I think Baker’s work qualifies him as a public acadeic or something — perhaps we need a real term to characterize all scholars, including those not tied to any academy.
But anyway, I think there are more questions to be asked about Inpaeng too, before comparing it’s success with other villages. Here are some:
1. What is the strength of land ownership and tenure there? What is the average family farm size?
2. How much input came from outside with the region chosen as a demonstration model?
3. How are lands being divided among subsequent generations?
4. How much of the mobile phones and TVs and other modcons are paid for by family working in the cities — that is, what is the role of money transferred inward?
5. With this approach how to you produce people educated enough to run the central bank?
If Chris Baker cherishes his image as a critical political analyst, and if he cares about his academic credibility, he surely will have to come up with some very good explanations as to why he has allowed to be used as a royalist propagandist (Nakharin is in a similar position). And now The Economist…
[…] The second chapter of the report is primarily a promotional piece for the sufficiency economy approach. As at least one New Mandala reader has commented it is surprising that an international agency such as UNDP has been willing to endorse the promotion of an approach that in recent months has been politically mobilised to help justify the military overthrow of an elected government. Some explanation from UNDP is surely called for. […]
[…] Second, there is discussion of various corporate initiatives in relation to sufficiency economy. Siam Cement (in which “the Crown Property is a major shareholder”) will appreciate the publicity and strong endorsement. There is a lot of good common sense advice about how principles of moderation and integrity can improve business performance. Interestingly, a corporate “Sufficiency Alignment Index” is proposed. As I stated in a previous post, it would be interesting if indices could be developed for other aspects of sufficiency economy and some consideration given to how these correlate with other aspects of human development. […]
With regards to multiple Chris Bakers – I think the confusion has arisen because the description of who Chris Baker is appeared in the main body of the article, rather than the usual practice of putting it at the end (after the writers name) – I’m not sure if this was Chris Baker’s or The Nations mistake, but I think the snide criticism by some commentators is unwarranted.
Thanks Patiwat.
I am sceptical about OTOP – it could be good, but from what I can see in practice it seemed more like a publicity stunt (pats on the back for the TRT government) with no real follow up.
The dominant agricultural product would still be rice, and as approximately half of Thai rice production is exported, you would think that world prices would also be important – did TRT policies impact the world price?
That same report showed that the major driver of the increase in agricultural income was increased prices, not output.
The report didn’t specify a specific reason for the increase in prices. However, the increase was steady and high every year. This suggests that it was not due to seasonal factors, one-off subsidies, or changing crop mix, which would have resulted in sporadic increases. What seems more likely to me is that the increases were due to greater value-added output. I’d even go out on a limb and say that programmes like OTOP or micro-credit probably played an important role in providing people with capital and resources neccesary to increase agricultural value-added.
It’s quite sad that with the coup, we wont be seeing any objective evaluation of just how effective TRT-policies were in poverty alleviation. Just as enough time has passed to accumulate enough information to do some real analysis, it’s become the fashion among Thai academics to dismiss anything related to the “Thaksin-regime” as evil.
Nganadeeled – Have a look at the price of rice. From memory I think it was about 4 baht a kilo 2003 and rose steadily to nearly 10 baht in 2005/6. Last time I looked, after the removal of the disastrous, economy ruining, price stabilisation scheme that Thaksin had put in place, it had fallen to about 6 baht a kilo. Perhaps this goes some of the way in explaining the rise in income from on farm activities.
Unfortunately I dont place too much hope in the rise of agricultural income bringing salvation as it would be going against worldwide trends.
As an anthropoligist, Andrew, I am sure you are aware of the trends in farming worldwide, including the general rise of off-farm incomes, the shift to the cities by the next generation, farm subsidies and farm conglomerates.
For many owners of small farms in the west, farming is a more a way of life than a living.
Box 2 on page 16 of the report that Patiwat linked to (in post #1 above) still paints a pretty bleak picture in the north east.
I could not find detailed reasons for the rise in agricultural incomes – Patiwat, can you enlighten me on how the rises were achieved?
The rise could come from a number of factors including a combination of increased productivity and increased prices. If productivity increased, was it due to seasonal factors, changed crop mix or improved techniques?
If prices increased, was it due to world price increases, seasonal factors, value adding, price support subsidies, changed crop mix or other factors?
What were you expecting – refereed journal-level analysis?
Chris Baker isn\’t really an academic (he\’s an \”independent research\”, which means that no university will give him tenure), and the Thailand Human Development Report is a palace puff piece to justify the Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award that Kofi Annan gave to the King. Sounds impressive, doesn\’t it?
Until you ask who else has received this award…. And the answer is: nobody. It\’s an award created specifically for the king.
It\’s a bit kind to call Mr. Vichai a regular \”reader.\”
I think \”heckler\” or \”paranoid\” would more accurate titles.
Is it just me who imagines Vichai hunched over his keyboard, furiously typing out his ad-hominem attacks and diatribes while wearing a tinfoil р╕Кр╕Ор╕▓ on his head? (You know…to deflect the Thaksinite mind-control rays.)
“Frankly speaking, sufficiency economy is a self-defence response to predatory globalisation practices and it should not be mingled with politics.”
Seems to me it’s Thai elites predating on themselves. Like Thaksin using his connections as a police colonel and civil servant to buy government computer and then telecommunications concessions. What pray tell is global about that? Except that is where the technology originally came from.
“Sufficiency economy” as it is being developed by Thai elites (not in its original form as the words of His Majesty the King) seems to be just another form of Thai Ruk Thai (not Farang) clearly implying: Thai Ruk Farang (too much).
It is the Thai elites that employ whatever opportunities are exploitable in the international marketplace against other Thais in the domestic marketplace. It was Thaksin who used the tighter security worldwide after 9/11 to increase the power of the police who in the same breath accused liberal-progressive NGOs from outside the country usurping Thailand’s sovereignty and declaring that the UN “was not his father.” All this clearly looked like Thai (not) Ruk Thai and THai (pretend to) Ruk Thai.
One must distinguish the public transcript and ideology from the hidden transcript. In the university I taught at, foreign teachers were not given the same treatment as Thai teachers. They were not given health insurance or on campus housing or long contracts. They were disposable teachers, few of which chose to remain there for long and contribute even if they really were truly of the Farang Ruk Thai variety. Meanwhile the BOI offers huge incentives to companies with lots of money to blow and luxury condomiums in Bangkok are thriving, a huge fraction of which are bought by wealthy foreigners. Education is a force that can change rural thought and participation in democracy.
Exclusive focus on isolating and lassooing large globs of money as they run around loose on the free range of the international market place just solidifies Thai elite status quo and rural backwardness.
[…] This chapter is another public relations piece for the sufficiency economy approach. It discusses a range of broadly defined sufficiency economy initiatives at local, corporate and national levels. The main case study discussed is the Inpaeng Network in northeast Thailand. The activities are described in terms of the three-stage model of local development discussed in my previous post. Network members started by turning away from cash cropping to local subsistence production; they then developed a range of external economic relations based on the clever identification, processing and marketing of local products. The result is a sufficiency success story: […]
Patiwat – thanks for your comment. This is the sort of debate/discussion that one might have hoped would be canvassed in the UNDP report. I accept the figures about the rise in agricultural incomes but, like you, I do wonder how much of this rise comes from a foundation in sufficiency. And I don’t think an increase in agricultural income undermines the fundamental point about the diversity of household economies. In the northeast these agricultural incomes have surely increased from a rather low base. But, thanks again for the discussion of substantial livelihood issues.
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In-sufficient analysis
I think Baker’s work qualifies him as a public acadeic or something — perhaps we need a real term to characterize all scholars, including those not tied to any academy.
But anyway, I think there are more questions to be asked about Inpaeng too, before comparing it’s success with other villages. Here are some:
1. What is the strength of land ownership and tenure there? What is the average family farm size?
2. How much input came from outside with the region chosen as a demonstration model?
3. How are lands being divided among subsequent generations?
4. How much of the mobile phones and TVs and other modcons are paid for by family working in the cities — that is, what is the role of money transferred inward?
5. With this approach how to you produce people educated enough to run the central bank?
A royal project
If Chris Baker cherishes his image as a critical political analyst, and if he cares about his academic credibility, he surely will have to come up with some very good explanations as to why he has allowed to be used as a royalist propagandist (Nakharin is in a similar position). And now The Economist…
Sufficiency economy and human development
[…] The second chapter of the report is primarily a promotional piece for the sufficiency economy approach. As at least one New Mandala reader has commented it is surprising that an international agency such as UNDP has been willing to endorse the promotion of an approach that in recent months has been politically mobilised to help justify the military overthrow of an elected government. Some explanation from UNDP is surely called for. […]
Sufficiency economy = poverty?
[…] Second, there is discussion of various corporate initiatives in relation to sufficiency economy. Siam Cement (in which “the Crown Property is a major shareholder”) will appreciate the publicity and strong endorsement. There is a lot of good common sense advice about how principles of moderation and integrity can improve business performance. Interestingly, a corporate “Sufficiency Alignment Index” is proposed. As I stated in a previous post, it would be interesting if indices could be developed for other aspects of sufficiency economy and some consideration given to how these correlate with other aspects of human development. […]
A royal project
The same Chris Baker who is so critical (in both a good and bad way) about Thaksin is so chlear about the King…. is it really the same Chris Baker?
All aboard the renegade funk train
open boarders with india. it will help india north east as well as burma. both tourism, export and imports from china
In-sufficient analysis
“The 30 baht health care scheme…lacked moderation and insight.”
I witnessed someone in a coma denied oxygen necessary for their continued life unless a lot more than 30 baht was forthcoming.
Here, as always, transparency is the issue: 30 baht for what?
A royal project
With regards to multiple Chris Bakers – I think the confusion has arisen because the description of who Chris Baker is appeared in the main body of the article, rather than the usual practice of putting it at the end (after the writers name) – I’m not sure if this was Chris Baker’s or The Nations mistake, but I think the snide criticism by some commentators is unwarranted.
A royal project
Thanks Patiwat.
I am sceptical about OTOP – it could be good, but from what I can see in practice it seemed more like a publicity stunt (pats on the back for the TRT government) with no real follow up.
The dominant agricultural product would still be rice, and as approximately half of Thai rice production is exported, you would think that world prices would also be important – did TRT policies impact the world price?
A royal project
That same report showed that the major driver of the increase in agricultural income was increased prices, not output.
The report didn’t specify a specific reason for the increase in prices. However, the increase was steady and high every year. This suggests that it was not due to seasonal factors, one-off subsidies, or changing crop mix, which would have resulted in sporadic increases. What seems more likely to me is that the increases were due to greater value-added output. I’d even go out on a limb and say that programmes like OTOP or micro-credit probably played an important role in providing people with capital and resources neccesary to increase agricultural value-added.
It’s quite sad that with the coup, we wont be seeing any objective evaluation of just how effective TRT-policies were in poverty alleviation. Just as enough time has passed to accumulate enough information to do some real analysis, it’s become the fashion among Thai academics to dismiss anything related to the “Thaksin-regime” as evil.
The rural threat
Bird watching in the jungle (with trees)
Rent seeker watching (in the urban jungle with tall buildings)
http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business/corporate_governance/the_bts_debt_restructuring_con.php#intro
Note the phrase: “I think they have the legal right to file charges against anyone alleging wrongdoing”
To question, sometimes means to go to jail or lose all your worldly possessions, just like Socrates with his little cup of hemlock.
A royal project
Nganadeeled – Have a look at the price of rice. From memory I think it was about 4 baht a kilo 2003 and rose steadily to nearly 10 baht in 2005/6. Last time I looked, after the removal of the disastrous, economy ruining, price stabilisation scheme that Thaksin had put in place, it had fallen to about 6 baht a kilo. Perhaps this goes some of the way in explaining the rise in income from on farm activities.
In-sufficient analysis
Why dont you get personal, anon?
A royal project
“His article makes one wonder whether there are actually two Chris Bakers in Bangkok.”
Yes. Very curious indeed!
A royal project
Unfortunately I dont place too much hope in the rise of agricultural income bringing salvation as it would be going against worldwide trends.
As an anthropoligist, Andrew, I am sure you are aware of the trends in farming worldwide, including the general rise of off-farm incomes, the shift to the cities by the next generation, farm subsidies and farm conglomerates.
For many owners of small farms in the west, farming is a more a way of life than a living.
Box 2 on page 16 of the report that Patiwat linked to (in post #1 above) still paints a pretty bleak picture in the north east.
I could not find detailed reasons for the rise in agricultural incomes – Patiwat, can you enlighten me on how the rises were achieved?
The rise could come from a number of factors including a combination of increased productivity and increased prices. If productivity increased, was it due to seasonal factors, changed crop mix or improved techniques?
If prices increased, was it due to world price increases, seasonal factors, value adding, price support subsidies, changed crop mix or other factors?
Anyone know the answers?
In-sufficient analysis
What were you expecting – refereed journal-level analysis?
Chris Baker isn\’t really an academic (he\’s an \”independent research\”, which means that no university will give him tenure), and the Thailand Human Development Report is a palace puff piece to justify the Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award that Kofi Annan gave to the King. Sounds impressive, doesn\’t it?
Until you ask who else has received this award…. And the answer is: nobody. It\’s an award created specifically for the king.
A royal project
It\’s a bit kind to call Mr. Vichai a regular \”reader.\”
I think \”heckler\” or \”paranoid\” would more accurate titles.
Is it just me who imagines Vichai hunched over his keyboard, furiously typing out his ad-hominem attacks and diatribes while wearing a tinfoil р╕Кр╕Ор╕▓ on his head? (You know…to deflect the Thaksinite mind-control rays.)
The rural threat
“Frankly speaking, sufficiency economy is a self-defence response to predatory globalisation practices and it should not be mingled with politics.”
Seems to me it’s Thai elites predating on themselves. Like Thaksin using his connections as a police colonel and civil servant to buy government computer and then telecommunications concessions. What pray tell is global about that? Except that is where the technology originally came from.
“Sufficiency economy” as it is being developed by Thai elites (not in its original form as the words of His Majesty the King) seems to be just another form of Thai Ruk Thai (not Farang) clearly implying: Thai Ruk Farang (too much).
It is the Thai elites that employ whatever opportunities are exploitable in the international marketplace against other Thais in the domestic marketplace. It was Thaksin who used the tighter security worldwide after 9/11 to increase the power of the police who in the same breath accused liberal-progressive NGOs from outside the country usurping Thailand’s sovereignty and declaring that the UN “was not his father.” All this clearly looked like Thai (not) Ruk Thai and THai (pretend to) Ruk Thai.
One must distinguish the public transcript and ideology from the hidden transcript. In the university I taught at, foreign teachers were not given the same treatment as Thai teachers. They were not given health insurance or on campus housing or long contracts. They were disposable teachers, few of which chose to remain there for long and contribute even if they really were truly of the Farang Ruk Thai variety. Meanwhile the BOI offers huge incentives to companies with lots of money to blow and luxury condomiums in Bangkok are thriving, a huge fraction of which are bought by wealthy foreigners. Education is a force that can change rural thought and participation in democracy.
Exclusive focus on isolating and lassooing large globs of money as they run around loose on the free range of the international market place just solidifies Thai elite status quo and rural backwardness.
A royal project
[…] This chapter is another public relations piece for the sufficiency economy approach. It discusses a range of broadly defined sufficiency economy initiatives at local, corporate and national levels. The main case study discussed is the Inpaeng Network in northeast Thailand. The activities are described in terms of the three-stage model of local development discussed in my previous post. Network members started by turning away from cash cropping to local subsistence production; they then developed a range of external economic relations based on the clever identification, processing and marketing of local products. The result is a sufficiency success story: […]
A royal project
Patiwat – thanks for your comment. This is the sort of debate/discussion that one might have hoped would be canvassed in the UNDP report. I accept the figures about the rise in agricultural incomes but, like you, I do wonder how much of this rise comes from a foundation in sufficiency. And I don’t think an increase in agricultural income undermines the fundamental point about the diversity of household economies. In the northeast these agricultural incomes have surely increased from a rather low base. But, thanks again for the discussion of substantial livelihood issues.