A fresh look at the protection of ‘domestic’ and ‘wild’ plant varieties in Thailand

Abstract

This chapter explains why, even in the context of rapid economic transformation, customary agriculture – and by extension, domestic and wild plant varieties – remain fundamental in Thailand. It describes the making of the national framework of intellectual property for plant varieties in Thailand, with emphasis on how diverse actors were able to participate in this process. The chapter provides the substance of the Thai plant variety protection regime, describing some of the primary ways in which it converges with and diverges from the standard model embodied in the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. It focuses on the conceptualisation of general domestic and wild plant varieties in Thailand, and on problems associated with the way that the law protects these varieties. The chapter considers a series of recommendations for how the Thai system of intellectual property for plants could be improved, centring on the protection of domestic and wild varieties.