The European Union and its role in the international environmental arena : the case study of Thailand

Abstract

To assess a gap between reality and Thai perception towards the European Union (EU) cooperation and assistances. The study separated into two parts; the contribution of the EU in the field of environment in Thailand and the perception of Thai people towards this field. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology was utilized in this study. The quantitative research data was gathered with the aid of questionnaires. Four hundred questionnaires were conducted in 2008 and another four hundred in 2009. The sample group was Chulalongkorn undergraduate students from four faculties; political sciences, economic, law, and liberal arts. The qualitative research data consists of volume and contents of EU news coverage gathered from four types of newspaper; the most popular, quality, business-oriented, and the English language newspapers. In addition in-depth interview with twelve key informants was also contributed to the qualitative data. The findings stated that the EU received low visibility and majority of Thai people lack of awareness of Thailand –EU environmental cooperation due to its complexity. Even among non-state-actor elite group claimed difficulties in dealing and working with the EU. This study aimed to contribute a true picture of the EU as an environmental actor and pointed out weakness and obstacle of the current relationship with Thailand so that the EU can ameliorate its strategy to Thailand in the future.