Subject: Environment survey

The Green Gap is a Generation Gap

A new survey which seeks to measure the environmental awareness of Thais reveals that green is the colour of the future, writes James Fahn.

Thailand is often held up as a prime example of a country where development has been woefully unsustainable. The environmental nightmare extends into virtually every type of resource, both in the cities and in the countryside.

        The causes can be debated on many levels. Some say it is simply a result of ignorance or carelessness. Other maintain that development has outpaced infrastructure. Projects move ahead without proper consideration, it is said, and political leaders care only about growth.

        But is there a deeper reason? Is there something in Thai culture or Thai attitudes that makes Thailand particularly prone to environmental decay?

        These questions are heavily charged, and the answers will be debated for a long time to come. A new nationwide survey of environmental awareness, however, does shed some light on Thai attitudes.

        The survey was carried out by Japan's Institute for Developing Economies (IDE) in association with Deemar Co Ltd, a market research firm, and it produced some surprising results.

        The survey was split up into nine different study areas: greater metropolitan Bangkok (where 1,000 people were sampled); urban areas in the North, South, Central and Northeastern regions (where, altogether, another 1,000 people were sampled); and rural areas in each region (where, again, a total of 1,000 people were given questionnaires).

        The results show that Thais certainly do care quite a bit about the environment,

or at least say they do.

        Asked, ``Which do you think is more important, economic development or environmental protection', a majority of respondents in each of the nine areas answered, environmental protection.

       The response in favour of protecting the environment ranged from a low of 53

per cent in rural central areas to a high of 69 per cent in rural southern areas.

        In addition, the questionnaire asked people, ``Which problem would you consider

the most serious in Thai society', and then offered a list of possible answers.

        In each region, a plurality of respondents chose ``Nature/Environmental deterioration' as the most serious problem _ with the exception of the Northeast where this was rated the second most serious problem, after ``Rife corruption and bribery'.

        The other problems which respondents could select were listed as: ``Too big a gap between the rich and the poor'; ``Lack of respect for superiors and the elderly'; ``People are less religious'; and ``A good family background is an advantage for job opportunities'.

        Just as striking as these results were the breakdown of people who gave them.

There was a clear correlation between the age of respondents and the degree of environmental fervour, at least in Bangkok. (On the issue of environmental protection vs economic development, a breakdown in the age of respondents for the upcountry regions was not provided).

        Fully 85 per cent of Bangkok respondents aged between 15-19 said environmental

protection is more important than economic development. Only 10 per cent answered the reverse, while 5 per cent said both are equally important.

       As the age of respondents increase, the support in Bangkok for environmental

protection steadily dropped. However, even in the oldest group, those over 55 years of age, more people chose environmental protection over economic development.

        What does this mean? Quite a bit, assuming that people answered sincerely.

Environmentalism is obviously the wave of the future.

        As the younger generations grow into positions of power in Thai

society, we should see more and more emphasis given to environmental protection,

although it is also possible that as the young get older their views will become

less green.

       It also suggest another reason why the environment in Thailand may be suffering

so greatly. Growth has come so rapidly that it has outpaced the corresponding social views of the public needed to make such growth sustainable.

       In other words, the generation in power grew up and developed their priorities at a time when the need for economic development was not tempered by a realization that protecting the environment is also important.

       The question remains, however: just what steps are Thai people willing to accept in order to make Thailand green again? Here, too, the responses were encouraging.

        ``In order not to damage the environment,' people were asked, ``do you think you can pay a little more tax to manage the environment.'

        Once again, a majority _ ranging from 63 per cent in the rural Northeast to 85 per cent in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area _ found such a tax acceptable.

        When provided with a number of other suggestions as to the best way to solve environmental problems, respondents generally agreed that, ``Individuals [should] always pay attention to protecting the environment' and ``Strict government regulations' were the best methods. ``People forming environmental organizations came a close third and ``Making businesses obey laws' came in fourth.

        In practice, however, the government may have difficulty in enforcing regulations because an overwhelming majority of people felt that the law is not applied fairly to people who are responsible for damaging the environment.

        In selecting which environmental problems in Thai society are most serious, regional backgrounds played an obvious role. Respondents in Bangkok and Central towns considered air pollution as the biggest problem, while elsewhere deforestation was considered the most serious, except for the rural

Northeast where people were most concerned about drought.

        The educational levels of respondents, on the other hand, seemed to have relatively little impact on responses, although those with university degrees did tend to answer more often that both environmental protection and educational development are important.

        However the survey data is broken down, it is clear that Thais, especially the younger generation, do care about the environment. For environmentalist fighting questionable development projects today, this suggests that one possible strategy is to try and delay such projects for as long as possible, until political action can finally catch up with the green mandate.

       Realistically speaking, however, that could take quite a long time indeed. Translating words into action is always the trickiest of political feats.