Understanding and Improving the Sustainability of the Silk Cottage Industry in Thailand Applying Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and Sustainable Approaches Yuwanan Santitaweeroek Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Environmental Strategy School of Engineering and Applied Physics University of Surrey March 2008 Abstract As a consequence of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the rural economic development policy of the previous Thai government, silk production in the informal economy has expanded from micro production to small and medium size enterprises. This is because SMEs in the formal sector mostly subcontracted their orders to new entrepreneurs in peri-urban areas. To achieve a large scale production, other process tasks, such as reeling, spinning and weaving have been distributed to home workers in villages or nearby areas. Therefore, silk production has become another important source of income for agricultural areas. However, the growth of these silk businesses has had an unexpected effect on the local environment and natural resources in rural and peri-urban areas. Extensive quantities of chemical substances and dyes, fuel-wood and water are utilised in bleaching and dyeing batch process to attain massive scale production. Due to lack of appropriate waste management, effluent is typically not treated to public health standards. Additionally, excess effluent has often overflowed onto common land or into reservoirs. This contamination has led not only to environmental deterioration but also to conflicts between villagers in relation to health and local resources utilisation, particularly in Pak Thongchai, Nakhon Ratchasima province. Therefore, the sustainability of silk production at the Micro-Small Enterprise scale or cottage industry should be investigated. The local sustainable development concept, the Sufficiency Economy philosophy, and other tools such as the Sustainable Livelihood and Cleaner Technology concepts were employed in this project to develop an appropriate win-win solution for the silk cottage industry. Currently the informal economy plays a significant role in the rural non-farm livelihoods of developing countries in general. An outcome of this project could be the improved application of sustainability tools and concepts in order to increasing an understanding of essential factors that affected the sustainability of this traditional craft economic activity and their community. i Table of Contents Page Abstract......................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ ii List of Tables .............................................................................................................. iii List of Figures............................................................................................................. iv List of Acronyms......................................................................................................... v Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................... 1 1.1 Thai silk livelihood on the brink of unsustainable development ...................... 2 1.1.1 The development of Thailand............................................................. 2 1.1.2 Silk development in Thailand............................................................. 3 1.2 Thai silk cottage industry sustainability development under the Sufficiency Economy philosophy ............................................................... 5 1.3 Research objectives.......................................................................................... 8 1.4 Thesis organisation .......................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 Literature review............................................................... 10 2.1 The Development of Thailand ........................................................................ 10 2.1.1 Economic context.............................................................................. 10 2.1.2 Social context.................................................................................... 15 2.1.3 Environmental Context ..................................................................... 17 2.2 Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and informal economy........................ 19 2.3 The OTOP Policy ........................................................................................... 22 2.4 Silk ................................................................................................................ 23 2.4.1 World Silk development ................................................................. 24 2.4.2 Silk development in Thailand .......................................................... 25 2.4.3 Silk development and sustainability................................................. 32 2.5 Conceptual Framework of the Study .............................................................. 32 2.5.1 Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP)........................................... 33 2.5.2 Sustainable Livelihood (SL)............................................................. 39 2.5.3 Cleaner Technology (CT) ................................................................. 42 ii 2.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 3 Methodology....................................................................... 47 3.1 Introduction..................................................................................................... 47 3.2 Research Methodologies ................................................................................ 48 3.2.1 First fieldwork .................................................................................. 49 3.2.2 Survey data analysis ......................................................................... 50 3.2.3 Second fieldwork............................................................................... 50 3.2.4 Data synthesis .................................................................................. 50 3.3 Target group selection .................................................................................... 52 3.3.1 Criteria in target selection................................................................ 52 3.3.2 Target sampling ................................................................................ 54 3.4 Methods.......................................................................................................... 54 3.4.1 Transect walks ................................................................................. 55 3.4.2 Semi-structured Interview .............................................................. 55 3.4.3 Focus group discussion.................................................................... 58 3.4.4 In-depth interview ............................................................................ 62 3.4.5 CT preliminary audit........................................................................ 64 3.4.6 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) analysis................................ 65 3.5 Data analysis ................................................................................................... 66 3.5.1 Quantitative data ............................................................................. 66 3.5.2 Qualitative data ............................................................................... 66 3.5.3 SWOT analysis................................................................................. 67 3.5.4 Mass balances.................................................................................. 67 3.5.5 Interpretation ................................................................................... 68 3.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 4 Result of Silk Production Livelihoods Survey in Pak Thongchai .........................................................................71 4.1. Overview of Pak Thongchai Silk MSEs ....................................................... 71 4.2. Vulnerability contexts.................................................................................... 76 4.2.1. Trend................................................................................................ 76 iii 4.2.2. Seasonality ....................................................................................... 77 4.2.3. Shock................................................................................................ 77 4.3. Livelihood Assets........................................................................................... 78 4.3.1. Human Capital................................................................................. 78 4.3.2. Social Capital................................................................................... 83 4.3.3. Physical Capital............................................................................... 87 4.3.4. Financial Capital............................................................................. 88 4.3.5. Natural Capital................................................................................ 91 4.3.6. Other key factors for sustainable enterprise development in Sufficiency Economy Philosophy