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Reconfiguring rural spaces and remaking rural lives in central Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2008

Jonathan Rigg ,
Suriya Veeravongs ,
Lalida Veeravongs  and
Piyawadee Rohitarachoon
Jonathan Rigg*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Durham University, UK
Suriya Veeravongs*
Affiliation:
Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Lalida Veeravongs*
Affiliation:
Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Piyawadee Rohitarachoon*
Affiliation:
Naresuan University, Phayao, Thailand
*
Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to: (Jonathan Rigg) J. D. [email protected]; (Suriya Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Lalida Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Piyawadee Rohitarachoon) [email protected]
Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to: (Jonathan Rigg) J. D. [email protected]; (Suriya Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Lalida Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Piyawadee Rohitarachoon) [email protected]
Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to: (Jonathan Rigg) J. D. [email protected]; (Suriya Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Lalida Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Piyawadee Rohitarachoon) [email protected]
Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to: (Jonathan Rigg) J. D. [email protected]; (Suriya Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Lalida Veeravongs) [email protected]; (Piyawadee Rohitarachoon) [email protected]
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Abstract

Drawing on fieldwork in the central plains of Thailand, the paper traces the transformation of the study villages from agricultural communities, to divided and often fractious dormitory settlements. Agriculture has been largely squeezed out of the local economy and local livelihoods by a raft of economic, environmental and social changes. At the same time, the rural spaces of Thailand have been infiltrated by a range of non-agricultural activities – in this instance, reflected in the arrival of an industrial park – and villagers as well as migrant sojourners from other parts of Thailand have taken up these new opportunities in the non-farm economy. The net result of these processes of agrarian transformation has been that the village, as a community, a unit of production, a site of identity, and a place with a common history, is evaporating.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , October 2008 , pp. 355 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2008

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