Environment Minister Announces Nine Policies Aimed at Thai Happiness
Minister Suchart Chommngern celebrated the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's 24th anniversary by unveiling nine policies under the 'One MONRE' framework to drive Thai Happiness. The awards ceremony honored outstanding staff while the minister outlined plans covering forest management, water security, tourism, and bio‑economy initiatives. The strategy aims to deliver concrete benefits that citizens can feel across the country.
The minister emphasized that the ministry's mission directly touches people's daily lives, covering forests, wildlife, arable land, marine and coastal resources, water, PM2.5 pollution, climate change, and disaster response. He stressed that work must yield tangible results that citizens can feel on the ground, urging integrated action under the 'One MONRE' concept to align personnel, data, and resources across all agencies. For the fiscal year 2027 budget, he set the direction under the theme 'Thai Happiness – the goal of MONRE' through nine key areas: first, continue and expand royal-initiated projects, including the Rachasuthakachanurak project to mitigate human‑elephant conflict, develop the Salatha‑Wai Hoi community in Kanchanaburi, and advance natural‑resource conservation, area development, and quality‑of‑life improvements; second, manage forest land so people can coexist with woods, accelerate the land‑committee process, promote the One Map initiative to unify forest boundaries and clearly demarcate maritime zones between the Forestry Department and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources; third, protect forests and restore ecosystems by tightening anti‑encroachment enforcement, establishing community forest‑protection groups, encouraging public participation in mangrove and rare marine‑species conservation, building artificial coral reefs, addressing elephant‑conflict issues, supporting affected residents, and promoting a bio‑economy; fourth, develop natural tourism attractions to generate national income, upgrade sites and services, zone areas for private‑sector involvement, raise safety standards, expedite e‑ticket adoption, and map the country's economic mineral resources; fifth, ensure sufficient water for households and industry by upgrading maintenance, allocating raw water to regional waterworks and communities, and putting in place an effective water‑management system.
