Celebrating Visionaries in Bamboo Innovation

Krit Samapuddhi (1911 – 1991) was the former deputy director general of Thailand’s Royal Forest Department, and former managing director of Thailand’s Forest Industry Organization. He was instrumental in developing the forest village system.

The forest village system, developed by Thailand’s Forest Industry Organization, offers hill tribesmen and others who practice slash and-burn agriculture considerable inducements to settle down. One of its principal aims was to keep a steady labor force on hand for the long-term needs of forestry, while at the same time providing rural families with an income and other benefits from the kind of farming they choose to practice.

He published many books, including: The Forests of Thailand and Forestry Programs (1957), A preliminary study in the structure and some properties of some Thai bamboos (1959), Forestry Development in Thailand (1966), and Grouping of Thai Hardwoods (1972).

Biography of Krit Samapuddhi:

– B.F.S. School of Forestry, Burma (Govt. Scholarship)

– Dip. For., Commonwealth Institute of Forestry, Oxford (Colombo Plan Fellowship)

– Cert., Timber Grading, Malaysia (FAO, Fellowship)

– Member I.A.W.A., International Association of Wood Anatomists (Switzerland)

– Former Lecturer, Phrae Forestry School

– Former Deputy Director General, Royal Forest Department

– Former Director, ForestIndustry Organization

– Former Sawn Wood Audit Committee, Ministry of Industry

– Former Alumnus President, St. Gabriel’s College Association

– Honorary Committee, Wildlife Fund of Thailand

– Honorary Consultant, Thai Timber Merchants for Exporting Association

– Honorary Consultant, Thai Plywood and Veneer Association