THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Three projects approved for community development in southern border provinces

Three projects approved for community development in southern border provinces

The plan for the development of southern border provinces plan is making progress and it focuses on the economic, social and cultural dimensions, Deputy Government Spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said.

The Southern Border Provinces Development Strategy Committee has been directing and monitoring the operations of all government agencies in the area, she said.

Recently, the Cabinet approved three projects.

1. Opening more Thai-Malaysian border checkpoints (nine checkpoints) to boost border trade and cooperation in various dimensions, including linking Thailand with other Southeast Asian countries with a budget of Bt817.89 million.

2. Land use plan and community forests for self-reliance and sustainability from 2021-27. People will be encouraged to use land and operate community forests. According to the royal initiatives for planting three forests, there will be four benefits leading to household income generation from economic wood, valuable wood, energy crops and new economic crops. Some 250,000 households are expected to join the project (70 per cent of total households). At least one public-benefit land per province and 17 community forest areas are to be developed.

3. An integrated electric power management plan in the area for stability, prosperity, and sustainability, determining the area for cultivating energy crops while educating and promoting inputs for farmers in the area to develop into a community enterprise for energy crop cultivation and processing to contribute to a self-reliant community economy.

She added that a pilot trial was being conducted to promote integrated farming and economic bamboo cultivation in Yala province, totalling more than 5,800 rai (928 hectares).

In the long term, the government is targeting 100,000 farmers with knowledge of energy crops by 2025, and expects to increase the plantation area of energy crops to approximately 300,000-400,000 rai (48,000 to 64,000 hectares).

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