SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGE IN RAINFED AGRICULTURAL VILLAGES IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND PART I INTRODUCTION AND SOCIAL BASES OF PRODUCTION by Charles F. Keyes University of Washington Department of Anthropology Thailand Project Seattle, Washington 98195 May 1982 COPYRIGHT RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 1 1. "Rural Crisis" in Northeastern Thailand I 2. The Case Study Method and Two Rainfed Agricultural Villages 8 Footnotes 19 II. The Bases of Production in Rainfed Agricultural Communities 21 I. Socio-spatial Characteristics of the Villages 21 2. Environmental Setting and Ecological Constraints 26 3. Population Growth and Expansion of Cultivated Land 40 4. Social Organization of Production 55 Footnotes 85 References Cited following p. 87 Appendix: Questionnaire Used for Survey Carried out in Ban Nqng Tyn, Amphoe Myang, Cangwat Mahasara­ kham and Ban Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisai, Cangwat Sisaket, Northeastern Thailand, July and August 1980 Al Map: Location of Ban N9ng Tqn, Tambon Kwao, Amphoe Myang, Cangwat Mahasarekham and Ban Tae, Tambon Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisai, Cangwat Sisaket in Northeastern Thailand iii Tables I. Population, Population Growth, e'nd Percentage of Agricult­ ural Households, 1960-1979, for Northeastern Thailand, Mahasarakham and Sisaket Provinces, and Whole Kingdom 42 II. Population, Number of Households, and Average Household Size, Ban Nqng Tyn, Tambon Khwao, Amphoe Myang, Mahasarakham and Ban Tae, Tambon Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisei, Sisaket 45 III. Land Base, Ban Nqng Tqn, Tambon Khwao, Amphoe Myng, Cangwat Mahasarakhain, 1963 and 1980 51 IV. Tenure Status of Agricultural Holdings by Province in North­ eastern Thailand and by Region in Thailand, 1973 66 V. Patterns of Renting-In of Agricultural Land in Ban N9ng Tyn, Amphoe Myang, Mahasarakham and Ban Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisai, Sisaket, 1980 68 VI. Distribution of Land Holdings in Ban Ngng Tyn, Amphoe Myang, Mahasarakham, 1963 and 1980, and Ban Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisai, Sisaket, 1980 70 VII. Land Titles, Ban Ngng Tyn, Amphoe Myang, Mahasarakham and Ban Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisai, Sisaket, 1980 75 VIII. Buffalos and Cattle Owned in Ban Ngng Tyn, Amphoe Myang, Maha­ sarakham in 1963 and 1980 and in Ban Tae, Amphoe Uthumphonphisai, Sisaket in 1980 78 IX. Distribution of Cattle Ownership in Ban N9ng Tyn, Amphoe Myang, Mahasarakham, 1963 and 1980. 84 , o Nongitha0 RUdor NOkhA " ',,.­ q.€That Phanom t N 0 R T M A S T hRfi-et, , .. T H A I L A N 0 * I u.en . .. ,., nsk . , S. A M B 0 A. Location of Ban Ngng Tyn, Tambon Khwao, Amphoe Myang, Cangwat Amaphoe Uthumphonphisai, Cangwat Mahasarakham (A) and Ban Sisaket (B) in Northeastern Thailand. Tae, Tambon Tae, Map adapted from K'pv,c (1Qt,7% I. Introduction 1. "Rural Crisis" in Hortheastern Thailand Since the early 195' Thailand has enjoyed an economic growth rate that has been one of the highest amonCg lesser developed countries. Between 1951 and 1959, "GNP rose frow 29.3 billion baht to 130.8 billion baht, yielding a cumulative growth rate of 3.5 percent" (Ingram 1971:221). "Betieen 1960 and 1969, gross domestic product, at constant prices, grew on the average by R.1 percent annually" (Pisit Pakkasem 1972:26). In the 1970s the growth rate fell off owing to the oil crisis and the withdrawal of American troops from Southeast Asia. None­ theless, the Gross Domestic Product continued to grow, averaging 6.2 percent for the kingdom for the period between 1971 and 1976 (Thailand National Economic and Social Development Board 1976:36). While the effects of this growth have been he:Tily concentrated in Bangkok and in other urban centers, the rural peoples of the country hdve also enjoyed some of the benefits. A significant proportion--nerhaps as much as a quarter of the population, rural and urban, has risen since 1960 from a state of "ahqolute poverty," defined by the World Bank as 1,800 haht--approximately $90--per person per year in the rural areas and 2,400 baht-­ 2 $120--per person per year in the urban areas in 1975/76 prices (International Bank .',r Reconstruction and Develop­ inent 1978;iii). This dramatic change in the economy not­ withstanding, tl-.. World Bank still found in 1976 that a quarter of the population lived below the absolute poverty line. 'oreover, those livinq in poverty condi­ tions werc found to be concentrated in rainfed agricul­ tural villages in northeastern and, to a lesser extent, northern Thailand. In the words of the World Bank report: 'nearly three-quarters of all poverty house­ holds--about 8 million People-.-are in the rural North and Northeast, most of them farrers growing rice under rainfed conditions" (loc. cit.) The relative poverty of the rural peoples of northeastern Thailand is even more striking than the incidence of absolute pover - in the region. In 1977 the average per capita inco:.ie in the northeastern region was 2,240 baht (U.S. International Development anO Cooperation Agency, Agency for International Devel­ opment 1980: Table 4), a figure that did represent modest increases when comnared to the average per capita income figures of 1,663 baht for 1970 and 1,121 baht for 160 (Pisit Pakkasem:1972:42). The increase in income among northeasterners was, however, in no way comparable to that experienced by peoples elsewhere in the kingdom and especially in Bangkok. Taken as a percentage of the average per capita income of the kingdor, as a whole, average per capita income in the northeastern region dropped from 61 percent in 1965/69 to 42 percent in 1977. Taken as a percentage of the average per capita income of Bangkok, average per capita income of the northeastern region declined from 29 percent in 1965/69 to 14 percent in 1977 (statistics calculated from Thai government data aggregated in U.S. International Development Cooperation Agency, Agency for International Development 1980 Table 4). Given that even by 1976 only 4.3 percent of the northeastern population lived in urban areas in the region (Inter­ national Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1978: 32), the relative poverty of the Northeast was charac­ teristic primarily of a rural population. Moreover, given that by 1978/79 only 7.2 percent of the culti­ vated land of the Northeast was within irrigation areas (Thailand. National Economic and Social Devel­ opment Board, Northeast Regional Development Center, Regional Planning Division, 1980), it can be further adduced that the relative poverty of the northeastern populace, like absolute poverty, is to be found primar­ ily in rainfed agricultural comrunities. While conditions of poverty have long existed 4 in northeastern Thailand, they did not become of parti­ cular concern to the Thai government until the regime of Sarit Thanarat, who came to power in 1958. Prior to World Far II, the various governments both before and after the 1932 Revolution instituted few agricul­ ture development programs and those that were created were restricted almost exclusively to the central region. Northeastern villac-ers, like other villagers throughout the kingdom, did experience significant change in their understanding of the world in which they lived as a consequence of the institution of compulsory primary education. By the late 1930s most rural children of appropriate ages had been enrolled in schools in northeastern communities. World War II precipitated a political crisis during which a number of northeastern politicians rose to political prominence, capped by inclusion as minis­ ters in the postwar government of Pridi Phanomyong. Following the return to power of Phibun Songkoram in 1948, these northeastern leaders were viewed as sub­ versives, were arrested, and died under conditions that clearly suggested that they had been murdered on orders of high governmndnt officials (Keyes 1967i 32-35). The political tensions thus created, coupled with a growing awareness among northeastern villagers 5 of their conditions of poverty, lent considerable credi­ bility to the appeals for support initiated by legal and illegal leftist movements. These movements were viewed with considerable concern by the Thai govern­ ment instituted following a coup against Phibun led by Sarit Thanarat in 1957. In the lace 1950s the Thai government began to devise policies to deal with what was termed "the northeastern problem." The "problem" was conceived of as rooted fundamentally in conditions of underdevel­ opment, the dimensions of which having been underlined in a World Bank report based on a year's investigation in 1957-1958 (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1959:7; also see pp. 18-19). These conditions took on political significance owing to ethnoregionai factors, to the efforts of the Commun­ ist Party of Thailand to mobilize support in the region, and to the expanding conflict in the neigh­ boring Indochinese states (Keyes 1964; 1967). In about 1960, the Thai government created a Committee on Development of the Northeast under the National Economic Development Board in the Office of the Prime Minister. The Conittee included many ranking me~hers of the government and was chaired by Sarit himself. In 1961 this Committee completed 6 its major task, the formulation of a five year plan for the development of the Northeast. The goal of The North­ east Development Plan, 1962-1966 was stated as follows, The aim of the Northeast Development Plan is to raise the standard of living of the Northeastern people to levels comparable with that of other regions, bringing about greater welfare and happiness to the inhab­ itants of this region, and to lay down economic and social infrastructures for future economic stability and progress. The Committee holds above all the fact that the Northeastern part is an integral and inseparable part of the Kingdom of Thailand and that the Thai nationals living in the Northeastern region are Thai citizens. (Thailand. Committee on Devel­ opment of the Northeast, 1961:1) This goal has been pursued through subsequent Five-Year plans as well.