Thailand Policies to Consider in Developing Ecotourism as a Potential Solution
In the previous article, The Environmental Situation in Mae Salong: Tourism’s Impact and Ecotourism as a Potential Solution, I introduced a brief environmental profile considerate of mass tourism and development. I shared that the environmental situation of Mae Salong calls for a multi-faceted approach considerate of the social, economic, and cultural impacts tourism has had. In considering this approach and the importance of environmental policy, below is a brief discussion introducing national law in Thailand as well as international law through United Nations treaties that may be used to enforce environmental conservation, restoration, and sustainable development. They also lend themselves well in supporting Ecotourism as a proposed solution to the environmental degradation in Mae Salong.
According to the UN Environment, there are many laws and treaties concerning environmental rights. A human rights based approach to environmental rights suggests both substantive rights and procedural rights. A substantive right identified by the UN Environment is the right to a “safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment” in addition to two particularly interesting procedural rights such as the right to “seek, receive, and impact environmental information” and the right to “participate in public decision-making about environmental matters (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), n.d.). Some of the most relevant legislation in Thailand speaking directly on environmental matters are the Enhancement and Conservation of Environmental Quality Act, A.D. 1992, the Factory Act, the Public Health Act, the Hazardous Substances Act, and the Energy Conservation Promotion Act (“Overview of Environmental Issues,” n.d.) With relation to the environmental profile of Mae Salong, of particular importance are the Enhancement and Conservation of Environmental Quality Act and the Public Health Act which focus on environmental sustainability as well as water quality. Additionall(“Asian Forest Cooperation Organization” 2012)y, several internal policies have been developed in Chiang Rai, the province Mae Salong is located in, that focus on protecting the environmental rights of the indigenous populations residing on the mountain (“Overview of Environmental Issues,” n.d.). One of those is a transboundary haze policy and another is a policy banning forest burning during dry season to prevent forest fires and additional haze. These policies were shared internally with me during an interview with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in addition to being mentioned by community members in Mae Salong.
Within the context of international treaties through ASEAN and the United Nations, the environment is interpreted in a variety of ways. The ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources was adopted in 1985 and ratified by Thailand in 1986 (“Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources” 1985). Of particular importance in this environmental treaty are the committed actions to soil conservation and rehabilitation, air quality management, the development of protected areas to “conserve biological diversity,” to invest and “conserve ecological processes by reducing, controlling or preventing environmental degradation and pollution,” and to commit to policy development (“Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources” 1985). Taking into account the relationship between the environment and development Thailand committed “to ensure that the “conservation and management of natural resources is an integral part of development planning both at the national and regional levels” (“Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources” 1985)
There has also been an ASEAN agreement on the establishment of a biodiversity center, signed by Thailand in 2005 and newly ratified in 2013. This center is described to be a collaborative center for Southeast Asian nations to conserve biological resources. Interestingly, the center recognizes the strengths of biodiversity naming them as contributors to “social development [and] economic growth” (“Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity” 2013). Thailand’s commitment in this agreement is “in accordance with national priorities, and regional and international imperatives” which is an important thing to understand: the priorities of Thailand (“Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity 2013). When agreements are drafted with a stipulation of national priorities it may be interpreted that these agreements can fall to the wayside when priorities change.
Additionally, an ASEAN agreement was made in 2011 on forest cooperation with special attention to the “forest-related decisions adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002…and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity” (“Agreement Between the Governments” 2011). This agreement was made to establish an organization called the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization known as the AFoCo (“Asian Forest Cooperation Organization” 2012). The AFoCo has some rather exciting initiatives that fall in line with addressing environmental degradation such as a capacity building project on “Improving Forest Resources Assessment and Enhancing the Involvement of the Local Communities to Address the Adverse Impact of Climate Change” and a community-based forest management project entitled “Facilitating the Participatory Planning of Community-Based Forest Management using Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Technologies in Forest Resources Management in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand” (“Asian Forest Cooperation Organization” 2012). These projects indicate a significant interest in community-based programs that place public participation at the center of efforts which align nicely with the principles of ecotourism which will be discussed in the next article.
Finally, the Yangon Resolution on Sustainable Development is also worth recognizing as an important contribution to the environmental situation in Mae Salong because of the recognized intersect of environmental concerns and development priorities. The resolution emphasizes the social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of development which Thailand has committed itself to recognizing and addressing. The resolution encourages the enhancement of the aforementioned agreements as well as the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks, adopted framework for “Environmentally Sustainable Cities,” and the ASEAN Long Term Strategic Plan for Water Resources Management (“Yangon Resolution on Sustainable Development” 2003).
When looking at ecotourism as one approach to improving the environmental situation in Mae Salong, these policies are critical because of their allegiance to environmental sustainability, capacity building, community participation, and conservation efforts.
Sources:
“Agreement Between the Governments of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of Korea on Forest Cooperation.” 2011. ASEAN.
“Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.” 1985. ASEAN Cooperation on Environment (blog). July 9, 1985. https://environment.asean.org/agreement-on-the-conservation-of-nature-and-natural-resources/.
“Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity.” 2013. http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20161220023757.pdf.
“Asian Forest Cooperation Organization.” 2012. AFoCo. 2012. http://www.afocosec.org/afoco.
“Chapter 1: Overview of Environmental Issues and Environmental Conservation Practices in Thailand.” n.d. Ministry of the Environment. https://www.env.go.jp/earth/coop/oemjc/thai/e/thaie1.pdf.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). n.d. “What Are Your Environmental Rights?” United Nations Environment Programme. https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/environmental-rights-and-governance/what-we-do/advancing-environmental-rights/what-0.
“Yangon Resolution on Sustainable Development.” 2003. Association of Southeast Asian Nations. December 20, 2003. https://asean.org/yangon-resolution-on-sustainable-development-2/.
