The Development of Policy on the Access and Sharing of the Benefits from the National Knowledge of Thai Traditional Medicine

Abstract

This mixed-method study under the process model concept has its aims to 1) study the environment situation on the policy and the strategy, the related legal or the agreement problems both within Thailand and abroad, and 2) analyse the trend and direction of the related access and sharing of the benefits from the national knowledge of Thai traditional medicine mechanisms as well as related genetic resource which will lead to the setting-up of the policy recommendations on the access and sharing of the benefits from the national knowledge of Thai traditional medicine. It is revealed that the situation, the legal environment still heavily rely on the legal mechanism as well as the international agreements while the internal policy still lack of direction and clarity, the continual support, the concreteness, and the true enforcement of the existing internal laws due to the hidden obstacles in terms of the process which is not the nature of things and the difference of the legal mechanism and the variety of the offices cannot be still integrated managed in terms of the holistic policy. Due to the aforementioned, the setting-up of the forced measurement and the central practice of the country in accessing and sharing the benefits with the owners or the communities are urgently needed. The legitimation and improve of the specific laws concerning the access and sharing of the benefits should be done according with domestic context and their contents should cover all related dimensions. The central data base on the country’s genetic resource and the traditional wisdoms of all fields should be urgently set up. Moreover, the measurements in terms of the policy should be strictly implemented in compliance with the international practice principles, the equality practice principles, and the fairness practice principles.