Publication Code: Y86C
Just over ten years ago, in 1976, the Royal Thai Government clearly stated its concern about the developing pressures on Thailand's natural resource base. "The deterioration in the environmental condition of major natural resources, particularly our forest, land, water and mineral resources," the Third National Economic and Social Development Plan concluded, "is a fundamental problem which has considerable consequences both for national survival and Thailand's future development potential."
One reason for embarking on the present Natural Resources Profile was to clearly identify what those consequences are likely to be. This has been done, with the help of leading experts in the various fields. Successive chapters review the current status of our land, water, forest, nature conservation, mineral, mangrove and fishery resources. These chapters also look at the legal and institutional framework influencing resource management in each area, and highlight some of the most important emerging trends and issues. The environmental quality dimension is then explored in four further chapters, focusing on air and noise, water, wastes, and accident prevention.
Following this careful scrutiny of the current status of Thailand's natural resources and environment, the final section of the Profile considers the strategies that are now needed to begin the transition toward sustainable forms of development. But what is sustainable development? The basic idea is that natural resource management and development projects can be designed in such a way that the social, economic and ecological benefits which flow from those resources can be sustained into the foreseeable future. As for practical guidance on how to achieve sustainable development, there are many sources of advice to call upon, but in many areas Thailand will be pioneering approaches which will find much wider application around the world.
By building the resulting programs around local people in specific areas, we must not only convince them that development and conservation can go hand in hand, but provide practical, working examples. People are more inclined to believe what they have seen with their own eyes and experienced in their own lives, rather than what they are told in massive public education programs.
The days of carefree exploitation and destruction of Thailand's natural resources are numbered. The ultimate test of the sustainability of Thai development, however, will be the extent to which a fair, equitable and acceptable balance can be struck between the needs of the country's urban populations, particularly the population of Bangkok, and the needs of the rural populations. This represents a most formidable challenge, but one we must face up to and tackle.
The most uncomfortable element is time. Our population growth, though slowing somewhat during the last decade, will not wait for us to catch up. Its momentum is strong and getting stronger. A growing population is demanding increased living standards and real hope for the future. We cannot return the babies born to us in order to enjoy more resources per capita. We can aim to implement more effective population control programs, but we also must investigate the potential for using technologies which are less polluting and more efficient in converting natural resources, whether they be energy, water or raw materials, into the goods and services we all need.
The following chapters underscore the fact that the challenge we now face is more serious than at any previous time in our country's history. We should not be overwhelmed by these problems seeking instead to anticipate them and react in good time.
Our future is our own hands. It ca be a sustainable future, if that, is what we decide we want. But it is vital that we are all committed to the transition that is clearly now needed. Only if sustainable development wins the support of the broad mass of the public will Thailand have a real chance of moving progressively into the twenty-first century and beyond.
December 1986