Public Policy: The Regulation Process of Thailand’s Longan Strategy Act

Abstract

Thailand’s economic crops include rice, rubber, sugarcane, cassava, and oil palm are planted and grown around the country except the Northern region. Considering the information on yield per ton of crops in the Northern region of Thailand, longan is one among others crops with highest number of productions. So, there is an effort by stakeholders including longan producers, governmental organization, and politicians, to promote longan to become a new economic crop of Northern Thailand. Even though the government formulated many policies to facilitate longan growers, they were not well-supported in the situations such as the longan price drop, the climate change, or the increasing in production costs. Thus, it led to the call and proposal to regulate the Longan Strategy Act on the market-driven production basis to tackle with the problems efficiently, to have governmental agencies and officers that are responsible for issues with effectiveness, and to establish the sustainability for longan growers, and Thailand’s economy in the long run. Currently, it is under the process of section-by-section consideration on the draft act. Thus, it is highly believed that this article is aimed to increase the understanding on the importance and the process of the Longan Strategy Act that will be beneficial to Thailand’s longan production in overall.