The Analysis of Commercial Fishery’s Policy in Thailand: from the Crisis to The Beginning of Change

Abstract

Commercial fisheries crucially generate large-scale employment and food production for people. The Thai government is then required to play an active role in determining a proper policy direction on fisheries. This article investigates the policy formulation process of the commercial fishery’s policy in Thailand since 2015. It examines three dimensions under the policy formation: the policy initiative, the policy drafting, and the policy approval and declaration processes. The findings revealed that the policy formulation in this context comprises of two significant forces: 1) the warning from the European Union claiming that Thailand does not cooperate effectively in solving the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and 2) the problem of fisheries management in Thailand causing the government, which was very powerful at that time, to prepare the particular set of policy under the guidance of the European Union. This resulted in the amendment of the commercial fishery’s policy in Thailand, leading to the Fisheries Act 2015. This paper argued that the rush of the policy formulation process and lack of participation from the fisheries professionals might affect the effectiveness of the policy implementation.