Environment and land

Foreign investors are still confident about Thai economic prospects, but fret over the connectivity between the current government’s flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and related infrastructure developments, anti-corruption policy and the direction of free trade agreements (FTAs). Keep reading ...

Landowners will be able to cut down up to 171 “reserved” and “rare” timber species growing on their properties without having to seek permission from the authorities, once an amendment to the Forest Act is published in the Royal Gazette in the next two months.Keep ...

The cabinet has approved a rice insurance scheme for the 2019 season worth 1.74 billion baht, aiming to cover 30 million rai of farmland. The scheme, operated by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), covers six types of natural disaster — floods, drought, ...

The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has asked that farmers observe its water supply plan, after finding that 5.28 million rai of off season rice crops are planned in the Chao Phraya river basin, 10 percent beyond its intended supply.Keep reading ...

Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, a 1.7 trillion baht (US$54.2 billion) development heavily reliant on Chinese backing, should emerge unscathed by the kingdom’s pre-election political turmoil, analysts say.Keep reading ...

The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Policy Committee was informed of 86 projects being rolled out in Thailand’s east coast between 2018 to 2020 and plan to introduce as many as a million skilled workers over the next 12 years to feed industries in the EEC ...

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) made the right decision in backing down on the Rice Bill fight, removing controversial content which drew hefty criticism. It agreed to take out a contentious section that prohibits the trade of rice seeds which are not approved under requirements ...

The long-awaited Forest Community Bill has finally been approved by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), putting an end to campaigns by environmentalists and villagers – dating back almost three decades – to have more say in the designation of green areas.Keep reading ...

Consumer groups have vowed to ramp up their campaign to force the national committee on hazardous substances to ban three hazardous farm chemicals immediately, not in another two years. Comprising 686 civic groups, they have come together under the banner of the Thai Pesticides Alert ...

Deputy Prime Minister General Chatchai Salikulya would not say directly if the plan to build the controversial Mae Wong dam in order to prevent floods and save the drought-plagued Lower Sakae Krang basin would be scrapped, but he affirmed that concerned parties had at least ...