The emergence of polycentric water governance in Northern Thailand.

The Emergence of Polycentric Water Governance in Northern Thailand Uraivan Tan-Kim-Yong, Pakping Chalad Bruns, and Bryan Randolph Bruns REVISED DRAFT – APRIL 22, 2003 Paper presented at the workshop on “Asian Irrigation in Transition–Responding to the Challenges Ahead.” April 22-23, 2002, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand Abstract: Polycentric water governance in northern Thailand is emerging in a complex set of interacting institutional transitions. Conflicts, including upstream-downstream contests over water quantity, water quality, and watershed land-uses, are co-evolving with self-reform processes within local irrigation institutions, diverse communities, government agencies, and civil society organizations. Changes in water governance bridge multiple scales: linking local organizations, convening subbasin forums, and engaging national debates about rights to land and water. Tangled Transitions in Water Governance Access to water has become an increasing source of controversy in northern Thailand, disputed through public, private, and legislative debates; petitions; protests; and road blockades. Water disputes intertwine with conflicts over rights to use land and forests, particularly in upper watershed areas. Underlying the disputes lie not just competing interests but competing visions regarding governance, economic growth, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Attempts to resolve conflicts have often failed to reach agreement, or formulated agreements that turned out to be unworkable. At the same time, the institutional landscape has been rapidly evolving. Organizations, including national bureaucracies, local government bodies, and community groups, have been reforming themselves in response to conflicts over access to water and land resources, decentralization of authority and government budget, and the increasing role of the media, elections, and parliamentary politics. Thailand’s 1997 Constitution mandated that communities be involved in managing local natural resources. While many constitutions had been promulgated by earlier regimes, the 1997 Constitution was the product of extensive public discussion and embodied a range of reforms to institutionalize democracy and good governance. Transitions were underway in Thailand from the earlier centralized “bureaucratic polity” (Riggs 1971) toward democratization, decentralization, industrialization, and urbanization (see Wyatt 1984 for a general introduction to Thai history, and Phongpaichit and Baker 1998 for an overview of more recent developments). The destination for these transitions has been contested. Issues suppressed under previous political regimes emerged with new vigor. Efforts to shift from earlier top-down economic and social development pushed and pulled in different directions. Views clashed about how to pursue goals such as improving the lives of poor people and conserving the environment. Changes in government policy and practice opened new opportunities for communities to participate in managing local land and water resources. However, the geographic scale of water