have been made to relocate them. While this was once successfully enforced in some areas decades ago, these days such a solution is no longer practical.
Relocating people from their living space can create legal issues, such as questions over human rights, while an absence of any human presence in a forest could arguably make it easier for illegal loggers to operate since the authorities lack the necessary resources to properly monitor such vast areas.
While it is widely accepted that forests and villagers should be able to coexist, many villagers do not practice correct land usage, while the authorities lack constructive policies deemed acceptable to the villagers.
A forest management model had been in place until recently and proved to be pretty successful. Local involvement
A participatory decision-making and management project was carried out from 2004 to 2008, entitled Joint Management of Protected Area in Western Forest Complex (Jompa). The project has now been extended into 2009 as part of a follow up process.
The project aimed to provide capacity building among forest communities to create a blueprint for the management of land use and to prepare villagers at an early stage for future policies concerning the conservation management of the wildlife sanctuaries, national parks or proposed national parks where they live.
The methodology is the brainchild of Seub Nakhasathien Foundation (SNF), an organization established to commemorate Seub Nakhasathien, a forest conservation official who truly committed himself to his duties, and to prolong his vision of properly protecting the country’s wildlife and natural sanctuaries.
The project was launched on expansive plots of fertile forest covering 11.7 million rai (1.8 million hectares) in six provinces, including Kampaeng Phet, Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Sawan, Suphan Buri and Tak.
The project got the green light from the ministry of natural resources and environment’s Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), which allows the foundation’s workers to implement the project in the relevant protected areas.
The western forest complex houses six wildlife sanctuaries, nine national parks and two proposed national parks. It is also a home to lowland people and highland ethnic groups. The number of village settlements within the protected forest area's boundary is as high as 200, all of whom claim to be long term residents and refuse to give up their lands for the national policies.
Sasin Chalermlarp, secretary-general of the SNF, is extremely positive about the project.
“We really hope that the project’s methodology works well and can be further developed as a tool to effectively manage conflict and maintain sustainable forest conservation,” he says.
SNF’s field workers play a role as
mediators between the authorities and the villagers to help put DNP’s
conservation plans into practice. All sides agree that a moderator is
needed as the relationship between the authorities and villagers has
deteriorated due to a lack of understanding and proper communication.
Though the foundation’s workers are committed to the government’s
conservation plans, they implement an approach that involves capacity
building among local communities to help equip villagers with proper
community management. In other words, while the foundation helps
promote state policies in practice, it also helps villagers learn to
manage themselves under the current circumstances in order to live
gracefully and peacefully under the new rules that the villagers
themselves are helping to develop.
Social, cultural and economic stability
One major strategy used to gain the attention of villagers and develop
their trust has been to ensure that they can enjoy a degree of
stability.
Tawanchai Hongwilai, an SNF field official who has been working in
Kamphaeng Phet province's Klong Wang Chao National Park, a targeted
area in the western forest complex, says areas of influence which could
adjust locals' attitudes towards the authorities are activities or
programs that can contribute to the cultural, economic or social
stability of the community.
Most activities and programs tend to involve: health promotion, such as
training on aspects of sanitation and health care; the preservation of
culture and traditions; the development of income-generating activities
for households, such as the cultivation of organic vegetables or
raising livestock; or; other initiatives aimed at improving the
community's well being, such as the promotion of bio-agriculture to
reduce reliance upon chemicals, cultivation of more plants within the
forest, and the creation of a youth network on forest preservation.
Tawanchai says that all these activities include the participation of
the authorities and villagers, based on the villagers’ needs.
Previously, villagers lacked the opportunity to access many of the
government’s basic lifelong learning programs since they tend to live
in remote areas.
He says his role is to provide guidance or prompt questions and listen
to the villagers’ needs so he can facilitate each activity or program
in accordance with their requirements.
“Our most important objective is to provide them with a chance to learn
and think so they will be able to make a bigger contribution to their
futures,” says Tawanchai who has been working with villagers in remote
communities for over six years.
Tawanchai says an improvement in living conditions had lead villagers
to cooperate with DNP's conservation plans, which tend to be more
'flexible' than had previously been the case, allowing room for the
villagers to express their opinions.
Life in Thailand 
Life in Thailand
Thai ways of living - be it countryside or city - have their own distinct styles, rhythms and habits. The kingdom, and especially Bangkok, is also home to an interesting variety of locals and expatriates. Learn about the views and lives of local and expatriate communities, in addition to helpful tips for those exploring and living a Life in Thailand.
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