Publication Code: N12

GIS Applications in Thailand

Identifying areas that can potentially serve as land reform locations should be among the first steps in any Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) project. The decision as to which locales become land reform  areas determines subsequent policy--policy which when implemented, can directly affect the lives of some of the poorest families in the Kingdom. In so far as long term institutional planning and policy is concerned, foreknowledge of potential project areas is of critical importance. Budgets, personnel manning tables, and political or implementation strategy are all influenced by the amount of work that the responsible authorities perceive is to be done. For a land-based agency such as ALRO, the perceived magnitude of work is directly related to the area of land and the circumstances existing on that land. A sound grasp of the actual scope of its work is therefore necessary for ALRO to play a successful role in land reform.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS's) are one type of technology that may serve to furnish land reform policy makers with the information they need to set effective policy. This technology has been successfully demonstrated in a number of application studies throughout Thailand. It has been used to create land use plans for Chiang Mai province, in northern Thailand; to select potential areas for intensive shrimp aquaculture in Songkhla province, southern Thailand; locate sites for fast growing tree plantations in eastern Thailand; and to site industrial waste disposal landfill sites in Ratchaburi. The recent advent of inexpensive microcomputer-based GIS's has enabled many small organizations to access and apply this technology--in Thailand the list is constantly growing. The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), RFD, National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), Mekhong Committee (UN), Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Kasetsart University (KU), Prince of Songkhla University (PSU), Chulalongkorn University (CU), Chiang Mai University (CMU), Khon Kaen University (KKU), and the Department of Land (DoL) are all now making use of GIS technology, a technology that has proven itself effective in the management of natural resources throughout the world.

November 1989