Following the example of other developed countries, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) tool is now
being introduced in developing countries, with the expectations, among others, that it will influence decisionmaking
process in planning, and also usher in the participatory and collaborative planning towards a more
sustainable track in development. This article examines Thailand's own recent introduction of SEA. The
authors underscore the particularity of the Thai planning context as well as the broader governance structure
and processes in the country as the critical factor influencing the extent, substance and form of adoption of
SEA. Top-down tradition of planning and serious limitation of public participation opportunity structures and
institutional culture have minimized the tool's positive impact and influence in development planning.
Thailand's experience in SEA introduction thus reaffirms the important lesson from a number of other
developing countries: that legal framework for SEA is necessary and critical especially in its initial adoption;
and, that public participation needs to be supported too and institutionalized for the tool to fulfill its promise
of improving environmental governance and optimizing potentials of development projects vis-a-vis various
social and environmental concerns.