The opinion polls survey by ThaiE-news currently shown on their website reflect majority of Thai people would want the monarchy institution to refrain themselves from involving in the Thai politics.
I personally think that Phumipon has gradually over the past 60 years been building the monarchy institution to become an absolute power instead of an institution under the constitution. As a result, the monarchy is running against the current progressive flow of the Thai societal forces that are fighting for liberty, equality, and freedom.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, it only brings backwardness and darkness like lese majeste law. This form of governance works against the change that has been happening in Thailand due to education, information technology, globalization, and the spread of democratization. Furthermore, Vajilalongkorn is not popular among majority of the Thai people whether elites or non-elites.
When the structure of the monarchy institution, it objectives, and the character of the person who would lead it, work against the democratic values, obviously we have a real problem.
The changes mentioned are not at all recent. Already in the early seventies, Textor (from peasant to pedicab driver) analysed how circular migration was an important factor in rural livelihood strategies. The transfers from family members working in Bangkok, other large cities in Thailand or from abroad to the rural areas are substantial and have strong effects on rural economy and society.
Woth the building of a well functioning infrastructure during the last decade, the different parts of the country were linked with each other and the rural areas with the cities. This lead to an enhanced integration of the whole country. Even remote areas like the mouontains were integrated into the market economy and administration. This facilitated mobility and migration as a means to get access to non-farm employment and income for farmers. In addition it facilitated cash crops through better access to markets and better access to rural areas by traders, banks etc. etc., which resulted in indeptedness, which is already and indicator of market integration. Another result was the increased presence of the state, economy etc. in the villages. As Hobsbawm describes it nicely in his book on тАЮNations and Nationalism“, the awareness to be part of a larger political and economic context implies that even the farmers are aware that they have a stake and should have a say as well. As a result the position of patrons and others speaking for the farmers, is reduced. The farmers might be aware of their own agency. Nationalism used to be rather ceremonial in Thailand. A ritual show performed by the old elites. The role of the people, especially of the farmers was limited to be an audience. During the last years this has changed to quite some degree: Nationalism has become a base to articulate political demands. It seems that the olde elites are not amused by this development. In short, the changes within even remote places result from processes concering the country as a whole and thus, what happens in the villages becomes a factor of what happens in тАЮthe nation“.
I don’t understand why тАЮsufficency economy“ is categorized as тАЮright“ and тАЮcommunity culture“ as left? The difference are not that big, as both share a neo-romantic perspective of rural live quite removed from reality.
Looby’s argument is that tired argument of the lazy not wanting to have to draw the line at some point. On the continuum of good and evil, sure we can point out human rights abuses in Thailand, in China, and heck even a few abuses in the US or Australia, and place those countries onto the same continuum. But the question is whether one is willing to draw the line somewhere? It is simply disingenuous to compare the ongoing sordid situation in Burma with the failings in neighboring states. One can certainly make the case against the effectiveness of sanctions and boycotts in regards to Burma, and those are indeed hot topics with persuasive arguments on both sides. But the military rulers in Burma have clearly placed their actions far further down the continuum than have the ruling factions in most other countries in the region.
Susie Wong wrote: “Thank you Jakrapob Penkair!!! The U.S., U.K. and China, did you hear what he said?”
I would imagine that the masters often listen to the acolytes. I see little difference, apart from style, between the Jakrapob’s description of the Thai situation and the situation in other countries. Here in the US the main difference is that it is more the corporations that acting collectively behind the scenes, rather than individuals, after they obtained the same rights as individuals with protection under the 14th amendment to the US constitution. Thailand also differs from the US and the UK with the military being involved as major actor, although there are rumored to be right wing forces within the US attempting to co-opt the US military. But the other descriptions that Jakrapob notes, such as the elected government being there “for the sake of the country’s image” is as true in the other countries as it is in Thailand. Or, to plagiarize from one the great Southeast Asian scholars of our times, all these nation-states are but “imagined communities” with the powers in the background engineering the image no differently than Disney’s engineers when planning a theme park.
Yes, Ned. “Ugly crony capitalism” indeed i.e. ‘ugly’ even for Thailand.
Of course, progress is not aided by Thais like Srithanonchai when they give in to their penchant (like his namesake) for ‘monkeying around’ – good with words but not much good at anything else.
However as many of the older generation lately seem to be giving up on progress towards a properly functioning democracy, perhaps we shoudn’t be too harsh, although they do seem rather bereft of ideas compared to young guns such as columnist Voranai Vanijaka or even stalwarts like Sanitsuda Ekachai, if not intellectual phonies like Nattakorn Devakul and of course Thaksin himself.
As someone once said, Thais are more your close in shore fisherman than those who venture out into deep waters. Or as an Asian asked in the title of his book, ‘Can Asians Think?’ Of course they can, but both the quality and quantity are too low to press effectively for fundamental reforms because the school system here in Thailand at least is designed to maintain the status quo.
It is all a proxy – the normal modus operandi of China – it is their LONG SAUGHT conduit to the Indian Ocean to dominate that part of the world …
They have tried via Afghanistan-Pakistan and that got thwarted when US joined the people of Afghanistan from a ghoulish Chinese Proxies reared and bred as Pakistani “Talibans” … a takeover that was taking place … Same things are marching on in Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, … all captured land properties of India in the last Chinese -India (Chines-Land-Grab-War – which they succeeded in and also so FELL Tibet !!!) while they used Pakistan to stretch and distract India !
So called “Maoists” are their normal gun-runner operations throughout the Himalayasa and now inside India as Naxalites, etc, etc. Nepal and Bhutan are near soon conquests on the heels of what they have achieved over Tibet (A COUNTRY that used to sign treaties with China, India, Nepal countries at one time AS a FULL FORCE LEGITIMATE COUNTRY in its own right!!!
Rubies and other HEAVY wealth booties go over to the RULING Chinese TOP LEADERS” COFFERS in exchange for CHINA sleazily gaining land-grab by proxy throughout Burma and the Burmese Junta is playing “pussy” for them … As Chinese put Dollars in the accounts of these Burmese leaders!!!
Great Chinese tunnel conduit for their HEAVY supplies, missiles, nukes, etc facing over the Indian Ocean nations … guess which one !!!
Burma is getting Chinese Nukes as and vi a China’s proxy … as North Korean Nukes …. Some Assembly Required … Or “No assembly Required for a few more Top-Grade RUBIES” !!!
If the sanctions haven’t worked, it’s because they’re not universally applied. Burma could be a typical case of right application of economic sanctions, due to the complete control of the economy by the military oligarchy in power. People are on the fringe, they’re already wounded, not by sanctions but by the criminal mismanagement and the uninterrupted robbery of the regime. A universal implementation of sanctions by Burma’s neighbours could shift the balance and really strangle the dictatorship. The fact that it’s an unlikely perspective is not a reason to turn into the opposite way. Existing sanctions should stay, democratic powers should not give up but instead fighting for their widespread application. All the rest is sophistry.
A belated thanks for your post. You put it in a nutshell. Even more impressive how well you understand the country, if you are not of Burmese origin. Hopefully you haven’t come to the conclusion that the generals must not just be understood but appeased like our own Thant Myint-U.
“Fusion food” is a crime against taste buds, such restaurants should be closed, its cooks are to be tarred and feathered! Customers to be sent to a diet of not less than one month McDonald’s! 😉
Authenticity in food is very important, because it comes out of a long culture. That doesn’t mean that great kitchens should not be open to outside influences, Thai kitchen is the best example of having incorporated many different regional influences into its own. Yet, this happens gradually and naturally.
The problem with most Thai restaurants in the west is that more often than not the cooks are not real cooks. A Thai cook should have went through years of apprenticeship, preferably in a good traditional Thai restaurant and not in a 5 star hotel, which generally serve lousy internationalized standard fare.
There is a regular business of cooking schools here which within a few months teach the basics and the standard dishes, the student then straight away sent to restaurants in the west. The resulting quality is a disgrace.
Let me make it absolutely clear : I am not “calling” for anything.
Certainly not the break-up of Thailand.
I am simply observing and reporting what I see, hear, and read as I travel around.
The danger of break-up has been warned of by numerous illustrious others, including one of the best-ever former Prime Ministers – Anand Panyarachun. And His Majesty The King has voiced concerns about “ruin”. It is good to see a Unity Campaign at long last being launched.
It is not long ago the PAD’s Sondhi was publicly saying “civil war has now begun”. The cost of this to ordinary Thais, and the wider region, would be horrendous. I applaud the efforts being made by all those of goodwill to find a compromise. Though this is sadly proving elusive at the moment, I pray the Thai genius for compromise will eventually succeed once again.
Since this Sydney restaurant is charging $25.00 plate for a stirfry — a stirfry!! — then I say it bloody well better be the best bloody Thai food on the whole bloody planet.
The question of Thai food would benefit from some sociological analysis. What is Thai food? What is this “legacy of a refined Royal cuisine”?
You’ve got hi-so gluttons from the Thai and expat community gorging themselves in hotel eateries, at the same time as hordes of ordinary Thais make do with street food. You’ve got recipes in the Bangkok Post which call for ingredients no-one could find without spending a day hunting for them, or maybe they send out the maid who has to do all the cooking anyway.
You’ve got “international events” with “celebrity chefs” swanning in to show off to the elite, stepping over the beggars in the street in the process.
What you like to eat is largely determined by what you ate as a child and it is not surprising that authentic foreign dishes are an acquired taste, and if you find it difficult to acquire the taste, then good on those enterprising restaurateurs in Sydney or elsewhere who modify the taste for local consumption.
What else is fusion food? Why should certain tastes be sacrosanct? Food is like language, constantly evolving. If you’re looking for home cooking in a foreign country you can always cook your own.
Actually, the Brao in Ratanakiri do not trade their resin to Attapeu, but rather west to Stung Treng, and then either south to Phnom Penh or north to Laos (Champasak Province). Nowadays resin is used for sealing boats, making torches, and it is also used for industrial purposes, including as bases for perfumes. I don’t think the book is available in Cambodia and Vietnam at the moment. If you want more information, email me at ianbaird at shaw.ca
Rigg, J (2005). Living with Transition in Laos: Market Integration in South East Asia. Routelage: London & New York
Shoemaker, Bruce, Baird, Ian G and Baird Monsire (2001) ‘The people & thier river: a survey of river-based livelihoods in the Xe Bang Fai River basin in central Lao PDR. Vientiane (November). Unpublished document, cited in Rigg 2005.
Walker, A (1999). The Legend of the Golden Boat: Regulation, Trade & Traders in the Borderlands of Laos, Thailand, China & Burma. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1999
Firstly, Andrew. Sorry if I misquoted your post. I’ve read it and can see you were referring to the relative size of the agricultural sector. Your proposal that poverty reduction ultimately requires the development of non-agricultural sectors is fair enough and it is a fair point constrained resources (and I would add, constrained access) are major factors behind food insecurity.
I know pretty much nothing about hydropower, how many jobs it creates and for whom, or how it transforms environments so my opinion is completely unqualified. But my guess is that different projects are different and given some case studies suggesting adverse outcomes of “megaprojects” for local people in the long-term (I personally know of ones relating to logging) I think we would all agree environmental impact assessments are important and should be taken seriously. On one hand, there are large migrations to unskilled labouring positions in Thailand (Shoemaker et al. 2001 cited in Rigg 2005) which suggests to me a demand for jobs. So perhaps hydropower creates wage labour closer to home with less risks to labourers (such as HIV, etc.)? This would be interesting to explore in terms of Keith’s statement.
But resource constraints/restricted access are also major reasons for migration.
What concerns me is not so much transition but the creation/exacerbation in inequalities during transitions, particularly when the poor are so extremely poor.
Rhaponticum: In the WFP report unskilled labourers with little farm and little access to wild-food sources actually fared the worse in terms of food-security whereas those who had NTFPs did better. The study is focused on populations in rural Laos. I’d imagine you are correct that poorer people rely on NTFPs in many other locations/contexts. However, I think in Laos forest products provide a very large percentage of rural peoples income (40% of total rural family income is consumed in NTFPs according to World Bank 2001). They are often sold to buy rice as well.
Historically, forest products have been consumed and also provided a great amount of cash income. I wonder if it is the same Andrew Walker here who has written about the history of trade in Laos, Thailand, China & Burma? Anyhow, there are lots of products in the forests which have been rich for trade between highlands and lowlands. So historically perhaps NTFPs are associated with wealth rather than poverty?
Also Rhaponticum: would I be able to read your study?
Indeed a remarkable piece of research. I saw resin tapping of Dipterocarpus also during a trip to Mondulkiri Province, where the Phnong are the tappers. Do the Brao trade the resin through a network of jungle routes connecting Rattanakiri with Attapeu in Laos? In that way they traded traditional gongs, tools, seeds, tobacco etc. in the past. In Kontum Province of Vietnam there are still a few hundred Brao left, slowly losing their traditions due to their small numbers and assimilation.
I would love to read more in detail, but with USD 105 the book is a bit expensive. Is the book available in stores in Vietnam and/or Cambodia? One more question: What are the uses of Dipterocarpus resin nowadays?
[…] Mic Looby, who co-authored the 2001 Lonely Planet guide to Burma, has weighed into the ongoing debate about Burma sanctions. It is well worth reading in full. One of the key paragraphs launches a […]
Indeed it is his ‘genius’, as described by Chris Beale, that makes him such poor stuff. The country is awash with self-proclaimed geniuses of almost no practical experience in anything except bluster, backstabbing and baloney. It’s a change that’s needed. Not more of the same bullshit from a bunch of raging egotists. And yes, I definitely include the weasel Jakkraphob in that assessment. If he had any real values, he would build his own political movement, instead of cliinging on to Thaksin’s shirttail.
If any predictions re. Thailand’s future are made, I would go for one that calls not for any breakup of the country. Instead Thailand seems to be heading toward a more militant and superficial existence, illusion and exploitation the rule of the day.
Sorry for the lack of optimism…
Thailand’s LM laws are a disgrace. Thailand has some of the world’s toughest defamation laws – these ought to be enough.
And I certainly do not support the foul, threatening language used by Da Torpedo – she should have apologised.
But Thailand risks becoming :
1) an international laughing stock, as a result of the LM laws.
2) and far more seriously – Thailand could become a country boycotted similiar to Burma currently, and apartheid South Africa previously.
Thailand’s elite, both legitimate and non-legitimate, funells much of its’ wealth – well-gotten or ill-begotten – via banks such as the Siam Commercial Bank, The Bangkok Bank, the Thai Military Bank, then into the western world via other banks such as HSBC. These could become targets of a boycott such as hit
Apartheid-supporting Barclays.
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Risk, commentary, politics, succession
The opinion polls survey by ThaiE-news currently shown on their website reflect majority of Thai people would want the monarchy institution to refrain themselves from involving in the Thai politics.
I personally think that Phumipon has gradually over the past 60 years been building the monarchy institution to become an absolute power instead of an institution under the constitution. As a result, the monarchy is running against the current progressive flow of the Thai societal forces that are fighting for liberty, equality, and freedom.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, it only brings backwardness and darkness like lese majeste law. This form of governance works against the change that has been happening in Thailand due to education, information technology, globalization, and the spread of democratization. Furthermore, Vajilalongkorn is not popular among majority of the Thai people whether elites or non-elites.
When the structure of the monarchy institution, it objectives, and the character of the person who would lead it, work against the democratic values, obviously we have a real problem.
Thailand’s new rural economy
The changes mentioned are not at all recent. Already in the early seventies, Textor (from peasant to pedicab driver) analysed how circular migration was an important factor in rural livelihood strategies. The transfers from family members working in Bangkok, other large cities in Thailand or from abroad to the rural areas are substantial and have strong effects on rural economy and society.
Woth the building of a well functioning infrastructure during the last decade, the different parts of the country were linked with each other and the rural areas with the cities. This lead to an enhanced integration of the whole country. Even remote areas like the mouontains were integrated into the market economy and administration. This facilitated mobility and migration as a means to get access to non-farm employment and income for farmers. In addition it facilitated cash crops through better access to markets and better access to rural areas by traders, banks etc. etc., which resulted in indeptedness, which is already and indicator of market integration. Another result was the increased presence of the state, economy etc. in the villages. As Hobsbawm describes it nicely in his book on тАЮNations and Nationalism“, the awareness to be part of a larger political and economic context implies that even the farmers are aware that they have a stake and should have a say as well. As a result the position of patrons and others speaking for the farmers, is reduced. The farmers might be aware of their own agency. Nationalism used to be rather ceremonial in Thailand. A ritual show performed by the old elites. The role of the people, especially of the farmers was limited to be an audience. During the last years this has changed to quite some degree: Nationalism has become a base to articulate political demands. It seems that the olde elites are not amused by this development. In short, the changes within even remote places result from processes concering the country as a whole and thus, what happens in the villages becomes a factor of what happens in тАЮthe nation“.
I don’t understand why тАЮsufficency economy“ is categorized as тАЮright“ and тАЮcommunity culture“ as left? The difference are not that big, as both share a neo-romantic perspective of rural live quite removed from reality.
In the same breath: Burma, China…Thailand
Looby’s argument is that tired argument of the lazy not wanting to have to draw the line at some point. On the continuum of good and evil, sure we can point out human rights abuses in Thailand, in China, and heck even a few abuses in the US or Australia, and place those countries onto the same continuum. But the question is whether one is willing to draw the line somewhere? It is simply disingenuous to compare the ongoing sordid situation in Burma with the failings in neighboring states. One can certainly make the case against the effectiveness of sanctions and boycotts in regards to Burma, and those are indeed hot topics with persuasive arguments on both sides. But the military rulers in Burma have clearly placed their actions far further down the continuum than have the ruling factions in most other countries in the region.
Jakrapob on the state within the state
Susie Wong wrote: “Thank you Jakrapob Penkair!!! The U.S., U.K. and China, did you hear what he said?”
I would imagine that the masters often listen to the acolytes. I see little difference, apart from style, between the Jakrapob’s description of the Thai situation and the situation in other countries. Here in the US the main difference is that it is more the corporations that acting collectively behind the scenes, rather than individuals, after they obtained the same rights as individuals with protection under the 14th amendment to the US constitution. Thailand also differs from the US and the UK with the military being involved as major actor, although there are rumored to be right wing forces within the US attempting to co-opt the US military. But the other descriptions that Jakrapob notes, such as the elected government being there “for the sake of the country’s image” is as true in the other countries as it is in Thailand. Or, to plagiarize from one the great Southeast Asian scholars of our times, all these nation-states are but “imagined communities” with the powers in the background engineering the image no differently than Disney’s engineers when planning a theme park.
Jakrapob on the state within the state
Yes, Ned. “Ugly crony capitalism” indeed i.e. ‘ugly’ even for Thailand.
Of course, progress is not aided by Thais like Srithanonchai when they give in to their penchant (like his namesake) for ‘monkeying around’ – good with words but not much good at anything else.
However as many of the older generation lately seem to be giving up on progress towards a properly functioning democracy, perhaps we shoudn’t be too harsh, although they do seem rather bereft of ideas compared to young guns such as columnist Voranai Vanijaka or even stalwarts like Sanitsuda Ekachai, if not intellectual phonies like Nattakorn Devakul and of course Thaksin himself.
As someone once said, Thais are more your close in shore fisherman than those who venture out into deep waters. Or as an Asian asked in the title of his book, ‘Can Asians Think?’ Of course they can, but both the quality and quantity are too low to press effectively for fundamental reforms because the school system here in Thailand at least is designed to maintain the status quo.
BAD DOG.
Burma’s nuclear ambitions
It is all a proxy – the normal modus operandi of China – it is their LONG SAUGHT conduit to the Indian Ocean to dominate that part of the world …
They have tried via Afghanistan-Pakistan and that got thwarted when US joined the people of Afghanistan from a ghoulish Chinese Proxies reared and bred as Pakistani “Talibans” … a takeover that was taking place … Same things are marching on in Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, … all captured land properties of India in the last Chinese -India (Chines-Land-Grab-War – which they succeeded in and also so FELL Tibet !!!) while they used Pakistan to stretch and distract India !
So called “Maoists” are their normal gun-runner operations throughout the Himalayasa and now inside India as Naxalites, etc, etc. Nepal and Bhutan are near soon conquests on the heels of what they have achieved over Tibet (A COUNTRY that used to sign treaties with China, India, Nepal countries at one time AS a FULL FORCE LEGITIMATE COUNTRY in its own right!!!
Rubies and other HEAVY wealth booties go over to the RULING Chinese TOP LEADERS” COFFERS in exchange for CHINA sleazily gaining land-grab by proxy throughout Burma and the Burmese Junta is playing “pussy” for them … As Chinese put Dollars in the accounts of these Burmese leaders!!!
Great Chinese tunnel conduit for their HEAVY supplies, missiles, nukes, etc facing over the Indian Ocean nations … guess which one !!!
Burma is getting Chinese Nukes as and vi a China’s proxy … as North Korean Nukes …. Some Assembly Required … Or “No assembly Required for a few more Top-Grade RUBIES” !!!
In the same breath: Burma, China…Thailand
If the sanctions haven’t worked, it’s because they’re not universally applied. Burma could be a typical case of right application of economic sanctions, due to the complete control of the economy by the military oligarchy in power. People are on the fringe, they’re already wounded, not by sanctions but by the criminal mismanagement and the uninterrupted robbery of the regime. A universal implementation of sanctions by Burma’s neighbours could shift the balance and really strangle the dictatorship. The fact that it’s an unlikely perspective is not a reason to turn into the opposite way. Existing sanctions should stay, democratic powers should not give up but instead fighting for their widespread application. All the rest is sophistry.
Burma sanctions: limited, Western, symbolic
Susie Wong,
A belated thanks for your post. You put it in a nutshell. Even more impressive how well you understand the country, if you are not of Burmese origin. Hopefully you haven’t come to the conclusion that the generals must not just be understood but appeased like our own Thant Myint-U.
Thai food better in Sydney
“sam deedes”:
“Fusion food” is a crime against taste buds, such restaurants should be closed, its cooks are to be tarred and feathered! Customers to be sent to a diet of not less than one month McDonald’s! 😉
Authenticity in food is very important, because it comes out of a long culture. That doesn’t mean that great kitchens should not be open to outside influences, Thai kitchen is the best example of having incorporated many different regional influences into its own. Yet, this happens gradually and naturally.
The problem with most Thai restaurants in the west is that more often than not the cooks are not real cooks. A Thai cook should have went through years of apprenticeship, preferably in a good traditional Thai restaurant and not in a 5 star hotel, which generally serve lousy internationalized standard fare.
There is a regular business of cooking schools here which within a few months teach the basics and the standard dishes, the student then straight away sent to restaurants in the west. The resulting quality is a disgrace.
Jakrapob on the state within the state
Let me make it absolutely clear : I am not “calling” for anything.
Certainly not the break-up of Thailand.
I am simply observing and reporting what I see, hear, and read as I travel around.
The danger of break-up has been warned of by numerous illustrious others, including one of the best-ever former Prime Ministers – Anand Panyarachun. And His Majesty The King has voiced concerns about “ruin”. It is good to see a Unity Campaign at long last being launched.
It is not long ago the PAD’s Sondhi was publicly saying “civil war has now begun”. The cost of this to ordinary Thais, and the wider region, would be horrendous. I applaud the efforts being made by all those of goodwill to find a compromise. Though this is sadly proving elusive at the moment, I pray the Thai genius for compromise will eventually succeed once again.
Thai food better in Sydney
Since this Sydney restaurant is charging $25.00 plate for a stirfry — a stirfry!! — then I say it bloody well better be the best bloody Thai food on the whole bloody planet.
Thai food better in Sydney
The question of Thai food would benefit from some sociological analysis. What is Thai food? What is this “legacy of a refined Royal cuisine”?
You’ve got hi-so gluttons from the Thai and expat community gorging themselves in hotel eateries, at the same time as hordes of ordinary Thais make do with street food. You’ve got recipes in the Bangkok Post which call for ingredients no-one could find without spending a day hunting for them, or maybe they send out the maid who has to do all the cooking anyway.
You’ve got “international events” with “celebrity chefs” swanning in to show off to the elite, stepping over the beggars in the street in the process.
What you like to eat is largely determined by what you ate as a child and it is not surprising that authentic foreign dishes are an acquired taste, and if you find it difficult to acquire the taste, then good on those enterprising restaurateurs in Sydney or elsewhere who modify the taste for local consumption.
What else is fusion food? Why should certain tastes be sacrosanct? Food is like language, constantly evolving. If you’re looking for home cooking in a foreign country you can always cook your own.
Resin tapping in Cambodia
Actually, the Brao in Ratanakiri do not trade their resin to Attapeu, but rather west to Stung Treng, and then either south to Phnom Penh or north to Laos (Champasak Province). Nowadays resin is used for sealing boats, making torches, and it is also used for industrial purposes, including as bases for perfumes. I don’t think the book is available in Cambodia and Vietnam at the moment. If you want more information, email me at ianbaird at shaw.ca
Mega projects and Lao transitions
Sorry I forgot to reference:
Rigg, J (2005). Living with Transition in Laos: Market Integration in South East Asia. Routelage: London & New York
Shoemaker, Bruce, Baird, Ian G and Baird Monsire (2001) ‘The people & thier river: a survey of river-based livelihoods in the Xe Bang Fai River basin in central Lao PDR. Vientiane (November). Unpublished document, cited in Rigg 2005.
Walker, A (1999). The Legend of the Golden Boat: Regulation, Trade & Traders in the Borderlands of Laos, Thailand, China & Burma. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1999
Mega projects and Lao transitions
Firstly, Andrew. Sorry if I misquoted your post. I’ve read it and can see you were referring to the relative size of the agricultural sector. Your proposal that poverty reduction ultimately requires the development of non-agricultural sectors is fair enough and it is a fair point constrained resources (and I would add, constrained access) are major factors behind food insecurity.
I know pretty much nothing about hydropower, how many jobs it creates and for whom, or how it transforms environments so my opinion is completely unqualified. But my guess is that different projects are different and given some case studies suggesting adverse outcomes of “megaprojects” for local people in the long-term (I personally know of ones relating to logging) I think we would all agree environmental impact assessments are important and should be taken seriously. On one hand, there are large migrations to unskilled labouring positions in Thailand (Shoemaker et al. 2001 cited in Rigg 2005) which suggests to me a demand for jobs. So perhaps hydropower creates wage labour closer to home with less risks to labourers (such as HIV, etc.)? This would be interesting to explore in terms of Keith’s statement.
But resource constraints/restricted access are also major reasons for migration.
What concerns me is not so much transition but the creation/exacerbation in inequalities during transitions, particularly when the poor are so extremely poor.
Rhaponticum: In the WFP report unskilled labourers with little farm and little access to wild-food sources actually fared the worse in terms of food-security whereas those who had NTFPs did better. The study is focused on populations in rural Laos. I’d imagine you are correct that poorer people rely on NTFPs in many other locations/contexts. However, I think in Laos forest products provide a very large percentage of rural peoples income (40% of total rural family income is consumed in NTFPs according to World Bank 2001). They are often sold to buy rice as well.
Historically, forest products have been consumed and also provided a great amount of cash income. I wonder if it is the same Andrew Walker here who has written about the history of trade in Laos, Thailand, China & Burma? Anyhow, there are lots of products in the forests which have been rich for trade between highlands and lowlands. So historically perhaps NTFPs are associated with wealth rather than poverty?
Also Rhaponticum: would I be able to read your study?
Resin tapping in Cambodia
Indeed a remarkable piece of research. I saw resin tapping of Dipterocarpus also during a trip to Mondulkiri Province, where the Phnong are the tappers. Do the Brao trade the resin through a network of jungle routes connecting Rattanakiri with Attapeu in Laos? In that way they traded traditional gongs, tools, seeds, tobacco etc. in the past. In Kontum Province of Vietnam there are still a few hundred Brao left, slowly losing their traditions due to their small numbers and assimilation.
I would love to read more in detail, but with USD 105 the book is a bit expensive. Is the book available in stores in Vietnam and/or Cambodia? One more question: What are the uses of Dipterocarpus resin nowadays?
Burma sanctions: limited, Western, symbolic
[…] Mic Looby, who co-authored the 2001 Lonely Planet guide to Burma, has weighed into the ongoing debate about Burma sanctions. It is well worth reading in full. One of the key paragraphs launches a […]
Jakrapob on the state within the state
Indeed it is his ‘genius’, as described by Chris Beale, that makes him such poor stuff. The country is awash with self-proclaimed geniuses of almost no practical experience in anything except bluster, backstabbing and baloney. It’s a change that’s needed. Not more of the same bullshit from a bunch of raging egotists. And yes, I definitely include the weasel Jakkraphob in that assessment. If he had any real values, he would build his own political movement, instead of cliinging on to Thaksin’s shirttail.
Jakrapob on the state within the state
If any predictions re. Thailand’s future are made, I would go for one that calls not for any breakup of the country. Instead Thailand seems to be heading toward a more militant and superficial existence, illusion and exploitation the rule of the day.
Sorry for the lack of optimism…
Amnesty’s silence on lese majeste
Thailand’s LM laws are a disgrace. Thailand has some of the world’s toughest defamation laws – these ought to be enough.
And I certainly do not support the foul, threatening language used by Da Torpedo – she should have apologised.
But Thailand risks becoming :
1) an international laughing stock, as a result of the LM laws.
2) and far more seriously – Thailand could become a country boycotted similiar to Burma currently, and apartheid South Africa previously.
Thailand’s elite, both legitimate and non-legitimate, funells much of its’ wealth – well-gotten or ill-begotten – via banks such as the Siam Commercial Bank, The Bangkok Bank, the Thai Military Bank, then into the western world via other banks such as HSBC. These could become targets of a boycott such as hit
Apartheid-supporting Barclays.