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Country Risk Profiles

About Thailand

Our Timber Legality Risk Assessment for Thailand from 2017 forms the basis of our information available for Thailand. However, in collaboration with local forest legality experts we have identified changes in applicable legislation and updated the list of legality risks related to harvesting, trade and transport in Thailand to reflect the situation in the country as of 2021. These updates have been captured in our new toolkit for Thailand. which incude a List of Applicable legislation, Risk Mitigation Guide and a Document Guide. This country page for Thailand has been updated to reflect the newest changes captured in our toolkit.Timber Risk Score: 28 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Thailand for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:Specified risk for 11 sub-categories.Low risk for 6 sub-categories.No legal requirements for 4 sub-categories.This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Thailand. Thailand has approximately 16.4 million hectares of forested land, covering almost one third of the country, of which:Around 35% is primary forest44% is naturally regenerated forest21% is planted forest (FAO, 2015).Thailand is a major exporter of wooden furniture, sawn timber, and paper, among other timber-based products. In 2012, 18 million m3 RWE, worth $4 billion, were exported. Most of the timber that supplies the processing industry either comes from domestic plantations (approx. 8.7 million m3) or is imported (approx. 10 million m3), mainly from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (Lawson, 2014). Several legality risks are present in Thai timber supply chains. The risks are wide ranging and relate to legal rights to harvest, timber harvesting activities, and trade and transport. If you are sourcing timber from Thailand you should take care to ensure the extensive risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.VIEW MORE

Our Timber Legality Risk Assessment for Thailand from 2017 forms the basis of our information available for Thailand. However, in collaboration with local forest legality experts we have identified changes in applicable legislation and updated the list of legality risks related to harvesting, trade and transport in Thailand to reflect the situation in the country as of 2021. These updates have been captured in our new toolkit for Thailand. which incude a List of Applicable legislation, Risk Mitigation Guide and a Document Guide. This country page for Thailand has been updated to reflect the newest changes captured in our toolkit.

Timber Risk Score: 28 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Thailand for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:

  • Specified risk for 11 sub-categories.
  • Low risk for 6 sub-categories.
  • No legal requirements for 4 sub-categories.

This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Thailand. 

Thailand has approximately 16.4 million hectares of forested land, covering almost one third of the country, of which:

  • Around 35% is primary forest
  • 44% is naturally regenerated forest
  • 21% is planted forest (FAO, 2015).

Thailand is a major exporter of wooden furniture, sawn timber, and paper, among other timber-based products. In 2012, 18 million m3 RWE, worth $4 billion, were exported. Most of the timber that supplies the processing industry either comes from domestic plantations (approx. 8.7 million m3) or is imported (approx. 10 million m3), mainly from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (Lawson, 2014). 

Several legality risks are present in Thai timber supply chains. The risks are wide ranging and relate to legal rights to harvest, timber harvesting activities, and trade and transport. If you are sourcing timber from Thailand you should take care to ensure the extensive risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated. VIEW LESS

Description of source types

Source types describe the possible origins of a commodity from within a country. Knowing the “source type” that timber originates from is useful because different source types can be subject to different applicable legislation and have attributes that affect the risk of non-compliance with the legislation.

CPI score

35, updated 2024

Armed Conflicts

There are currently no armed conflicts in Thailand according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Global Conflict Tracker. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program there were 1286 deaths from 2010-2019.

Voluntary Partnership Agreement

VPA status: Negotiating

Certifications

FSC certified area: 0.125 Mha, updated April 1, 2023

Bans & Restrictions

Log export ban: Ban on exports of raw logs from natural forests

Risk Species

Name CITES I CITES II CITES III IUCN Redlist Special attention
No records found

Thailand

Tree cover loss

Tree cover loss”. Accessed on 01/01/2023 from www.globalforestwatch.org. The graph shows year-by-year tree cover loss, defined as stand level replacement of vegetation greater than 5 meters in the country. Note that “tree cover loss” is not the same as “deforestation” – tree cover loss includes change in both natural and planted forest, and does not need to be human caused. The data from 2011 onward were produced with an updated methodology that may capture additional loss. Comparisons between the original 2001-2010 data and future years should be performed with caution.

Overview of mitigation options organised by source type

Source Type
Number of risks
Document verification
Stakeholder Consultation
Field Verification
Scientific Testing
No records found
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