ABSTRACT
Environmental management in Thailand is directed and led by several levels of government as well as implemented through the cooperation of individuals and households who comprise the neighbourhoods where environmental issues manifest themselves. This chapter addresses those state agencies and bureaucracies directly responsible for environmental management in Thailand at the municipal, regional and national levels. It describes the geography of Bangkok and deals primarily with the formal structure of the institutions in place that oversee the design and implementation of environmental policy in Thailand. The chapter also describes how these formal structures control or shape the attempts of local urban communities to influence Thai environmental landscapes. It concludes with a broader discussion of the ways in which these state forms and functions define environmental policy strategies, but also lend themselves to significant intervention by para-state groups and institutions (such as the military and international donors) and non-state groups and organizations (such as private capital interests and non-governmental organizations).
