{"title":"Improvement in Rainfed Rice Production during an Era of Rapid National Economic Growth: A Case Study of a Village in Northeast Thailand.","authors":"Kazuo Watanabe","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.2_293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.2_293","url":null,"abstract":"Rainfed paddy fields cover a large area in Northeast Thailand. Rice production there is known to be highly variable, with generally low yields. With the Thai economy developing rapidly since the 1960s, an increasing number of farmers have sought employment in the non-farm sector. As a result, some worry that rice growing in this region might decline or even disappear. In reality, however, it continues to play an important role in ensuring basic food security to rural households. This study investigates technological advances in rice growing during this period of rapid economic growth in Don Daeng village using a dataset spanning approximately 50 years. The results indicate that farmers adopted small-scale agricultural machines, irrigation technologies, land consolidation, high-yielding varieties, chemical fertilizers, and the direct seeding method on their own initiative. These technologies and methods contributed to increasing rice yields and stabilizing production. They also appear to have substantially improved labor productivity, allowing farmers to pro-cure their main food supply from their paddy fields while earning an additional income from the off-farm sector, which could then be reinvested in agriculture. Thus, the interaction between these sectors is currently supporting small-scale rice production in peri-urban villages in Northeast Thailand.","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"293-306"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.2_293","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43948396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multiple Cropping after the Rice Harvest in Rainfed Rice Cropping Systems in Khon Kaen Province, Northeast Thailand","authors":"A. Promkhambut, A. Rambo","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.2_325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.2_325","url":null,"abstract":"(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)IntroductionIn rainfed rice fields in Northeast Thailand, only a single crop of rice is commonly planted in the rainy season. Moreover, the yield of rice is generally low, averaging 1.7 t/ha. The low productivity coupled with low and fluctuating prices and high input costs severely limits the profitability of rice production and keeps many farmers trapped in poverty. Cropping intensification through multiple cropping could be a way to increase productivity and boost rural incomes.In the past, multiple cropping was rarely practiced in Northeast Thailand due to the limited biophysical resources (e.g., low and erratic rainfall, infertile sandy soils, limited availability of surface water supplies, serious problem of insect pests, long duration of the rice crop) (Terd et al. 1976a; 1976b; 1978a; 1978b; Aran et al. 1977a; 1977b; 1977c; KKU-Ford Cropping System Project 1982; Rambo 1991; Viriya 2001). Even when experimental multiple cropping systems were agronomically successful, farmers did not adopt them (Vichain and Aran 1990), mostly due to social and economic constraints, including limited markets for crops, labor competition, and lack of capital and knowledge (Rigg 1985; Vichain and Aran 1990). Although the factors limiting the adoption of multiple cropping were well understood in the context of rainfed agriculture in the 1980s, the situation in the Northeast has undergone rapid change since then. The context for multiple cropping is now quite different from what it was in the past. Key changes include the widespread adoption of the drought-tolerant RD6 glutinous rice variety and use of diesel pumps to provide supplementary irrigation water from newly dug farm ponds, which have helped to stabilize rice yields in years of low rainfall. The resulting higher and more stable yields of glutinous rice have allowed farmers to plant a larger share of their land with non-glutinous KDML105, which is raised as a cash crop, providing rural households with a new source of income. Agricultural intensification is occurring to an extent unimaginable just a few years ago. Relying on remittances sent back to their families by migrant workers, as well as cash earned by engaging in off-farm employment in new factories and service jobs in local urban centers, Isan farmers have been rapidly adopting modern agricultural technology, including increased use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and farm machinery (Grandstaff et al. 2008). Multiple cropping and cultivation of high-value crops to supply growing urban markets are also more commonly practiced (Rambo 2012).In Khon Kaen Province, farmers now employ a variety of locally developed double cropping systems to grow cash crops after the rice harvest and thus raise farm incomes. Some farmers grow high-value vegetable crops after the rice harvest, such as Chinese radish (Patcharaporn and Orawan 2011), tomato for seed production (Prapatsorn and Wareerat 2010), glutinous c","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"325-338"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.2_325","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43953104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Agrarian Transformation in Northeastern Thailand: A Review of Recent Research","authors":"A. Rambo","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.2_211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.2_211","url":null,"abstract":"Rural Northeast Thailand has been undergoing rapid change in recent years, a pro cess that can be referred to as an “agrarian transformation.” This transformation involves a major restructuring of agriculture from being subsistence oriented to market oriented. It also involves concomitant changes in all components of the agricultural system, including technology, economic orientation, social relations, and cultural values. This paper presents a review of a large volume of recent research on several key dimensions of the agrarian transformation: (1) agricultural intensification, diversification, and specialization; (2) technological change and the continuing role of traditional technology in rural life; (3) the epidemiological tran sition and changes in health and disease risks; and (4) social system changes, including in the nature of ruralurban interactions, population structure, household composition and livelihood systems, community social organization, and cultural values and aspirations. aggravate the specifically political dimensions of the problem. By raising villagers’ income levels within the traditional economic framework, by making life easier and more comfortable for the rural villager, the levels of aspirations among young men are also likely to rise, and the means of achieving such aspirations—e.g., freedom from poverty, better educational facilities—will be avail able. Thus, more young men are likely to want to achieve social status outside of the rural village and outside of the peasant style of life. But most plans for development of the Northeast do not seem to take into account the possibility of such an increase in aspiration, for Northeastern villagers are viewed as an undifferentiated mass with common commitments to a peasant style of life. Unless efforts are made to keep channels of mobility open, and to expand them, we are likely to find a crucial segment of the Northeastern population thwarted in their aspirations—perhaps an easy prey to those who might offer alternative commitments and alternative opportunities for status achievement. ( ibid. , 377–378)","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"211-245"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.2_211","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49254884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Edward Aspinall, Marcus Mietzner, and Dirk Tomsa, eds. The Yudhoyono Presidency: Indonesia’s Decade of Stability and Stagnation","authors":"Wahyu Prasetyawan","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.1_192","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_192","url":null,"abstract":"The Yudhoyono Presidency: Indonesia's Decade of Stability and Stagnation Edward Aspinall, Marcus Mietzner, and Dirk Tomsa, eds. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2015, 362pp.A Decade of Missed OpportunitiesThe Yudhoyono Presidency: Indonesia's Decade of Stability and Stagnation is a collection of papers that were presented at the annual Indonesia Update conference at the Australian National University in 2014 and edited by three Indonesianists: Edward Aspinall, Marcus Mietzner, and Dirk Tomsa. The volume's aim is to understand the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY, as he is called in Bahasa Indonesia) between 2004 and 2014. SBY was the first president elected through the democratic means of direct election in 2004. He was subsequently reelected in 2009, making him the first reelected president in democratic Indonesia. The Indonesian experience of directly electing a president in 2004 and 2009 was a watershed in the country's modern history.This book emphasizes the personality of SBY to evaluate his terms as president of Indonesia. The most visible feature of SBY's personality was that he \"was a peragu-a hesitator or vacillator who took care to avoid political controversy that he was rarely able to take decisive policy action\" (p. 3), as described by the editors of the book. They also depict SBY as a moderating president, which means that \"he viewed himself as leading a polity and a society characterized by deep divisions and he believed that his most important role was to moderate these divisions by mediating between the conflicting forces and interests to which they give rise\" (p. 4). For some scholars this approach offers the possibility of writing about the positive impact of the stability offered by the SBY presidency over a 10-year period. This judgment is correct, especially when located in the broader context of Indonesian politics after the Reformasi (Reform), which started in 1998 and led to many social conflicts and deep divisions within both the polity and society.However, by prioritizing stability and harmony, SBY also allowed himself to miss important economic opportunities that were provided by a commodities boom. How were these opportunities missed? It seems that SBY was reluctant to take on difficult policies because they would likely bring about open confrontation in society, and also with voters. Some of this book's contributors discuss these policies, suggesting that SBY did not take decisive action on issues such as social welfare and human rights and that this inaction can be traced to his personality.Another obstacle that confronted SBY was the decentralization policies adopted by President Habibie in 1999. These policies eliminated the hierarchical relationship that had existed between the central and local governments under Suharto's New Order. This hierarchy had allowed Suharto to monitor and control governors and mayors or regents, which also meant that he had the power to control policies as far","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"192-196"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_192","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42416548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conflict over Landownership in the Postcolonial Era : The Case of Eigendom Land in Surabaya","authors":"Sukaryanto","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.1_63","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_63","url":null,"abstract":"This article attempts to explore the controversy surrounding eigendom land (land owned under colonial state management rights) in Surabaya and its relations with the enforcement of the Basic Principles of Agrarian Law (BAL), in an effort to realize the ideals of the Republic of Indonesia—justice and prosperity for all people. The enactment of the BAL, which independently regulated land tenure and ownership, was a milestone in the autonomy of postcolonial Indonesia. One of the effects of the law was agrarian reform, which led to most eigendom land becoming tanah negara, or state-controlled land. This eigendom land has been used for public housing, though some consider such usage to deviate from the BAL. In recent years, the issue has led to conflict between settlers of eigendom land and the municipal government of Surabaya. This article concludes that the existence of eigendom land in the postcolonial era is a reality and its impact can be seen in the form of residents being driven to oppose the government. If the law were consistent with the BAL, there would be no land with eigendom status in Indonesia. The best hope for achieving justice and welfare for the people of Indonesia, in accordance with the goals of agrarian reform, is to convert the status of all eigendom land to the types of land rights determined by BAL.","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"63-94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_63","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43364131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Frédéric Bourdier, Maxime Boutry, Jacques Ivanoff, and Olivier Ferrari. From Padi States to Commercial States: Reflections on Identity and the Social Construction Space in the Borderlands of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar","authors":"Chuan Yean Soon","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.1_201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_201","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"201-204"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_201","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43717896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Karma versus Magic: Dissonance and Syncretism in Vernacular Thai Buddhism","authors":"Kanya Wattanagun","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.1_115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_115","url":null,"abstract":"For a number of scholars, syncretism as an analytical approach to a group’s or an individual’s religiosity has several shortcomings. Denoting the mixture of tenets or practices belonging to different traditions, syncretism presupposes a clearly demarcated boundary between the syncretized traditions (McDaniel 2011, 17). It also implies scholarly wrought labels and categories, which are hardly shared by the people whose religiosity becomes the subject of academic scrutiny (Tambiah 1970, 42; T. G. Kirsch 2004, 706). In this paper I demonstrate that despite its short comings, syncretism can be employed to expound vernacular Thai Buddhism, whose heterogeneous composition has been argued to be “beyond syncretism” (Pattana 2005, 461). Ethnographic cases presented in this paper reveal that several Thai Buddhists, noting a dissonance between the doctrine of karma and the belief in magic, differentiate Buddhist from nonBuddhist elements. The rationalization they employ to resolve this dissonance is a syncretistic activity that renders their multi farious religiosity internally consistent and meaningful. These cases challenge the assumption that syncretism is inapplicable to the highly diversified and hybrid ways Thai Buddhists observe their faith since they neither draw the boundary between diverse religious tenets and customs nor adhere to a single orthodox ideal. in vases or other proper containers on the floor. Spirit altars in their symbolic and physical sense bring together deities from diverse backgrounds and origins; the altar is the sacred site where the religious hybridization of popular beliefs actually takes its concrete, collective form. (Pattana 2005, 484)","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"115-137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_115","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43281319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nipaporn Ratchatapattanakul, Kazuya Watanabe, Y. Okamoto, Y. Kono
{"title":"Living under the State and Storms: The History of Blood Cockle Aquaculture in Bandon Bay, Thailand","authors":"Nipaporn Ratchatapattanakul, Kazuya Watanabe, Y. Okamoto, Y. Kono","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.1_3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_3","url":null,"abstract":"(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)IntroductionCoastal aquaculture around Bandon Bay, in Surat Thani Province of Southern Thailand, developed in the context of state development projects implemented as part of the government's anti-Communism policies. The government further promoted intensive aquaculture when neighboring countries declared a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone off their coasts at the end of the 1970s.11 Since then, the Bay has become the main aquaculture area of Thailand and, according to 2000-04 aquaculture production statistics, one of the most concentrated aquaculture areas in Southeast Asia (Campbell 2011, 31). The main products of the Bay can be divided into two groups according to the method and area of cultivation. The first is intensive cultivation of marine shrimp, or prawns, in ponds constructed on land along the riversides and coast. Production depends on these controlled and artificial settings in order to ensure a stable supply for the export market. The second is extensive aquaculture in natural marine settings that relies not only on the local climate and water quality but also on natural food organisms (ibid., 6). In Bandon Bay, this extensive aquaculture includes the cultivation of blood cockles (hoi kraeng, Anadara nodifera, Anadaragranosa), oysters (hoi takrom, hoi nangrom), and green mussels (hoi maeng phu).Pond cultivation of shrimp accounted for more than half of the total aquaculture area in Bandon Bay during 2000-10 (Fig. 1). Blood cockle production was ranked second after shrimp.2) Unlike shrimp cultivation, which is an export-oriented industry, blood cockles are produced mainly for the domestic market. Although Surat Thani has a significant share of the domestic market, blood cockles are not a major product for the province,3 and the government does not consider it significant because it is not an export product. As cockle cultivation relies heavily on local climate and water quality, cockle farmers have to adapt farm management to minimize the risks from climate variability and pollu tion. They have expanded their farms 3 kilometers out from the shore into areas outside the zone legally approved by the government. This expansion has challenged the marine usage rights of poor local fishermen, as rich local fishermen are able to illegally convert common marine areas into their own private assets thanks to their political influence. As a result, conflicts between artisanal fishermen and blood cockle farmers over the use of resources have repeatedly erupted in recent years, not only in Bandon Bay but also in the Bay of Pattani and Phetchaburi Province.Studies on the development of coastal aquaculture in Thailand focus primarily on conflicts over coastal resource management. Thai academicians pay attention to the ways in which sociocultural norms of local communities can enhance the roles of local actors in dealing with resource conflicts. This analysis framework gained popularity as a t","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"3-30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_3","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47285331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Indonesian Theosophical Society (1900–40) and the Idea of Religious Pluralism","authors":"M. Bahri","doi":"10.20495/SEAS.6.1_139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_139","url":null,"abstract":"PrefaceThis research focuses on how the Indonesian Theosophical Society (ITS) during the pre-independence period (1900-40) spread its ideas on religious pluralism in appreciation of Indonesia's multireligious and multicultural society. This research is important for the following reasons. First, ITS is possibly the first \"society\" to have introduced a model of religious studies in Indonesia with an inclusive-pluralist character. This was achieved by emphasizing an esoteric approach and by recognizing and exploring the exoteric and esoteric aspects of religions. As \". . . no statement about a religion is valid unless it can be acknowledged by that religion's believers\" (Smith 1959), ITS tried to learn these aspects directly from scholars or religious leaders of the religions being researched. This model of study was followed by Professor Mukti Ali when establishing the department of Comparative Religion at PTAIN (Perguruan Tinggi Agama Islam, Islamic Higher Education), Yogyakarta, in 1961 (see Bahri 2014).Second, if one looks at the role of Dirk van Hinloopen Labberton as a figure of the politics of Association and a key figure of ITS or the president of Nederlandsch Indische Theosofische Vereniging (NITY),11 who always called upon Theosophical Society members to \"cooperate\" with the Dutch colonial authorities, one may assume that ITS was used as a means of \"ethical politics\" of the Dutch colonial authorities to stifle the resistance of Indonesians (believers). However, one cannot ignore the significant role of ITS at that time in managing \"multireligious and cultural education.\" ITS members periodically gathered to discuss religious doctrines at lodges (loji). There were lodges in Buitenzorg (Bogor), Batavia, Cirebon, Bandung, Pasuruan, Semarang, Purwokerto, Pekalongan, Wonogiri, Surabaya, and probably in most of the small and big towns on Java. Periodically, they published Theosophical magazines that contained about 85 percent of living religions and beliefs in the archipelago. Apparently, instead of one of the objectives of Theosophy itself, namely, \"to form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of mankind,\" Theosophy members also realize that diversity and differences among the Nusantara people lead to conflicts; that is why they lean toward the ideas of pluralism, harmony, and the \"common word\" of religions.Third, in dealing with the awakening of nationalism in conventional Indonesian historiography, historians refer to movements such as Boedi Oetomo (BO), Indische Partij, Jong Islamische Bond, Jong Java, Jong Soematra, Jong Ambon, and similar organizations, but religious organizations are rarely ever mentioned as part of the awakening. However, it may be noted that while Islamic organizations such as Muhammadiyah (1912) and NU (Nahdlatul Ulama, 1926) were involved at the lower level, ITS was involved on an elite level in the propagation of nationalism in the era of revolution. Thus, BO and their fellows are to be seen as participants in thi","PeriodicalId":42525,"journal":{"name":"Southeast Asian Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"139-165"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2017-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.20495/SEAS.6.1_139","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48868573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}