Page 13 -

โครงการหนังสืออิเล็กทรอนิกส์ด้านการเกษตร เฉลิมพระเกียรติพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว

A key problem with water management in Thailand is the lack of public participation from the
initial stage of project initiation. Limited public participation, together with the ecological impacts of
water projects, led to public opposition to the government’s water policies, including the opposition to
construction projects of large water sources, such as Namjone Dam, Kaeng Krung Dam, Kaeng Suea Ten
Dam, Mae Wong Dam, etc. Public opposition also targeted at water charging in irrigated agriculture and
the Water Resources Bill.
Regarding Thailand’s current water capacity, the natural water flow is estimated at an average
of 285,227 million cubic meters, 102,139 of which is used. Under current situations, an additional
amount of 49,610 million cubic meters needs to be provided, which indicates a shortage of water.
Water demand in B.E. 2570 is estimated to increase by 5,079 million cubic meters for household
consumption, tourism, and industrial production. This shows that the water shortage problem will
intensify in the future. In addition, flooding and water quality problems are also expected to become
more severe.
The reasons for the ten problems stated above, as well as the public opposition to the
government’s water policies, are fivefold: (1) unstable political situations and limited power to
advocate for solutions; (2) social conditions with limited public participation leading to public
opposition to the government’s projects to develop water resources; (3) limited budget to develop
water resources; (4) numerous institutes and agencies relating to water resources, but no integration
among them; and (5) inadequate academic information that is acceptable to the society for developing
water resources and disaster warning. All of these five factors are caused by the management structure
of water resources that are not appropriate for solving problems.
The research team hence proposes that the management structure for water resources should
adopt the “citizen-state” approach based on the principle of joint participation by the public sector,
the private sector, and civil society. The key agencies in this management structure include the
National Water Resources Committee, the Secretariat Office of the National Water Resources
Committee, the National Water Information Center, the River Basin Committees, and the Sub-River
Basin Sub-Committees. These principles and management structure should be stated explicitly in the
main National Water Resources Act.

ฎ