Srinagarindra - Environmental Preservation

Environmental Preservation

She had deep interests in issues of nature. In winter she enjoyed skiing down the snowy slopes, while in summer she would spend hours trekking along the hillsides, picking wild flowers for decoration or for making into pressed flowers.

In 1964, at the age of 64, she hiked to the top of Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest peak, located in Chiang Mai Province. She had been used to taking walks from Bhubing Palace, accompanied by border control police and two physicians. Soon she left that she had covered all she could within the immediate vicinity, and yearned to conquer Doi Inthanon, which was visible from the palace windows. In those days there was no access road to the top, and the Princess Mother spent two nights camping out during her hike, the first night before the ascent at Pang Somdet, and the following night at Ban Pha Mon. Here a large number of hilltribe villagers turned up to welcome her. Again, their lack of access to medical care gave her cause for concern. When she returned the following year, she brought with her two doctors, and her visits to these remote areas by helicopter eventually earned her the name Mae Fah Luang among the hill tribes, meaning Royal Mother from the sky, referring to her descent from the skies with doctors, nurses, medical equipment, food and clothing for them.

The mulitple visits of the hill tribes her realize that their slash-and-burn system of cultivation had inadvertently caused the destruction of the watershed forests. Over the years, they had moved from place to place, leaving behind them patches of barren hillside.

She initiated the Doi Tung Development Project. I shall plant forests on Doi Tung, she pledged. In 1988, a total of 93,515 rai (14,962 ha.) in Mae Chan, Mae Sai, and Mae Fah Luang District of Chiang Rai Province were targeted for reforestation and sustainable development to improve the quality of life of the local villagers.

The Princess Mother played an active role in the Doi Tung Development Project, starting from nursing the saplings herself, planting the forests with support from government and the private sector. Surrounding the palace are also experimental plots where temperate crops are tested, such as Arabica coffee beans from Brazil and Costa Rica, macadamia nuts and chestnuts. New plant-nursery technology is constantly being introduced for the promulgation of asparagus, bananas, orchids and strawberries. After successful trials, villagers are trained in the procedures to follow, and these extra activities are expected to provide them with an increased income.

A Drug Rehabilitation Centre was also set up so addicts could be treated and provided with vocational training to suit their way of life. Mulberry trees, the fibre of which is used to make sa paper, is just one of the crops they are encouraged to plant and grow.