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Executive summary

This study analyzed knowledge of environmental politics to address the question of
whether and how the existent research supports the environmental movement in Thailand.
The research methods were as follow.
1) A systematic review of 195 research studies concerning environmental politics

drawn from Thailand and an international database in order to represent the body of
knowledge about environmental politics in Thailand and abroad from the past to present;
2) Interviews with 13 experts on issues relevant to the evolution of environmental
politics, successful cases, obstacles, critical environmental issues that need urgent resolution,

and recommendations to improve environmental politics;
3) Focus group discussions in the Northern, Central, Northeastern, and Southern
regions of Thailand with 49 practitioners from government, civil society, and academic sectors.
The findings showed that the three priority long - term problems that need urgent

responses are pollution, natural resources, and environmental justice.
In terms of the pollution issue, the critical problems are smog or PM2.5, and waste.
However, the database held only limited studies about PM2.5 management although this

problem is tending to increase in severity and frequency.
Critical concerns on natural resource issues evident from the research are protection
of forest areas and participatory forest management, as well as collaborative water resource
management among various sectors. These topics still lack study of common pool resource
management, which is one approach to achieving sustainable development goals.

Environmental justice is the third critical issue found in this study. Even though
people’s rights and participation are mentioned in the constitution, the relevant laws and
mechanisms still limit the people’s rights and participation. Therefore, there should be further

review and study of relevant laws and tools.
The important challenge of meeting sustainable development goals requires
collaboration of institutions and actors in society. However, in terms of linkages to sustainable
development goals, environmental politics study in Thailand still lacks approaches or

measures to enable all sectors to participate in decision-making, including coordinating
relationships among government, people, and relevant sectors. Therefore, Thailand should
establish a system to ensure that relevant sectors in society engage in decision-making to
develop the country.

The researchers propose the following policy and practical recommendations
according to the findings of the research.
In terms of policy recommendations, the government should formulate a sustainable
development policy with comprehensive participation from various sectors from each part of

the country. The goal of development is balancing economic, social, and environmental pillars

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