|
1 |
2 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
|
|
5.1 |
International NGOs |
5 |
|
5.2 |
Local NGOs |
6 |
|
5.3 |
Networking among NGOs |
7 |
|
6 |
10 |
|
|
6.1 |
Development of NGOs in Northeastern Thailand |
10 |
|
6.2 |
NGOs in northern Thailand |
10 |
|
7 |
12 |
|
|
7.1 |
General conclusions |
12 |
|
7.2 |
Co-operation with RETA 5771 |
14 |
|
15 |
||
The aim of this country report is to get an understanding of the development of NGOs in Thailand today and with main focus on local organisations of interest for the project in its second planning phase and during implementation. The report is partly based on a review prepared as one of the special NGO tasks in connection with the first planning phase of RETA 5771. This review, which will be separately published, deals with NGOs working with poverty alleviation and watershed management in some selected watershed areas in North Eastern Thailand and also gives a thorough picture of the development of NGOs in Thailand.
NGOs have participated in development activities in Thailand for more than thirty years. The first NGOs concentrated on health, literacy and economic activities as a means of promoting overall human development. Their activities targeted mainly rural areas. In the late 80’s the growing concern for the degradation of natural resources involved the NGOs in matters relating to sustainable uses of resources. The close association of livelihood issues with environmental degradation has added environmental aspects to community development.
While many NGOs are concentrating on agriculture, others are emphasising natural resources and environmental management. Advocacy NGOs play an important role in protecting the natural resources and the environment. Some of them deal with policy matters (e.g. Foundation for Ecological Recovery), or they form expertise groups (e.g. Wildlife Fund Thailand) others are more research-oriented (e.g. Thailand Environment Institute) or work with raising the environmental awareness (e.g. Thailand Environment and Community Development Association, TECDA).
The number of NGOs working in Thailand is not clear, but there are approximately 30 international organisations and approximately 10 000 local NGOs. Since Thai non-profit organisations encompass formal and informal groups, both temporary and permanent in nature, it is difficult to estimate accurately the number of development-oriented organisations at any given time. New organisations emerge and old ones disappear constantly. However, the number of foreign NGOs has decreased during the last few years as a result of the fast economic development of Thailand. Today’s radically changed economic situation has not brought back the international NGOs. Most NGOs work in the northern and Northeastern part of Thailand. Their activities go back to the 60’s.
The majority of the environmental NGOs, expected to be more than 200, are small organisations and exist in various forms: associations, foundations, research institutes, fora, groups, projects and committees. External funding is estimated to account for 70-90 % of the budget of most NGOs. This percentage is declining.
Thailand has in recent years strongly supported NGOs’ in their assistance to the national development and has integrated the participation of the private sector in the national development process. Local communities and non-governmental organisations take active part in the discussion on impacts on the natural resources and the environment and also participate in public hearings. Hence the NGOs also have a key role in monitoring the government’s performance. Despite the official respect for NGOs the relation between the non-profit sector and the state has been quite strained. The government has not developed strategies to monitor activities of non-profit organisations and look at the NGOs, and especially the grassroots and advocacy NGOs, with suspicion. Since 1992 the government has been allowing advocacy groups to operate.
The number of foreign NGOs has declined during the last few years as result of the fast economic development of Thailand. Today’s radically changed economic situation has not brought back the international NGOs.
Non-profit organisations are governed by the Civil and Commercial Code, which specifies the legal purposes and method of governance for non-profit organisations. Legally recognised and registered by Thai government are two entities: associations and foundations. Unregistered organisations, including development and religious groups, may or may not be recognised by the government, but do relate to Thailand’s non-profit sector, either as component or borderline entities.
Traditionally, foundations are established in honour of distinguished Thai citizens to provide welfare and relief assistance to the indigenous populations, as well as promote education, culture and preservation of the cultural heritage. More recently, foundations are being established for environmental protection and economic development as well. Foundations derive their revenues primarily from donations and/or fund raising drives. They are prohibited from engaging in profit-making activities.
In addition to the two types of organisations mentioned above, unregistered non-profit groups can be organised for specific purposes but do not retain legal standing. Such organisations are known as project or working groups, units, and forums. They tend to be small, and are dedicated in public welfare, community development, and campaign advocacy issues such as human rights, the environment and cultural promotion. They may, on occasion, combine under umbrella councils or co-ordinating communities.
Many developmental groups prefer not to register in order to avoid reporting requirements. Although all non-profit organisations are required to register, the National Cultural Commission, who registers associations and foundations, has neither the authority nor the manpower to monitor unregistered group. Thus, it cannot initiate any actions against those who do not register. At the moment there are not sufficient incentives to encourage groups to register. In the future when government funds for non-profit sector are made available in large enough amounts, and if the government requires that recipients must be registered organisations, many of the groups will register to qualify for funds.
The Enhancement and Conservation of National Environment Quality Act, B.E.2535 (ECNEQA-1992), provides a legal basis and gives policy guidelines to enhance interaction between government agencies and particularly the Environment Quality Promotion Department (EQPD) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE) and environmental NGOs on issues related to environment. It recognises the role of NGOs in the conservation of the environment, and spells out their rights and duties in the enhancement of national environmental quality.
The Act gives:
The Department of Environmental Quality Promotion is the registrar for the NGOs working in natural resources and environmental conservation. The registration is not compulsory, however those registered with the department can apply for financial support for development activities.
The International NGOs receive permission for a period of two years to undertake their activities, and there is no requirement to be linked to a Thai organisation. The NGO must follow the application agreement, the procedures specified by the NGO Co-ordinating Committee, and within the laws of Thailand. The International NGO must also evaluate the project and programme and submit a report detailing their progress every six-month period. If the International NGO does not follow the agreement, the committee can request their revision within a specified period. If the international NGO does not revise their activity in line with the committees recommendations the committee can cancel specified activities or terminate the entire programme.
Co-ordination and interaction between NGOs and the Royal Thai government has been established through both official and unofficial channels. The National Council of Social Welfare was set up as early as 1960 to co-ordinate development efforts of NGOs and the government sector. The National Council of Buddhist Youth Association and the Office of the National Committee on the Promotion and Co-ordination of Youth Affairs were formed to facilitate the dialogue between the government and NGOs in youth development efforts. A national level NGO-Co-ordinating Committee on Rural Development and NGOs networks in different regions was formed during the 1980’s, mainly to improve communications and co-ordination among NGOs. These networks also provide an important link between the NGOs and government agencies. (Thailand’s Action Plan for Sustainable Development, 1997).
Thailand has received foreign volunteers since 1961. The first overseas volunteer agency in Thailand was the British Voluntary Service Overseas, which sent its first volunteers in 1961, followed by the United States Peace Corps, the New Zealand Volunteer Service Abroad, the German Volunteer Service, the Canadian University Service Overseas, and the Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers. (Pitsamai Khanobdi, 1984).
Assistance during the first decade was mainly in the field of education. In addition, they assisted in public health projects such as malaria eradication and medical technology. In the area of community and rural development, the overseas volunteers worked on projects under the Community Development Department and the Public Welfare Department.
Assistance from the 1970s up to now has been more project-oriented. Overseas voluntary service assistance (in terms of number of volunteers) has diminished during the past two decades in the field of education but has increased in the field of rural development. During the same period, there has also been financial assistance to support various rural development projects
UNICEF, UNESCO, UNIFEM, WHO, and UNFPA are some of the international organisations supporting the activities of NGOs. Some are sectoral while others focus on specific target groups. These organisations have especially supported activities related to children and women. UNICEF was instrumental in implementing many of the activities for women and children at the grassroots level. UNESCO supports workshops and seminars more than action projects. UNIFEM has become more active in the Asian Region and set up and office at ESCAP a few years ago. Support for action research related to women is increasing. WHO and UNFPA support health-related and family planning projects more than other activities. UNDP and UNEP are very active in the environmental issues. Projects supported include reforestation, information dissemination, pollution control, etc.
In Thailand, bilateral funds have to go through the Department of Technical and Economic Co-operation (DTEC). Because of this requirement, non-profit organisations usually do not seek funds which are bilateral because it will require extra efforts to have the projects approved in terms of activities and amount of financial support for each category of activities.
There are several international non-government organisations who provide support to the non-profit sector in Thailand. E.g. several NGOs from Germany have offices in Thailand, including The Frederic Nauman Foundation, the Frederic Ebert Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Terre des Hommes. Others are The Ford Foundation, the Asia Foundation, CARE International, Save the Children Fund, OXFAM, CCF, PLAN in addition to church-based NGOs.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s some tension between government and non-government organisations was caused by suspicious feelings from Government side. Many government agencies were concerned that liberal non-profit organisations were being penetrated by foreign funders. Labour movements and advocacy activities were viewed as being initiated and financially supported from outside Thailand. This led to tightened rules and regulations
Today there are 27 international NGOs working in Thailand. These international NGOs can apply to become a foundation or association if they so wish, but they must specify a Thai citizen or organisation to be their representative to support this application. The number of international NGOs working in Thailand mainly reports organisations who have established an office in Thailand. The majority of international NGOs that organise seminars or training courses tend to organise these in the name of a Thai counterpart agency as the procedure is relatively simple. In reality this should be undertaken via the above mentioned procedure but in practice this rarely happens as reported in the records held for international NGO activities in Thailand.
The first Thai NGO, Thailand Rural Reconstruction Movement, was established in 1969. Today there are approximately 10 000 local NGOs with a wide diversity of interests. How many who actually are working with development matters is not clear. The Directory produced by Thai Development Support Committee in 1997 lists 465 NGOs. One of the most legitimate roles of the NGOs is to challenge the mainstream development trend and offer alternative appropriate methods of development.
Besides traditional NGO fields such as health and education, many NGOs support community development projects including the promotion of agro-forestry and environmental issues. The latter is included in the objectives of many NGOs.
The majority of the NGOs are small organisations with less than 10 members and few are registered. They exist as associations, foundations, research institutes, forums, groups, projects or committees, working with a holistic approach with the aim of reaching sustainable development. External funding is estimated to account for 70-90 % of the budget of most NGOs. This percentage is however declining and the NGOs have to find new means for funding their activities.
The constraints facing the NGOs are usually connected to:
Thai NGOs adhere to the local development strategy model and have expressed their view that development must be people centred. In summary, today there are five strategies for development:
Several ministries are involving themselves in NGO matters. Within the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives there is a NGO Liaison Office for agriculture and environment, and the Environmental Division of the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment has prepared a Directory of Environmental NGOs registered in accordance with the environmental law passed in 1992.
Co-operation with local government is done on voluntary basis as the local government organisations have no legislative requirements to work in co-operation with locally based NGOs and there is no formal structure which organises such co-operation, although the policy for local organisations promotes any co-operation that may occur.
The fairly recently established Tambon Administrative Organisation at subdistrict level offers possibilities for co-operation (Tambons being responsible for natural resources management) as does Village Committees were NGOs can provide a mechanism for introducing new ideas, developing local groups, to provide funding, for facilitating activities especially assisting villagers to propose activities to responsible government bodies.
The voice of the NGOs has been heard at many occasions and their views taken ad notam by the government. A nation-wide NGO umbrella organisation, however, does not exist. Networking among the NGOs themselves seems loose and more ad hoc. NGOs come together for a special issue, work on that for some time and float apart after finishing their tasks. This is especially true when it comes to advocacy, where lobbying and campaigning plays a big role. Some of the NGOs with stronger ties have, however, formed groups, such as e.g. NGO-Cord, Thai Volunteer Service Foundation, The Local Development Institute (LDI)/ Local Development Foundation (LDF) and Its Networks, and various informal networks.
NGO-CORD has approximately 220 member organisations, which may or may not be registered, NGO-CORD itself is not registered. The National Economic and Social Development Board encouraged and supported its formation, and NGO-Cord is now recognised by several government organisations and funding agencies as a major representative of the Thai NGO community. The government has asked it to actively participate in the formulation of the national 5-year plans as well as to serve as member of several working groups and subcommittees on various development issues. Because of its large membership and regional diversity, regional NGO-CORDs have been established for better co-ordination and flexibility.
Member organisations of NGO-CORD range from community research and development projects (e.g. the Community Research Project, attached to the Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University, and the Kilns for Palm Sugar Project promoted by the Prince of Songkhla University) to large national consortia such as the National Council of Women of Thailand.
Networks are established to co-ordinate work and to develop the strength of the participating organisations
There are approximately 40 member organisations that request volunteers and join in activities organised by TVS on a regular basis. They are thought of as TVS network members.
The original objective of the project was to establish an organisation to provide support to non-government organisations working on development activities. Since 1985, after establishing its reputation for volunteer training and institution building, TVS has shifted its activities more toward the co-ordination of non-profit organisations through the advocacy of development issues.
TVS works with other organisations to carry out research activities aimed at collecting baseline data to improve the planning of advocacy activities. TVS’s research and advocacy activities are often seen in the issues publicised by seminars and meetings organised jointly with academic institutions or other groups.
Through seminars and workshops, TVS and its partners try to influence certain government policies, such as policies on resource management, infrastructure construction, and the government’s decentralisation schemes. Finally TVS works closely with both the Local Development Institute and the NGO Co-ordinating Committee.
This umbrella organisation is an NGO co-ordination and management model that evolved from other trial models. In Thailand, bilateral funds have to go through the Department of Technical and Economic Co-operation (DTEC). Because of this requirement, NGOs usually do not seek funds which are bilateral because this will require extra effort to have the projects approved in terms of activities and amount of financial support for each category of activity. If the donor countries are determined to provide support for non-profit organisations bilaterally, they have to negotiate to set up a special mechanism to manage the funds.
The Local Development Institute (LDI) and the Local Development Foundation (LDF), LDI, were originally established as a project by the Canadian CIDA, to function as a Thai non-government organisation operating under Thai law, with a flexible and responsive mechanisms that allows it to co-ordinate various organisations and networks. LDI invites proposals for grassroots development activities annually. LDI has established networks of non-profit organisations working on grassroots development activities in the country’s different regions. In addition, LDI also works with regional universities on research projects identified as essential to the development of the region and the country.
In some areas networks are established on an informal basis. These networks rely upon organisations with similar ideology and a firm belief in the strengths and benefits of networking or working together Several are found within the environmental sector.
Environmental Protection and Conservation networks.
The rapidly increasing interest in environmental issues during the past decade has led to the formation of many environmental organisations. Some are based in the countryside while others are based in Bangkok. Most of the non-profit organisations working in environmental issues are newly established. They include, for example, the Thai Environment and Community Development Association, better known as " Magic Eyes"; the Sueb Nakasethien Foundation suicide for the cause of forestry conservation; the Project on Ecological Recovery, a vocal group that advocates environmental issues very actively; and many other groups who work for the conservation of specific areas.
There is no single organisation functioning as a co-ordinating body among NGOs working on environmental issues. When co-ordination is needed, they work via NGO-CORD or directly. Therefore, Thailand’s environmental groups have formed a coalition and several networks. The Environment NGO Coalition, founded in 1990, initiates action on certain issues. The number of members of the NGO Coalition group has reached more than 40, an increase from its initial membership of 32.
In 1995, a network of environmental NGOs was formed out of the Forum for Annual Reporting on Environment at the national level. The network is called Thailand Environment and Development Network (TEDNET).
Terra, which is a Bangkok-based environmental NGO works across the region with NGOs and peoples’ organisations in Burma, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. Mekong development is one focus of its work.
Forum of the People is a broad coalition of peoples’ organisations, women’s’ groups and rural development associations. In 1997, the organisation e.g. submitted recommendations to IMF on the economic crisis in Thailand.
The development of NGOs in the northeastern region had paralleled development in other regions up to the period of the Khmer rouge ascendancy in Cambodia, when international relief agencies stated operating in the border zone area. This led to the establishment of local NGOs in the region and resulted in a proliferation of organisations in the region. Gradually four development focus areas arose;
In 1984 the Local development Assistance Program (LDAP) was established to promote the formation of small locally based development organisations by providing funds. One year later in 1985 the NGO Co-ordinating Committee on Rural Development (NGO-CORD), Northeastern region was established. This network initially included 35 NGOs with a focus upon the provinces of Surin and Khon Kaen. Almost all of the members of this network relied upon funding from foreign donors; notably, CIDA, NOIB, CEBEMO, TERRE DES HOMME, MISEROR. This resulted in a second proliferation of local NGOs with NGO-CORD acting as advisor to introduce local groups to the LDAP funding process. The NGO-CORD organises a co-ordinating meeting each year for NGOs in the region.
In the northeast today there are approximately 10 small scale and numerous medium and large scale NGOs concerned with local communities and environmental problems. For example there are now 42 organisations working with communities for the promotion and development of community forestry in the region.
NGO movements in the North began with community development activities and with an emphasise on economic development. Later on environmental issues were included in the agenda and the promotion of community forests has become one of the major activities of environmental NGOs .
The most outstanding role is to strengthen peoples’ organisations and their networks with the aim making it possible for them to carry on a sustainable agricultural process and increasing the self-reliance capacity of the communities. (TEI, 1996).
Main fields of activities for the NGOs in northern Thailand are; agriculture, health and especially AIDS related issues and primary health care, children, youth and gender issues and natural resources management.
More than 100 NGOs are active in northern Thailand, most of them in Chiang Mai province. NGOs working in Chiang Rai province, which is of primarily interest for RETA 5771, are far less and some are listed in hereunder. Networking especially concerning environmental matters is vivid and several smaller umbrella organisations exist. NGO-CORD’s Northern region office is situated in Chiang Mai.
Source: Directory of Non-Governmental organisations 1997
The country report is based on interviews and the following literature:
A study on NGOs in North Eastern Thailand was carried out in end of 1998 by a local team. The aim was to get an understanding of the working climate of the NGOs and their capacity and interest to co-operate with the RETA 5771. The study is published as a separate report and this annex includes the summary result from the study.
The total number of environmental and development NGOs in the study area (Northern and Northeastern Region of Thailand) was 74 NGOs. 21 NGOs responded, the data presented is summarised from the respondents only.
|
No. |
Objectives |
% |
|
|
Promote and develop social and quality of life |
14 |
|
|
Develop human and PO to be strength |
12 |
|
|
Promote Integrated agriculture |
12 |
|
|
Promote other vocations which help farmers increase their incomes |
12 |
|
|
Develop farmers and rural social to be self-reliance |
10 |
|
|
Link the co-operation in form of CO in setting their goals, solving the problems and protecting their own and their communities’ benefits |
10 |
|
|
Promote villagers in sustainable natural resources management |
8 |
|
|
Provide farmers the opportunities to know the appropriated agricultural technology |
6 |
|
|
Promote CO to strengthen forest management |
4 |
|
|
Co-operation between Public and private sections in resources management |
4 |
|
|
Promote and develop leaders |
2 |
|
|
Promote and develop farmer group working |
2 |
|
|
Develop local environment and culture |
6 |
|
|
Total |
100 |
|
Registered Year |
Association |
Foundation |
Non registered |
Total |
|
1971-1980 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
1981-1990 |
|
|
|
9 |
|
1991-now |
|
|
|
9 |
|
Total |
4 |
10 |
7 |
21 |
|
Organisation’ s size |
No. of NGOs’ staff |
No. of NGOs |
Mean |
Range |
|
Small |
1-10 persons |
10 |
6.4 |
4-10 |
|
Medium |
11-20 persons |
6 |
14 |
12-17 |
|
Large |
20+ persons |
5 |
116.4 |
22-454 |
|
Total |
|
21 |
40.3 |
|
|
Answer |
No. of NGOs |
Note |
|
Yes with condition |
5 |
RETA must has the same objectives as the partner organisation. The partnership project with RETA must be in field in which the organisation has previous experience and the budget should be provided by RETA. Most organisations do not have adequate budget to support such counterpart projects |
|
Yes without condition |
13 |
|
|
No |
2 |
|
|
No answer |
1 |
|
|
Total |
21 |
|
|
Form of co-operation |
% |
|
|
1. Consultant |
25.64 |
|
|
2. Training |
35.90 |
|
|
3. Other Partnership |
7.47 |
|
|
4. No answer |
2.6 |
|
|
Total |
100 |
|
|
Expectation |
% |
|
1. Any way ( Training, seminar, project co-operation, exchanging experiences, technical and technology support, etc.) |
29.17 |
|
2. Information/ Counterpart |
25.03 |
|
3. Budget |
20.83 |
|
4. R & D |
16.67 |
|
5. Co-ordinator |
8.3 |
|
Total |
100 |
|
year |
Budget range (min.-max.) Baht |
|
1998 |
70,000-50,000,000 |
|
1999 |
200,000-40,000,000 |
|
No. |
NGOs' size |
1998 Budget |
1999 Budget |
Source of Budget |
Note |
|
1 |
small |
1,300,000 |
1,000,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
2 |
small |
2,200,000 |
2,200,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
3 |
small |
450,000 |
0 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
4 |
small |
0 |
5,600,000 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
5 |
medium |
9,000,000 |
9,000,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
6 |
small |
800,000 |
0 |
Thailand |
|
|
7 |
medium |
2,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
8 |
large |
50,000,000 |
40,000,000 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
9 |
small |
2,000,000 |
2,500,000 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
10 |
large |
4,000,000 |
4,000,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
11 |
medium |
28,000,000 |
22,000,000 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
12 |
medium |
5,000,000 |
5,000,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
13* |
large |
0 |
0 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
14 |
large |
70,000 |
0 |
Thailand |
|
|
15 |
small |
1,200,000 |
0 |
Foreign |
|
|
16 |
large |
15,000,000 |
15,000,000 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
17 |
small |
1,500,000 |
1,500,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
18 |
small |
350,000 |
0 |
Thailand |
|
|
19 |
medium |
8,800,000 |
9,200,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
20 |
medium |
11,000,000 |
12,000,000 |
Foreign |
|
|
21 |
medium |
10,000,000 |
5,000,000 |
Thailand, Foreign |
|
|
Total |
152,670,000 |
136,000,000 |
|
NGOs' Size |
|||
|
Sources |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
|
Thailand '98 |
575,000 |
0 |
70,000 |
|
Thailand'99 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Thai+Foreign'98 |
816,667 |
19,000,000 |
21,666,667 |
|
Thai+Foreign'99 |
2,700,000 |
13,500,000 |
18,333,333 |
|
Foreign'98 |
1,550,000 |
6,750,000 |
6,400,000 |
|
Foreign'99 |
1,175,000 |
7,000,000 |
6,600,000 |