Twenty-five years after its inception, Nong Hoi Royal Development Project has proved to be a successful initiative for convincing tribal farmers in this mountainous region in Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai to give up opium cultivation and switch to the growing of alternative cash crops for a better life.
Impressed by its sucesss, the neighbouring Lao People's Democratic Republic has decided to adopt the project.
A Laotian delegation led by minister attached to the president's office, Suban Saridthirad, visited the Nong Hoi Royal Development Centre, one of the 38 royal-sponsored projects, early this month.
The delegation wants to introduce the royal project's crop substitution programme, which encourages opium growers to switch to alternative cash crops, in Oudomxay province, one of Laos' biggest provinces.
The highland province is populated by tribesmen, many of them making a living through poppy cultivation. Laotian authorities want to use the project to weed out narcotics production which is rampant in the country.
Technical cooperation between Thailand and Laos first began after an international forum on sustainable highland development in Thailand in 2004.
The forum, attended by representatives from international agencies and academics from 20 highland countries, hailed Thailand's success in promoting its economic crop substitution scheme to combat opium growing.
During his visit to Nong Hoi, Mr Suban said that if a similar royally-initiated crop substitution programme is piloted and implemented in his country, it would not only develop the rural areas but also broaden the knowledge of the masses and improve the livelihood of the Laotian people.
He admitted opium growing has been increasing in Laos' highland areas, particularly during the past two years.
