Thailand's National Forests Aren't Up For Sale
8/26/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Thailand's National Forests Aren't Up For Sale
Source: The Bangkok Post opinion
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 26, 1999
Byline: Sanitsuda Ekachai
The Forestry Department project to turn national forests into massive
eucalyptus plantations illustrates its hypocrisy on forest
conservation policy.
Despite extensive studies of the environmental disasters caused by
eucalyptus plantations, the Forestry Department announced this week
that it would allow China to use 200,000 rai of national forest to
grow wood pulp for its paper factories. It also promises to find wood
pulp growers on another 500,000 rai of forest land for the Chinese
investment.
The law states that all activities are barred from national forests.
The 1992 cabinet decision also prohibits tree plantations in forest
reserves due to the impact on natural forests, not to mention the
adverse social repercussions.
But the legal stumbling blocks are minor problems, said the forestry
authorities. If tree farms in national forests are illegal, then
change the law to make them legal. A piece of cake.
Don't ask about the environmental impact of large-scale monoculture
plantations. Don't ask what will happen to millions of poor villagers
who live in national forests. In the Forestry Department's scheme of
things, the poor-and nature-don't matter. Only money does.
Interestingly, the Forestry Department's mammoth eucalyptus project
comes about when it is busy clearing forest villages. Now we know
why. It's part of the plan to kick the poor out in order to give a
red-carpet welcome to the Chinese investment.
Isn't this strange? China is such a huge country. If large-scale
eucalyptus plantations are that great, why come to Thailand? In
autocratic countries, it may be easy to treat people like pawns that
can be moved around at the rulers' whim. But don't expect this to be
the case here in Thailand.
The Thai government has been trying for some time to convert national
forests into industrial tree farms. But the results are a disaster.
When the forest authorities cut down community woods relied on by
villagers for basic needs to make way for eucalyptus plantations,
furious farmers have marched into the plantations and cut down the
eucalyptus saplings and razed the nurseries.
Even when the Forestry Department had military backing, its
plantation scheme crumbled, thanks to a strong grassroots land rights
movement.
It could be said the farmers' movement has become better organised
and politically forceful through past eucalyptus wars with the
government. Fighting the Chinese project will be just another round
in a battle for survival.
Incidentally, the farmers' movement is at its strongest in the
Northeast, where the Chinese are reportedly expected to grow 100,000
rai of industrial trees for the Thai government free of chargeFor
many Northeast forest villagers, the Chinese project is ironic.
During the communist insurgency, the Northeast was full of forests.
The military then encouraged villagers to clear the trees for
farmland in order to push out the China-backed communist renegades.
When the insurgency ended, the military reneged on its promise of
land ownership. And the authorities now want the villagers out, this
time in an effort to bring the Chinese in.
The elated government is talking about earning $1 billion from this
investment. It's this sort of policy greed that overlooks
environmental and human costs that has plunged our country into such
a deep mess.
For the record, the current forest rental rate is just 10 baht per
rai per year. Forest villagers want to pay the same cheap rents so
they can rid themselves of state hassles, but their appeals are never
heard.
No matter what the Thai authorities told the Chinese government about
business security, kicking the people off the land will not
circumvent resistance. Be prepared for farmer unrest.
*Sanitsuda Ekachai is AssistantEditor, Bangkok Post.