Chiang Mai University Policy Addressing Poverty

Chiang Mai University (CMU) is committed to advancing inclusive and sustainable development by engaging in policy development and policymaking at local, national, and cross-border levels. Recognizing the interconnected social, economic, and environmental challenges facing communities in Northern Thailand, the University works to address poverty, vulnerability, and social exclusion through research, policy collaboration, and community engagement. These efforts aim to ensure that policies respond to the needs of diverse populations, particularly disadvantaged and underserved groups, while promoting equitable access to essential services, social protection, and opportunities for improved well-being. By extending its engagement beyond national boundaries, CMU also recognizes the importance of regional cooperation in addressing shared challenges and fostering a more inclusive and resilient society.

Chiang Mai City Lab (School of Public Policy, CMU), running for 5 years, is a platform connecting civic innovation to sustainable urban development, delivered in partnership with the Chiang Mai Municipality and surrounding municipalities, with support from the National Innovation Agency (NIA). In its fifth year, the initiative piloted six policy-relevant innovations, including a homelessness support fund through crowdfunding and a walkable-city footpath redesign benefiting older adults and people with disabilities. The homelessness support fund aims to strengthen social protection and provide support and opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. Another innovation related to poverty reduction is the walkable-city footpath redesign, which addresses inadequate pedestrian infrastructure by developing safer, more accessible, and aesthetically appropriate pathways while preserving the surrounding natural environment. The redesigned pathways are also intended to improve durability and extend their service life for more than 10 years. Over five years the Lab has built a bank of over 30 scalable innovations, seen 25 put into real municipal use, and driven roughly 42.5 million baht in follow-on investment and has helped make innovation-driven urban development a core city policy.

 

Amid the PM2.5 pollution crisis, many residents in northern Thailand, particularly those from low-income communities, face difficulties in accessing clean air and protecting themselves from prolonged exposure to air pollution. Continued exposure to PM2.5 can have long-term impacts on both physical and mental well-being. Therefore, the public hearing on the Clean Air Management Act represents an important step toward developing comprehensive air-quality management measures and ensuring equitable access to clean and safe air for all. The public hearing, hosted at Chiang Mai University on August 1st, 2025, brought together the National Assembly's special Bill Committee, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (สสส.), the Chiang Mai Clean Air Network, and CMU's Faculty of Law Environmental Law Clinic. The bill addresses Thailand's chronic PM2.5 pollution crisis, which the Bill Committee's technical director noted has driven a rise in lung cancer cases in the North, with patients presenting at increasingly younger ages. Environmental Law Clinic of Chiang Mai University, represented by Songkran Pongboonjun, provided expert academic commentary at the national public hearing, assessing the bill against comparable environmental legislation. He identified its core strengths—establishing a legal right to clean air, creating corresponding duties for both government agencies and polluting entities, and building a full-cycle management system from prevention through remediation with civil, criminal, and administrative liability. He also raised three specific implementation concerns: the operational readiness of the newly proposed "clean air officer" role at the local government level, the risk of granting these officers excessive and poorly checked enforcement power, and the practical workability of the proposed pollution-trading mechanism.

Border Connectivity Initiative: Sustainably developing the future of the Thai-Myanmar border region, led by CMU's School of Public Policy, in collaboration with the Border Affairs Department of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, the National Security Council (NSC), Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Interior (MoI), Ministry of Education (MoE), and civil society organizations. A three-day consultative workshop, titled “Consultative Meeting on Developing an Action Plan for the Development of Northern Border Villages (Episode 03)” from 9 to 11 June 2025 in Nonthaburi Province, produced action plans directly targeting poverty-adjacent, vulnerable cross-border populations— refugees, stateless persons, and migrant workers in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Tak, and Mae Hong Son. These populations are among the most economically excluded groups in the region, lacking legal status, access to formal employment, health insurance, or schooling, all of which are root drivers of chronic poverty. Hence, the three-day consultation produced a set of actionable policy proposals addressing current border challenges, focusing on three key areas including Border Health Center (BHC) which is establishing a health service system for cross-border vulnerable groups in buffer zones, Migrant Learning Centres (MLCs) which provides alternative education pathways that bridge Thai–Myanmar educational systems and Risk Area Development (RAD) which conducts security risk assessments and area-based planning in collaboration with local communities. Moreover, it spawned four concrete sub-projects: a Border Health Center, Migrant Learning Centres, Risk Area Development, and identification of displaced persons.

Initially, the Border Connectivity Initiative provided two previous workshops which were “The Future of the Thai-Myanmar Border (Episode 1)”, which facilitated brainstorming, analyzed trend, and forecasted future scenarios that may impact Thailand’s security, and “2nd Public Policy Consultation Meeting to Address and Support the Situation in Myanmar (IPDM)”, which focused on leveraging spatial data and practical experiences to examine the constraints, realities, and opportunities in policy design.

Through its activities and initiatives throughout 2025, Chiang Mai University sought to develop and implement policies that address the challenges faced by disadvantaged and vulnerable populations, including those experiencing poverty and social exclusion. CMU's commitment extends beyond the population within Thailand, recognizing that many social and environmental challenges transcend national borders. These include transboundary issues such as PM2.5 air pollution, which can disproportionately affect vulnerable communities and require collaborative efforts across regions. By addressing these interconnected challenges through inclusive policies and community-oriented initiatives, Chiang Mai University aims to foster a more equitable and inclusive society in which everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, has access to essential support, protection, and opportunities to improve their quality of life.