Mapping nature: Territorialization of forest rights in Thailand

Abstract

In Thailand, as elsewhere, the administrative definition of forest has changed from one based on classification by species to one based on territory. This process was an important facet of the more general process by which the central government claimed a monopoly on the administration of property rights to natural resources. The process took place in three stages: First, the government declared that all territory not claimed by permanent cultivators or other government agencies was forest under the jurisdiction of the Royal Forestry Department. Second, it demarcated the forests into reserve and protected forests. Third, it mapped all forest land as well as nonforest land according to land use classifications, which became the basis for policies to control occupation and use. These strategies did not allow for local input into land use planning. As a result of this lack of state capacity, and interbureaucratic competition, the Thai government failed to control rural land use.