Analyzing the Problems Facing the Thai Community Forest Act: Interaction between the Increased Value of Forests and Three Types of Democracy

Abstract

In 1992, the Thai government approved in principle the first Community Forest (CF) bill, as submitted by the forest administration. However, as of April 2009, the bill had still not been enacted into law, although it has come close to passage many times. This study seeks to clarify why the Thai CF Act has not come into effect and the political/social context surrounding it, especially before the military coup in 2006. An earlier study has pointed to persistent antagonism and a lack of discussion between two sections of society: social activists supporting local villagers and forest conservationist NGOs. This study examines both the struggles within civil society and the interests of stakeholders inside the Thai state, including the cabinet, parliament members, and royalist organizations. The problems with the Thai CF Act ensue from the combination of an increase in the value of forests and the three types of democracy that have operated in Thailand, participatory democracy, parliamentary democracy, and Thai special democracy, in addition to the conflicting interests of civil society. The increase in the value of forests includes increases arising from the multiple functions of forests and from decentralized resource management. The Thai state organizations sought to serve their own political/social interests, which included interests not directly related to the enactment of the Thai CF Act, by linking the increase in the value of forests to the type democracy that they supported.