Bangkok Post features Op-Ed piece authored by RECOFTC's Warangkana Rattanarat

Thailand's cabinet approved the much anticipated draft of the community forest bill this past May, leaving many hopeful of the administration's future policy towards forest management. "When this proposed law comes into effect it will help villagers earn income and eventually extricate them from poverty," said General Surasak Karnjanarat, the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, of the bill. This announcement comes after the highly visible protests of P-Move in Bangkok, as well as the protests in Chiang Mai over a controversial housing project on Doi Suthep. 

But is this the new era of forest management that has been promoted by many of the civil society organizations throughout Thailand? 

Warangkana Rattanarat, RECOFTC's Program Director for Thailand, is cautiously optimistic.

She explains her position in an opinion piece published by the Bangkok Post.