THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL RURAL TRANSFORMATION AND LOCAL POLITICS IN A CENTRAL THAI DISTRICT Being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosphy in the University of Hull by Daniel Arghiros, B.Soc.Sci.(Hons.) August 1993 II ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of socio-economic change and local electoral politics in a Central Thai district and is based on ethnographic research carried out between 1989 and 1990. Local electoral politics has received little attention in Thai studies in recent years. This thesis aims to fill this gap with detailed case studies of instances of elections for subdistrict head and provincial councillor positions. The cases reveal the practical and ideological strategies pursued by candidates and the means by which they mobilise the rural electorate and enlist the support of political patrons. The study describes candidates' use of local 'vote brokers', 'vote-buying' and political patronage. The parts played by members of a district-wide manufacturers' association, by national politicians and by religious leaders are also examined. The case studies serve to expose the contradictions between the rhetoric and practice of Thai local-level democracy. The strategies and structures of local politics are set within the context of a rapidly changing rural political economy. Two aspects of this, household economic differentiation and rural industry, are examined in detail. Economic differences between households are extreme and new relations of production are emerging. After surveying economic and social differences between households, the study focuses on a recently established brickmalcing industry in 'Banglen' district. The industry is highly differentiated and relations of production are correspondingly complex. It is argued that owners of larger enterprises use patronage in their efforts to solve their problems with labour. The study describes an industry association that larger manufacturers have set up. The association promotes the interests of producers in several ways, not least by supporting members' attempts to win local office. Comparison of politicians' electoral strategies and employers' strategies with regard to labour reveals that there exists between them an underlying similarity. Both politicians and employers attempt to achieve their ends by drawing on the ideology of patronage and obligating the other in the relationship. Both use capital to construct obligations with moral connotations. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Professor V.T. King for his supervision of this research project, and for his consistently swift and helpful feedback. I am grateful to Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute for granting me affiliated status and to Dr. Watthana Wongsekirttirat for his invaluable assistance, not least for facilitating my residence in 'Ban Thung'. I appreciate the encouragement of Dr. Jacques Amyot and the advice and moral support given by Dr. Harvey Demaine, particularly in the early stages of fieldwork. Fieldwork was conducted with the kind permission of the National Research Council of Thailand, and I am grateful to Professor Somboon Suksamran for sponsoring my application. Research and fieldwork were funded by a special scholarship made available by the University Grants Committee, following the report on Oriental and African languages and area studies by Sir Peter Parker, as well as the Evans Fellowship Fund, the Emslie Horniman Anthopological Scholarship Fund, two Mervyn Jaspan Field Research Awards and the Radcliffe-Brown Memorial Fund for Social Anthropological Research. The School of Social Sciences, University of Sussex, helped with the production of this thesis. I am grateful to Dr. Mike Parnwell and to Jip Parnwell for generously guiding my first steps in the Thai language and for greatly easing my introduction to Thailand. My thanks go to Colonel and Khun Vichian Chuanchurn for so kindly providing me with a home prior to my fieldwork. My greatest thanks go to the people of 'Ban Thung' and 'Ban Say'. I must thank them anonymously and collectively for their hospitality and patience. Various people have helped by reading parts or all of this thesis. Carol Davis commented on a draft of Chapter Five and Michael Nelson gave detailed comments on a paper on which the thesis draws. Joanne Moller has been a keen critic and has read draft chapters as well as the entire text. It is my pleasure to express here my appreciation of Dr. Stephen Holland who has contributed in many ways and at many stages to this thesis. His encouragement both during and since fieldwork, and his responses to successive drafts of the thesis have been of immense value to me. This is an opportunity for me to express my deep thanks to my extended family which includes my Mother, Peter Whitley and Maggie and Leon Cooper- Smith. I thank them all for the care, support and encouragement they have given me over the years. Lastly, I owe my fiancée, Joanne Moller, very special thanks. Joanne has contributed to this project in more ways than I feel able to mention and perhaps in more ways than she realises. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgments Table of Contents iv List of Tables vii List of Figures vii Note on Terminology Glossary Abbreviations viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 I.A. Methodology 4 I.B. Synopsis of the Thesis 9 CHAPTER TWO THAI NATIONAL AND LOCAL POLITICAL ECONOMY 11 ILA. The Changing Thai Political Economy, 1800-1990 11 H.B. National Politics in the 1980s 15 II.C. Local Politics: Issues and Realities 22 II.C.1. Institutional Change 25 11.C.2. Subdistrict Councils 28 H.C.3. Factions S 30 II.C.4. Local Power Structures 31 11.D. Concluding Remarks 33 CHAPTER THREE STUDY CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND 34 M.A. Change in Ayutthaya Province 34 III.B. The District 36 III.C. Study Subdistricts 37 Ban Thung Subdistrict 37 Ban Say Subdistrict 39 Temple and Religious Leaders 40 DIE. Changing Leadership in Ban Thung 42 Economic History of Ban Thung 44 M.G. Livelihood and Production in Ban Thung and Ban Say 46 III.G.1. Agricultural Production 46 111.G.2. Livestock Rearing 48 III.G.3. Wage Labour and Own-Account Activities 50 11I.H. Land Speculation 52 III.H.1. Commercial Soil Excavation 58 111.1. Concluding Remarks 59 CHAPTER FOUR DIFFERENTIATION AND SOCIAL STATUS IN BANGLEN DISTRICT 60 1V.A. Theoretical Aspects of Differentiation 60 IV.B. Recent Accounts of Thai Agrarian Differentiation 65 TV.C. Differentiation in Ban Thung and Ban Say Subdistricts 66 IV.D. Status Relations and Differentiation 73 IV.D.1. Relations Between 'Poor' and 'Rich' at Wat Ban Thung 76 IV.D.2. Status and the Egalitarian Norm 79 IV.E. Concluding Remarks 80 CHAPTER FIVE THE BANGLEN BRICKMAIUNG INDUSTRY 81 V.A. Background 81 V.B. Organisation, and Differentiation in the Brick Industry 85 V.B.1. Resources for Production 85 V.B.2. Non-mechanised and mechanised production 87 V.B.3. Trajectories of Enterprise Development 89 V.C. Social Relations of Production 94 V.C.1. Labour 94 V.C.2. Employers' Views and Strategies 97 V.D. The Brick Manufacturers' Association 106 V.E. Concluding Remarks 113 CHAPTER SIX SUBDISTRICT ELECTORAL POLITICS: THE ELECTION OF A KAMNAN 114 VI.A. Election of a Village Four Headman 114 VI.A.1. Headman Office in Village Four Contested 117 VI.B. The Kamnan Election 121 VI.B.1. Brickyard Owners and the Election 125 VI.B.2. Candidates' Links with National Politicians 126 VI.B.3. Dirty Tricks 127 VI.B.4. Headman Han's Claim to Status 128 VI.B.5. Propaganda, Policies and Lies 129 VI.B.6. Views from the Poor 133 VI.B.7. Electioneering Strategies 135 VI.B.8. The Eve of Polling Day 140 VI.B.9. May 20: Polling Day 142 VI.C. Subsequent Developments, Han as Kamnan, and Motives 145 VI.C.1. Han as Kamnan 147 VI.C.2. Explaining Han's Victory 148 VI.C.3. Kamnan Han's Motives 150 VI.D. Concluding Remarks 153 CHAPTER SEVEN DISTRICT ELECTORAL POLITICS: PROVINCIAL COUNCILLOR ELECTIONS 154 VILA. Provincial Councils and Councillors 155 VII.B. The Candidates 158 VII.C. Preliminary Electioneering 159 Vi VII.C.1. Candidates No.2 and No.3 159 VII.C.2. Candidate No.4 161 • National Politicians and the Elections 162 • The BMA and the Election 162 VII.F. Electioneering in Ban Thung 163 VII.F.1. Ban Thung Vote Brokers and Electioneering 163 VII.F.2. The Ban Thung Kathin Rite 166 VII.F.3. Ban Thung Residents are 'Advised' 169 VII.G. "No.4 Comes Darkly" 172 • Final Electioneering 176 VII.I. Polling Day 178 VIII Subsequent Developments in Ban Thung 180 VII.J.1. Analysis of Polling Results in Ban Thung Subdistrict 181 VII.K. Religious Leaders and Electioneering 184 VII.L. The New Provincial Councillors 185 VII.L.1. Sawat and Minister Montri Phongphanit 187 VII.M. The Elections in National Perspective 190 • Concluding Remarks 191 CHAPTER EIGHT LOCAL-LEVEL ELECTORAL POLITICS 193 VILLA. Aspects of the Election Campaigns in Ban Thung 193 VIII.B. The Brick Industry and Local Politics 195 • Electoral Politics and Religion 198 WELD. Parties, MPs, Provincial Councillors and Vote Brokers 199 WILE. Political Patronage, Patronage and Vote-Buying 202 VIII.F. Concluding Remarks 209 CHAPTER NINE CONCLUSION 211 IX.A. Epilogue: Recent Political Developments 215 APPENDIX 1: Dramatis Personae 218 APPENDIX 2: Structured Surveys 221 APPENDIX 3: Transliterations and Translations 223 REFERENCES 228 vii List of Tables 3.1: Number of Land Sales Transactions and Value of Tax Collected, 1981-1990, Ayutthaya Province. 54 3.2: Land Prices in Ban Say and Ban Thung Subdistricts 55 4.1: Survey Households by Farm Size 69 4.2: Farm Size and Tenancy 69 4.3: Income Sources and Occupations in Ban Thung and Ban Say 70 6.1: Kamnan Election Results in Ban Thung, 20 May 1990 14 6.2: Kamnan Election Results and 'Outsider' Voters 15, 7.1: October 1990 Provincial Councillor Elections: Ban Thung Polling Station No.2 17 7.2: October 1990 Provincial Councillor Election: Banglen District 18 7.3: October 1990 Provincial Councillor Election: Ballot Combinations at Polling Station Two, Ban Thung 18 7.4: Comparison of Kamnan (May 1990) and Provincial Councillor (October 1990) Polling Results in Ban Thung Subdistrict.