VZCZCXRO5455
PP RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHCHI #0109/01 2050955
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 240955Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1119
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1201

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CHIANG MAI 000109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAGR EAID ELAB SENV TH
SUBJECT: IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: HILL TRIBES, ENVIRONMENTALISM, 
AND POLITICS 
 
REF: A. CHIANG MAI 75 (NGOS ASSIST HILL TRIBES) 
     ¶B. 08 CHIANG MAI 140 (RELOCATIONS HURT HILL TRIBES) 
     ¶C. 08 CHIANG MAI 91 (REDUCED BURNING LESSENS POLLUTION) 
     ¶D. CHIANG MAI 84 (GEM SMUGGLING) 
     ¶E. 08 CHIANG MAI 114 (SMUGGLING OF BURMESE STONES) 
     ¶F. 07 CHIANG MAI 131 (MIXED HMONG PROGRESS) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000109  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
 
 
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Summary and Comment 
 
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¶1.  (SBU)  In northern Thailand, differing opinions of 
environmental cause and effect have led to highly charged 
debates about forest management policies, often pitting 
"conservationists" against agriculturally-dependent ethnic hill 
tribe minorities and their supporters.  The Royal Forest 
Department (RFD) has accused upland farmers of environmental 
mismanagement- highlighting the detrimental effects of 
"slash-and-burn" farming- and has implemented mechanisms 
intended to restrict their use of forests and watersheds.  This 
cable, part one in a series on highland agriculture and land 
tenure, will focus on the political ecology of forests in 
northern Thailand. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Comment:  Land use policies in northern Thailand have 
been framed in terms of environmental conservation, with 
particular emphasis placed on the slowing of deforestation and 
watershed degradation.  However, the environmental merits of 
some RTG policies, such as the establishment of plantation 
forests and the promotion of input-intensive cash crop 
agriculture, are questionable.  Thus, "Qen" policies, which 
demonize hill tribe farming techniques, have been used to 
reinforce state control of upland areas and to displace 
highlanders, some of whom are stateless and have little legal 
recourse.  There are, however, indications that the RFD has 
begun to see the importance of including upland dwellers in 
their environmental protection strategies.  End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
Geopolitics of Northern Thailand 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU)  In geopolitical terms, northern Thailand- and its many 
ethnic hill tribe minorities- have been characterized by both 
real and perceived communist sympathies during the Vietnam War. 
More recently, northern Thailand has been politically important 
because of its permeable borders with Laos and conflict-ridden 
Burma.  The porous nature of these borders, combined with the 
relative inaccessibility of the highlands, has contributed to 
illicit trade in opium, methamphetamines, and gems, as well as 
to cross-border migration (both legal and illegal) (ref D and 
E).  As a result, highland people have often been viewed as 
unruly liabilities for an otherwise stable state.  Hill tribe 
communities have also been seen as colorful tourist attractions, 
but, to many ethnic Thais, hill tribe people are ethnically 
distinct and not truly "Thai."  The influx of highland 
minorities from Burma in recent years has played into the RTG's 
(Royal Thai Government) national security concerns regarding 
illegal immigration and has contributed to the government's 
reticence to grant citizenship to many hill tribe people. 
 
 
 
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Ecological Importance of Northern Thailand 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶4. (U)  Northern Thailand also occupies an important ecological 
niche in Southeast Asia, as the north's bucolic forests provide 
many important ecosystem services for the rest of Thailand.  The 
headwaters of Thailand's primary river system, the Chao Phraya, 
lie in the northern uplands, and these waters play an important 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000109  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
role in irrigating Bangkok and the central plain.  As such, any 
degradation of the upland watersheds has an effect on the flow 
of water to central Thailand's agricultural fields, factories, 
and cities.  The central plain's dependence on upland watersheds 
has led to increased scrutiny of upland forests and those who 
inhabit them.  Part of Northern Thailand also forms a portion of 
the Mekong River Basin; land use practices that impact 
downstream water quality can have a negative effect on the 
inland fisheries that provide livelihood and food security for 
millions of Laotians, Cambodians and Vietnamese. 
 
 
 
¶5. (U)  Thailand's forested northern uplands house much of the 
country's biodiversity, and logging and other methods of 
deforestation are seen as direct threats to Thailand's natural 
heritage and eco-tourist economy.  While the RTG banned logging 
in 1989 after decades of unsustainable logging, it is now moving 
towards a policy of sustainable wood harvest coupled with a goal 
of 40 percent forest cover.  Illegal logging in poorly policed 
border areas remains a problem.  The agricultural techniques 
used by northern Thailand's highland farmers, most notably 
"slash-and-burn" farming, are often denounced by government 
officials, environmentalists, and the media as inefficient, 
wasteful, and destructive. As reported by post, provincial 
governments have recently taken a more active role in reducing 
crop burning (ref C).  Since 2007, Chiang Mai province has 
banned burning; enforcement, however, has been rather lax. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U)  Growing awareness of climate change has led to two-fold 
criticisms of highland agricultural techniques. 
"Slash-and-burn" farming is believed to destroy important carbon 
sinks (e.g. forests) while simultaneously releasing 
heat-trapping carbon into the atmosphere during the burning 
process.  In the last two years alone, there have been over 10 
articles criticizing slash-and-burn farming published in "The 
Nation," one of Thailand's leading English-language newspapers. 
 
 
 
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Hilltribe Agriculture: Sustainable or Not? 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶7. (U)  Conflicting views about what is pejoratively called 
"slash-and-burn" agriculture have also complicated efforts to 
create sustainable forest management policies in the north.  For 
decades, international agencies, national governments, and 
others have claimed that "slash-and-burn" techniques (also 
called "shifting cultivation") cause forest loss, soil erosion, 
sedimentation in the lowlands, an increase in global warming, 
and other forms of ecological degradation.  However, some 
academics have told pol staff that highland farmers, especially 
the Karen, have developed ecologically appropriate agricultural 
practices well suited to the sustainable management of forest 
resources. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (U)  Traditionally, the Karen (and some other highland 
farmers) practice rotational shifting cultivation where forest 
vegetation is felled and burned in the dry season.  Many farmers 
and environmental scientists believe that burning foliage before 
the onset of the rainy season releases nutrients into the soil 
and serves as a pest management technique, reducing the need for 
both fertilizer and pesticides.  These cleared and burned fields 
are cultivated for one or more years and then left to lie fallow 
for several years, allowing for re-growth of forest species. 
Hill tribe farmers carefully harvest crops from their cultivated 
fields and wild species from their fallow fields.  Post has been 
told that farmers typically rotate through 8-20 plots of land, 
cultivating one and letting the others lie fallow. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (U)  In meetings with pol staff, proponents of rotational 
shifting agriculture argue that this technique involves only 
temporary use of forest lands, while permanent settlements with 
fixed agricultural plots result in greater loss of species 
diversity and forest vegetation.  Others have also contended 
that the fallow periods so integral to shifting cultivation 
promote greater carbon sequestration and biodiversity 
conservation than do permanent agricultural techniques.  Fallow 
periods can also stabilize soils and allow forest animals to 
re-colonize previously cultivated areas. 
 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000109  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
 
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Environmental and Ethnic Conflict 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (U)  Environmental conflicts in northern Thailand have also 
taken on an ethnic dimension, as lowland farmers (primarily of 
ethnic Thai descent), accuse upland farmers (many of whom are 
hill tribe minorities) of contaminating water supplies and 
causing erosion.  However, distinctions are rarely this neat, 
and "lowland" Thai farmers now outnumber their hill tribe 
minority counterparts in the uplands. 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Popular conceptions of ethnic hill tribes have also 
been used to reinforce or refute particular environmental 
positions.  The Karen have often been held up as conservators of 
the natural environment, and their patterns of shifting 
cultivation have been viewed as an environmentally friendly 
alternative to commercial agriculture.  As such, NGOs and 
academics often highlight Karen practices when defending the 
right of highlanders to manage forest resources.  For example, 
one American study abroad program based in northern Thailand 
incorporates an in-depth examination of Karen farming techniques 
into a course on local ecological knowledge.  In the course, the 
Karen are used as an example of an ethnic group which has 
developed cultural adaptations well suited for forest 
ecosystems. 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU)  The Hmong, however, are often portrayed as upland 
villains, a reputation gained, in part, because of their 
association with opium cultivation and insurgency (ref F). 
Academics have told pol staff that environmentalists have heaped 
vitriol on the Hmong because of their use of pioneer shifting 
cultivation.  Unlike rotational shifting cultivation, pioneer 
shifting cultivation involves the clearing and burning of virgin 
forest plots.  These plots are farmed intensively for just a few 
years before diminishing soil fertility and increasing weed 
infestation force the farmer to move on to a new virgin forest 
plot.  Farmers rarely, if ever, reutilize a previously farmed 
plot. 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU)  The Hmong have also been criticized for their 
adoption of commercial agriculture.  The production of cash 
crops, such as cabbages or strawberries, usually requires more 
intensive use of fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides.  These 
agrochemicals can leach into water supplies, kill fish in river 
systems, damage soils, and even hamper crop production if used 
incorrectly.  Although the Hmong were encouraged to produce 
these cash crops (instead of opium) through the implementation 
of alternative development programs, they have now been accused 
of degrading natural environments. 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU)  Although ethnic stereotypes portray the Karen as 
forest conservators and the Hmong as forest villains, these 
monolithic categories are not entirely accurate.  Many Karen 
produce cash crops using environmentally problematic farming 
techniques and not all Hmong practice pioneer shifting 
cultivation.  True or not, ethnic stereotypes- some of which 
characterize all hill tribe farmers as troublesome, backwards, 
and destroyers of the fragile uplands- have been used as 
justification for more stringent forest regulations.  As such, 
the RFD has tended to view forests as needing protection from 
local people and has pursued policies which exclude highlanders 
from the forests on which they depend.  Indeed, the RFD has 
relocated villages found within the boundaries of newly-declared 
national parks and has arrested villagers for encroaching on 
protected forests (ref B). 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) In conversations with pol staff, several NGOs have 
highlighted apparent contradictions in RFD policies.  While 
small scale upland farmers have been accused of encroaching on 
national parks and protected forests, large tree and fruit 
plantations have been established in the uplands as part of 
larger reforestation strategies.  The environmental science 
surrounding tree and fruit plantations is fuzzy, and some 
scientists claim that these plantations will not help the RFD 
reach its environmental goals.  Tree plantations are heavy users 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000109  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
of water and may strain already fragile upland watersheds. 
Environmental scientists also argue that some forms of 
plantation forestry could increase erosion.  Thus, it seems as 
if political and economic factors play as large a role in RFD 
policy decisions as do ecological goals. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
RFD Starting to Encourage Community Participation 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶16. (U)  There are signs that the RFD has realized that it does 
not have the resources or manpower necessary to police all the 
protected forests in Thailand and that excluding local people 
from resource management undermines conservation goals.  The RFD 
has therefore looked for creative ways to educate communities 
about sustainable forest use and to reward them for efforts 
aimed at stemming deforestation.   In 2008, the RFD launched the 
"Love the Forest and the Community Program," an education 
initiative and competition designed to encourage local villagers 
to develop sustainable practices for forest use.  The RFD, in 
conjunction with the Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding 
Company, will grant a trophy and a 200,000 baht (US$5,882) prize 
to the community which develops the most systematic preservation 
plan for their forests. 
 
 
 
¶17. (U)  Communities must consider the ecological, economic and 
social aspects of their forest preservation plans. The Khao Wong 
community forest in Chaiyaphum became the winner of the first 
national contest in 2008 with a plan that decreases 
deforestation by phasing out charcoal production.  Currently, 
there are over 7,300 community forests registered with the 
program, and 700 community forests are expected to enter the 
2009 competition. 
 
 
 
¶18. (U)  In Tak province, forest patrols are now joint 
undertakings made up of forest rangers and villagers from local 
Karen communities.  The Eastern Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife 
Sanctuary is home to seven Karen communities, and Karen 
villagers help the patrols look for evidence of illegal logging, 
hunting, or cattle-gazing.  The forest patrols also report on 
wildlife sightings.  According to the chief of the Eastern 
Thungyai Naresuan forest division, involvement of local 
communities has made forest patrols more effective.   Reports of 
illegal activities have decreased; large animal sightings have 
increased; and communication between forestry officials and 
local communities has improved. 
 
 
 
¶19. (U)  This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Bangkok. 
ANDERSON