| MAIN PICTURE, COVER: His Majesty advocates reforestation and forest conservation to ensure a steady supply of water for consumption and cultivation. CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: His Majesty frequently travels to remote areas in order to meet the people and gain a first-hand understanding of their problems. When Bangkok was hit by flooding, His Majesty observed how water flows in the capital’s canals and waterways, and he subsequently came up with several schemes to help protect the urban environment. This drawing is a bird’s eye impression drawn by His Majesty from the air of a royal project on the Kam River in Nakorn Panom. Their Majesties the King and Queen appreciate the beauty of unspoiled nature. |
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All newly industrialized countries must struggle to manage
the negative effects that rapid economic and industrial
growth can have on natural resources and the environment.
Thailand is no exception. From 1960 through to the
onset of the economic crisis in 1997, the Thai economy
grew at an average rate of seven percent per year. But what
environmental costs were incurred from such rapid growth?
Where 53 percent of Thailand’s total land mass was
forested in the early 1960s, just 26 percent remained in
1993. Over the past three decades, an average of 3.3 million
rai of forested areas were destroyed each year. Soil, water
and air quality have suffered similar degradation.
But who is to blame?
Responsibility for environmental degradation is in the
hands of every citizen. Be they rich or poor, rural or urban,
members of highland hill tribes or lowland farmers, the
cumulative impact of over exploitation of a fragile affects
everyone.
What can we do?
There is one voice that everyone in the nation listens to.
The King’s annual birthday speech has always tended to
focus on issues related to the environment and economic
development. What follows is an excerpt from a speech
delivered by His Majesty to an audience of well-wishers on
December 4, 1993.
“The problem is that, when the rains come, there are floods and the water must be drained swiftly. When the
water is gone, a water shortage follows soon after. Therefore,
the retention of water is important. Even in the South,
water resources are inadequate. On this subject, I will let<
you think for yourselves where the water should be retained
because any location will lead to protests. We don’t want to
be confronted with protests; they are tiring and useless.
“
But the fact is, if we can retain water, a flood like the
present one will be less severe, and in the dry season, which
is two or three months from now, when the rain will be
scarce, the stored water can be released for cultivation,
even for rice cultivation.
“Therefore, if we are thinking of water management for
the end of the year, we must think ahead. And if we don’t
think in this way, if we think only the short term, we will
encounter both the danger of flooding and the danger of
drought, as we are at the present time. That is why we have
to think carefully.”
On December 4, 1989, His Majesty said in his speech to
birthday well-wishers: “Just the other day we were saying
that water will soon be scarce in Thailand. There will be no
water left and we would have to buy water from other
countries. That could be possible. But I believe it won’t
happen. If we calculate the amount of water flowing in
Thailand, there’s still sufficient water around. It only needs
to be well managed. With good management, we will have
plenty of water…”
Five years later, on December 4, 1994, His Majesty spoke
along similar lines: “Every year some things change while
others remain the same. If you compare this year with the
last, there have been many changes. Last year I talked
about drought and flood. We had severe drought and some
flooding. This year, we have some drought and severe floods.
That’s the major difference.”
Development of water resources is clearly a subject HM
holds most dear to his heart. “…Importantly, we must
have water. Because water is crucial for consumption and
agricultural uses, our lives depend on it. If there is water,
we can live. If there is no water, we cannot live. If there is
no electricity, we can still survive. If there’s electricity but
no water, then we cannot survive…”
HM advocates for reforestation and forest conservation
as dual means to ensure a steady supply of water for
consumption and cultivation.
“To preserve watersheds for eternity, it is important that
we maintain and replant forests in watershed areas,” said
His Majesty in one of his speeches.
His Majesty is frequently sighted traveling to remote
rural areas in order to meet the people and gain a firsthand
understanding of their problems. Indeed, The King
has rightfully earned a reputation as a “working monarch”.
Pho Luang Jorni Odoshau recalls fondly a cool February
day some 15 years ago when two visitors came to his high
mountain village.
The visitors were none other than His Majesty and HRH
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who had traveled all the
way to Ben Nong Tao, located some 1,100 metres above sea
level in Chiang Mai’s Mae Wang district. Both were on
hand to inspect a site where His Majesty had earlier initiated
construction of a dike and widening of an existing
stream in order to facilitate delivery of adequate supplies
of water for irrigation and personal consumption.
For the people of highland Karen tribe, the project represented
a clear and concrete manifestation of His Majesty’s
kindness to his subjects across the land. The hill-tribe
villagers started a “tree ordaining” programme with the
aim to ordain 50 million trees in the catchment areas of the
northern mountains as a way to thank HM for his kindness.
Tree ordinations involve the adaptation of the Buddhist
monk ordination ritual for use on trees.
Pho Luang Jorni explains that ordaining a tree would
allow forests which have deteriorated over the years to
grow back undisturbed. The ideas grew from HM’s advice,
said the Karenni headman.
“The King said a couple of years ago that we should
leave degraded forests alone, not to disturb them, and they
will regenerate on their own.”
According to HM, reforestation projects should focus on
three types of useful trees. First, fuel woods, such as krathin
thepa, should be cultivated for household use. The availability
of this wood would prevent villagers from cutting
down trees in the wild. Second, fruit-bearing trees, such as
mangoes should be planted for consumption. And finally,
trees that have commercial value like yang na or teak should
be planted so that villagers can use or sell them as construction
materials.
“What His Majesty tries to do is to revive the ecology
through attention to the interdependence between the
soil, water supplies, and forested areas,” said Kriengsak
Hongto, director of the Khao Hin Son Royal Development
Study Centre in the eastern province of Chachoengsao.
“Water is particularly important. It is a life-giving force.
The King always told us that we have to reforest the highland
area as it provides an important source stored water
for us.”
But the task is not accomplished by planting a lot of
trees. For the King, reforestation necessitates a thorough
understanding the interdependency between humans and
their environment.
“Some people wonder why I became interested in irrigation
or forestry,” His Majesty said in one of his speeches
30 years ago. “I remember that when I was 10 years old, a
science teacher who is now dead taught me about soil
conservation. We had to write: ‘There must be forest on the
mountain or the rain will erode the soil and damage the
mountain surface.’
“This is a fundamental fact of soil and forest conservation
and of irrigation. If we fail to maintain the highland
forest, we will have problems ranging from soil erosion to
sedimentation in dams and in rivers. Both can lead to floods.
I have understood these relationships since I was 10.”
Since 1974 His Majesty has launched several reforestation
projects. The work is now being jointly coordinated by
his Chaipattana Foundation and the Princess Mother’s
Mae Fah Luang Foundation.
Among his many initiatives, The King’s plan for land
allocation, called “The New Theory,” has been widely practiced.
Finding that most farmers possess an average of 10
to 15 rai of land, His Majesty suggested that individual
plots be divided into four portions. A farm pond, a rice
field, and fruit and fuel wood trees would each take up 30
per cent of the land. The remaining10 percent land would
be allocated for a house, roads, vegetable gardens and
animal farming.
With this “30-30-30-10” formula, the farmer would have
adequate water for household and agricultural uses. With
fish from the pond, rice from the field and fruit and fuel
wood from the trees, farmers become totally self-sufficient
and may even produce enough to sell for extra income.
His Majesty’s idea of tree planting represents a compromise
between forestry officials’ practice of clear-cutting
and then re-planting the same species of tree as one would
on a farm, and the deep ecologists’ belief that formerly
forested areas should be left to regenerate themselves.
“Never peel the land,” His Majesty told officials from the
Office of the Board of the Royal Development Projects in
an address on the subject of reforestation techniques. “Don’t
plough away the surface soil as you have been doing. It
depletes the fertile top soil and the survival rate of seedlings
is very low. Up to 80 per cent of them die.”
Understanding the need to conserve and improve soilconditions, His Majesty
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CLOCKWISE, FROM
TOP LEFT: His Majesty’s hand-drawn map of a water management project for the Irrigation Department. His Majesty introduces cash crop agriculture through the Royal Project for the hilltribes in place of their traditional slash-and-burn agriculture. ‘To preserve watersheds for eternity, it is important that we maintain and replant forests in watershed areas,’ said His Majesty in a speech. While playing in a Swiss forest as a boy, His Majesty shows his keenness for water management by building a dam with clay. During visits to rural areas in the 1960s, their Majesties the King and Queen saw with their own eyes the problems plaguing the environment that led them to initiate many royal conservation projects. Rather than focus on poverty alone, His Majesty integrated environmental conservation into his development initiatives. CENTER: His Majesty records his observations while on a trip with Her Majesty the Queen. |
urges farmers to use buffaloes or cows instead of tractors to plough rice fields. He also advocates that farmers plant a variety of fruit and fuel wood trees, using as many indigenous species as possible.
His Majesty discourages the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides, urging the farmers to grow plants which can be made into natural insecticides and to use only organic fertilizers in their fields. He also cautioned against the application of weed killers or herbicides. He warned that farmers should never use these chemicals because they are extremely dangerous. These toxic substances, once applied are left in the soil for a very long time.
Following the His Majesty’s advice, many of Thailand’s farmers have practiced for years what environmentalists now call “integrated farming.”
Another of his many great initiatives was his introduction in 1991 of vetiver grass as a natural deterrent to soil erosion and excessive water run-off. The hardy grass also stores nitrogen, conserves moisture in the soil and prevents toxic substances from reaching water sources.
Vetiver planting has been employed in various locations. Its presence has proved useful mainly near reforestation projects, on roadsides, in areas prone to soil erosion, at land fill sites, in flatlands, around the edges of ponds and reservoirs and on farms.
His Majesty’s vetiver grass initiative has received worldwide attention and acclaim. In 1996 Thailand won the honor of being the host of the First International Conference on Vetiver.
In response to the Royal initiative, more than 30 agencies from the government and private sectors are working together to conduct studies, research and field experiments. His Majesty has constantly kept himself apprised of the progress of projects under development and has provided additional guidelines to improve the results. Already, vetiver has been the subject of more than one hundred research projects.
To His Majesty, environmental conservation is not a matter of conservation for its own sake, Dr Sumet Tantivejkul, Secretary-General of the Chaipattana Foundation explained. “The word conservation by itself denotes a very narrow meaning.” An important element is the principle of management, and of taking into account the interdependency between human beings and natural resources.”
Human beings have a need to exploit natural resources while ensuring that they will be available for future generations. The problem is how to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.
The philosophy and principles underlying His Majesty’s activities have been preached by environmentalists for years: reforestation by allowing forests to regenerate themselves; integrated farming; appropriate technology; moderation in living and agricultural development; the belief that local villagers are best suited to maintain and benefit from the forests in which they live; use of natural methods to fight pollution such as using water hyacinth to treat polluted water; and aversion to using chemical fertilizers and insecticides.
Some uncertainties still surround the much-debated issue of dam construction. Generally His Majesty supports small scale widely distributed irrigation projects for the alleviation of immediate problems faced by farmers. In his New Theory scheme, he proposes a three-tiered irrigation system that utilizes individual ponds, a community reservoir, and a larger basin.
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These small- and medium-scale water storage facilities, His Majesty notes, will act as “rain water regulators”, meaning that the reserves will compliment the use of natural water supplies during the dry season or in times of drought. When the water level drops too low in one of the water collection facilities, it will be replenished, through extensive pipeline systems, from the next one up.
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There are occasions, however, when His Majesty has suggested
building large dams. Much as he is aware of opposition to dam building
on the grounds that it permanently destroys already dwindling
forests, according to his trusted aide on development, Dr Sumet, His
Majesty feels that the benefits for farmers and the country as a whole
out-weigh the loss of some part of the forest. In certain areas and in
certain situations, small-scale water storage is impracticable or inappropriate.
Large-scale dams are therefore necessary. The key is to
have the appropriate planning and good management to gain maximum
benefits.
Sometimes, a certain amount of investment is required before
benefits can be realized. Sometimes “Our loss is our gain.”
“In building a dam, we have to sacrifice a portion of forest land
which is our loss. But we gain water and farmers gain crops. The
question is whether fears of environmental damage can be allayed.
“The answer is we can [mitigate some of our losses]. For example,
some of the water can be used for reforestation, and we can re-plant
more trees than we will lose. But whether it will succeed depends on
implementation,” said Dr Sumet.
His Majesty’s concerns for the people are not directed solely to those
living in the rural areas. In urban areas, he has provided advice on
how to alleviate and resolve the traffic and flooding problems that
have been affecting the lives of city residents for decades.
“His Majesty’s concern for Bangkok residents and their plight over
traffic is ongoing and often not displayed publicly,” said a senior city
official. Apart from making recommendations and being asked for
advice, the official continued, His Majesty’s awareness of the hardships
caused by traffic is personal. In July 1995, when the late Princess
Mother was undergoing treatment at Siriraj Hospital, His Majesty
would make frequent visits. But these visits were scheduled so as not
to affect the traffic and the people. His Majesty would go either very
early in the morning or late at night.
His Majesty’s approach to city traffic problem is holistic and thus
similar to the approach he adopts when dealing with such national
issues as rural development, education, public health or the environment.
The then Bangkok City Clerk, Prasert Samalapha, had dealt
with flood prevention and traffic management in Bangkok for several
years. Mr Prasert said that His Majesty’s strategies to solve traffic and
flooding encompass human, social and environmental factors.
In 1980 Bangkok experienced one of the worst floods in its history.
The city was virtually paralysed, and many areas were under metredeep
water. Some areas of the eastern suburbs around
Ramkhamhaeng Road were submerged for more than a month.
Some local citizens used Army trucks and flat-bottom boats to make
their daily commute.
City officials were at a loss as how to control the floods as water
from the north reached Bangkok at the same time as tides peaked in
the Gulf of Thailand. His Majesty suggested that dikes should be built
at various points along the river to stem the rising tide. Few saw the
importance of this advice then, said Mr Prasert. Only after serious
flooding struck again in 1983 did authorities rush in to build the
structures. Bangkok has faced many instances of heavy rain and flooding
since then, but overall the inner city and even the previously
flood-prone eastern suburbs, have remained relatively unscathed.
In 1995, said Mr Prasert, His Majesty’s assistance and advice again
saved the city from inestimable damage. “I have to admit that without
the King helping with the handling of the floods, the city would
not have been able to contain them, and inestimable damage would
have resulted for the country.”
The numerous speeches and initiatives of His Majesty clearly reflect
his deep concerns about the environmental problems currently facing
Thailand and its people. As a result, public and private organizations
readily rally behind efforts to respond to His Majesty’s calls for conservation
and protection of the environment. Myriad projects,
campaigns, foundations, associations and groups have been formed
to promote environmental awareness and conservation of natural
resources. To affirm Thailand’s strong commitment to the cause of
conservation as led by its beloved monarch, The Ministry of Science,
Technology and Environment has hence declared December 4 as
Thai Environmental Day.
| CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT:Their Majesties the King and Queen on a rural visit in the 1960s. ✦ His Majesty’s approach to solving Bangkok’s traffic problems is similar to the approach he adopts when dealing with other issues, with the overall solution encompassing social and environmental factors. ✦ His Majesty’s advice for solving both traffic and flood problems have been sought after for decades by officials. ✦ ‘Trisadee Mai’ (The New Theory) reads this sign on a plot demonstrating His Majesty’s land allocation plan. ✦Water hyacinth is used to naturally filter polluted water. |
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