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โครงการหนังสืออิเล็กทรอนิกส์ด้านการเกษตร เฉลิมพระเกียรติพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว
During the third period (1982-2002), the royal projects became registered as the Royal Project
Foundation. Meanwhile, a number of development projects under the royal initiatives were
implemented in several highland areas. In addition, the cabinet also approved the Highland
Development Masterplan on 13 May 1989, the First Master Plan for Community
Development, the Environment, and Addictive Plant Control on the Highlands (1992-1996),
followed by the Second Master Plan (1997-2001) and the Third and last Master Plan (2002-2006).
During the fourth period from 2003 until the present, Highland Research and Development
Institute (Public Organization) was set up in 2004 to support royal projects and diffuse the
knowledge from the royal projects, with sustainable development as the fundamental goal.
In 2006, the Watershed Conservation Projects, an Initiative of Her Majesty the Queen were
implemented in 10 river basins in Northern Thailand. After the implementation of the Third
Master Plan for Community Development, the Environment, and Addictive Plant Control on
the Highlands (2002-2006) was finished, the cabinet had a resolution to transfer the
operation to relevant government agencies. Later in 2009, the Pid Thong Lang Phra
Foundation was established, as well as the Pid Thong Lang Phra Promotion and
Development Institute. In 2010, the Master Plan for Scaling Up Royal Projects to Solve
Problems in Opium Production Areas was developed for Phase One (2010-2013) and Phase
Two (2014-2018). After Phase Two was finished, the name was changed to the Masterplan for
Highland Development following Royal Projects to Solve Problems in Specific Areas, Phase
Three (2019-2021). During the fourth period, state-owned enterprises became involved in
reforestation and building weirs, as well as supporting highland communities to change
occupations from growing crops to growing forest trees instead.
The results from managing the highlands in the four periods in the past 60 years indicate that
some programs and projects have been successful in solving the seven problems mentioned
above. These include highland development projects under the royal initiatives,
development projects of the Royal Project Foundation, the Pid Thong Lang Phra Foundation,
the Watershed Conservation Projects, an Initiative of Her Majesty the Queen, and several
other projects initiated by various government agencies. Some ongoing projects are currently
implemented step-by-step. However, a large number of highland areas in the country remain
without development projects, so the seven problems still persist until now. The degrees of
the problems vary from place to place.
From the review of the state of knowledge on highland management, 10 key lessons can be
drawn that could be used as policy guidelines in the future, as follows: (1) Lack of a nation-
wide highland development master plan; (2) Lack of a committee that coordinates overall
highland development activities; (3) Certain policies with specific agricultural development
and land-use objectives have impact on the highlands; (4) Policies cannot address problems
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