Compromised margin: Migration and Agrarian Transformation in the northeastern Thai-Lao ...

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COMPROMISED MARGIN: MIGRATION AND AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATION
IN THE NORTHEASTERN THAI – LAO BORDERLANDS

Soimart Rungmanee

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (Human Geography)

School of Geosciences, Faculty of Science
University of Sydney, Australia

February 2014
Statement of Originality

This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is
my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other
purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of
my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and
sources have been acknowledged.

Soimart Rungmanee

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Acknowledgements

The completion of this thesis could not have been achieved without the excellent
support and encouragement from many individuals. Their contributions are
sincerely appreciated and should be recognised. First and foremost, I would like
to express my deep gratitude to Professor Philip Hirsch. I felt very fortunate and
grateful to have Professor Philip Hirsch as my thesis supervisor. He is an
exceptional teacher and an inspirational person who also provided enthusiastic
encouragement throughout my doctorate research programme. I also would like
to express my sincere thanks to Associate Professor Bill Pritchard for his
guidance, and Dr Robert Fisher for his great support and invaluable comments.
Special thank goes to Dr Estelle Dryland for editing my Thai-English writing
style and saving me from many errors, and Dr. Nathan Wales for helping me to
produce maps. Lastly, I am particularly grateful for the assistance given by the
administrative team at the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sue,
Nikki, and Ramana, during my four years in Sydney.

My fieldwork represents the most important part of my thesis. It was a special
period that provided me with research and life experience in Northeast Thailand
and Lao PDR. As my fieldwork sites are located in relatively rural and remote
areas, the contribution of many people made the period less difficult. I wish to
thank villagers in Ban Fangthai, Ban Kaemkong, and Ban Laonua for sharing
their stories, and Ms Wantanee Trongdee who accompanied me during the
preliminary fieldwork and kindly provided accommodation in Mukdahan city for
me. I should also thank Mr Tankaew Prombidon from the Savannakhet Province,
and staff at the Mukdahan Provincial Governor’s Office, Mukdahan Immigration
Office, and Wan Yai District Governor Office, in particular Dr Sommai
Preechasilp, Mr Charin Tianpermpoon, and Mr Rachane Tunprapat. They
facilitated me in various ways in the fieldworks.

Financially, the study would not have been possible without a scholarship from
Thammasat University, my institution in Bangkok. The PRSS Grant from the
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University of Sydney is also a great support as it covered a series of additional
expenses related to my fieldwork. I additionally have greatly benefited from the
opportunity to present initial analyses and early drafts at various workshops, and
conferences. For this, many thanks go out to fellow participants and the
organisers and funders, especially Maureen Helen Hickey (NUS), the
International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in the Netherlands, ChATSEA,
and ENITS, Chulalongkorn University.

In Thailand, I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues in the
Department of Community Development, Faculty of Social Administration at
Thammasat University. At a more personal level, I am very thankful to my
beloved colleagues, in particular Associate Professor Parichart Walaisatian,
Assistant Professor Kamonthip Chamkrajang, Acharn Weeraboon Wisartsakul,
Acharn Panrat Nimtalung, and Ms Waraporn Wasuthepruk, for their
encouragement and moral support throughout my study time.

I would also like to thank many Thai friends for their kindness. Special thanks
go to Dr Nattakhant Akarapongpisak, Prakirati Satasut, Arratee Ayuttakorn,
Busarin Lertchowalitsakul, Associate Professor Kanoksak Kaewthep,
Monthathip Channaphum, Ammarawadee Inthakanok, Tubtim Tubtim, Lada
Phadungkiati, Atchara Rakyudhitham, Wasana La-ongplew and many friends
from the Australian National University and the University of Sydney.

Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my beloved family. I cannot thank my
parents, Augsorn Tanyawanich and Burin Rungmanee, my grandmother, auntie
Kit and uncle Chit, and my sister, Dr Sarin Rungmanee enough for their love,
enthusiastic support, and encouragement which greatly helped me tackle the
numerous challenges I faced throughout my Ph.D. journey. Finally, I would like
to thank Martin Carroll who has given moral support and understanding during
the last tough year of my thesis writing. It is more than appropriate that I
dedicate this thesis to them.

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Abstract

Agrarian transformation, a process associated with changes in the relations of
production, occurs when capitalism penetrates or is adopted into modes of
agricultural production and labour. It has been classically approached through
the prism of class and rural differentiation in peasant communities. Previous
studies have tended to primarily focus on core agricultural areas rather than
other geographical settings.

This thesis investigates how the socio-cultural and geographic contexts of the
northeastern Thai-Lao borderlands, specifically the flexibility of border crossing
and language and cultural similarities, shape the current agrarian transformation
in particular patterns of migration. It argues that the pathway of agrarian
transformation in the northeastern Thai-Lao borderlands is not a linear de-
agrarianisation process. Although villagers are generally involved in a wide
range of economic activities, many are engaged in farming at the same time.
Labour shortages in the Thai borderlands have been resolved by transborder
rural-to-rural migration.

Ethnographic fieldwork and surveys have been conducted in three communities.
The first two are cross-border communities located along the Mekong River, one
in Mukdahan Province in northeastern Thailand, and the others in Savannakhet
Province, Lao PDR. The third community is in the hinterland of Laos,
approximately 50 km from the border, and is also in Savannakhet Province.

The findings of this thesis are presented in three parts. The first part identifies
the spatial contexts of northeastern Thai-Lao borderlands that allow the scope of
compromise in state-village relations in the borderlands. The second part
exposes migration patterns of villagers in the northeastern Thai-Lao borderlands
and their long-distance migration to Bangkok and its vicinities. The third part
reveals that a certain type of agriculture persisted in the northeastern Thai- Lao
borderlands and a hinterland village of Laos in contrast to the linear theory of
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de-agrarianisation. It argues that the ability of the Thai farmers to absorb cheap
Lao workers supported ongoing agriculture and led to new agrarian relations
between the Thai farmers and the Lao workers. In Laos, migration and
remittance support agricultural households to invest in small businesses, build
new houses, or buy new lands, all of which provide upward mobility for the Lao
villagers.

Those findings contribute to theoretical debates about the state power, state-
village relations in the borderlands, the non-linear and overlapping nature of
rural-to-rural and rural-to-urban migration, and agrarian transformation in
Southeast Asia. Taken together, the thesis provides a better understanding on the
process of agrarian transformation, and suggests that, because this
transformation often follow a non-linear path, it casts doubt on simple notions of
de-agrarianisation.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ............................................................................................................. iv
Statement of Originality ................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... ii
List of Figures ................................................................................................... xi
List of Tables………………………………………………………………….xii
Abbreviations and Acronyms………………………………………………...xiii

Chapter 1 Setting the Case ............................................................................ 1
1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Research Objectives ................................................................................... 4
1.3 Research Questions .................................................................................... 4
1.4 Methodology, Fieldwork, and Research Sites ............................................ 6
1.4.1 Ban Fangthai, Mukdahan Province,Thailand .................................... 9
1.4.2 Ban Kaemkong and Ban Laonau,
Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR ..................................................... 11
1.5 Organisation of the thesis ........................................................................... 13

Chapter 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Discussion .......................... 16
2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 16
2.2 Agrarian Transformation in Southeast Asia in Perspectives ...................... 17
2.3 State, Borderlands, and Human Mobility ................................................... 22
2.3.1 The state and the politics of Borderlands .......................................... 23
2.3.2 State vs the borderland residents; and,
the enforcement of state regulations .................................................. 26
2.3.3 Human Mobility in the Borderlands .................................................. 30
2.4 Rural-to-rural/rural-to-urban and circular migration:
the overlooked connection ......................................................................... 32
2.5 Reformulating Agrarian Transformation in the Borderland Context ....... 35
2.5.1 The borderlands and de-agrarianisation ............................................ 36
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2.5.2 The transformation of class and labour relations............................... 39
2.5.3 Multiple class identity ....................................................................... 41
2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 41

Chapter 3 Researching the borderlands: Practice and context ................. 43
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 43
3.2 Doing Fieldworks along the Borderlands of Northeast Thailand
and the Lao PDR ......................................................................................... 44
3.3 From One Site to Multi-sited Research: From field Sites in
the Borderland to Hinterland and to Global City ........................................ 48
3.4 Methods and Data ....................................................................................... 51
3.4.1 Formal interview ................................................................................ 54
3.4.2 Informal interview ............................................................................. 54
3.4.3 Participation observation: work and talk ........................................... 55
3.4.4 Questionnaire survey .......................................................................... 57
3.5 Limitation of Field Research ....................................................................... 59
3.6 Reflecting upon Positionality ...................................................................... 61
3.7 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................. 66
3.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 67

Chapter 4 Contextualising Northeast Thailand and Lao Borderlands
And Trajectories of Development ................................................................. 69
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 69
4.2 Northeast Thailand and Laos from pre-colonial to the post-colonial time . 71
4.2.1 The pre-colonial time ........................................................................ 71
4.2.2 French colonisation (1893-1945) ...................................................... 75
4.2.3 The post-colonial period (1945-1975) .............................................. 80
4.3 Political Economic Development of Thailand
and Laos after the 1970s ............................................................................. 81
4.3.1 The Industrialisation of Thailand from the 1960s and
the lagging behind of the Northeast................................................... 83

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4.3.2 Laos as a socialist country in 1975 and the post-socialisim
In 1985 ................................................................................................ 86
4.3.3 Green revolution and commercial crops in Northeast Thailand ......... 89
4.3.4 Migration and rural transformation in Northeast Thailand ................ 90
4.3.5 Commercial agriculture in the Lao PDR ............................................ 92
4.3.6 Northeast Thailand and Laos in an Era of Transnationalisation
in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (1990s – present) ....................... 94
4.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….100

Chapter 5 Compromised Margins: state regulations, local checkpoints,
and everyday life at the northeastern Thai-Lao borders ………………..101
5.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………...101
5.2 Everyday lives at the Northeast Thailand and Lao borders in the past:
Ban Fangthai and Ban Kaemkong……………………………………….103
5.2.1 The early connection……………………………………………….104
5.2.2 The restricted border (1940-1988)…………………………………108
5.2.3 Re-connection through the market space (1990s – present)……….111
5.3 The Contemporary Cross-border regulation…………………………….112
5.4 The Making of Illicit Cross-border Employment……………………….117
5.4.1 Transnational movement: the views from local people……………117
5.4.2 The views from the state………………………………………….. 123
5.5 The Scope of Compromise in State-village Relations…………………..119
5.6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………....129

Chapter 6 Mobile Lao-Isan Livelihoods .................................................... 132
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 132
6.2 Mobility out of the margin....................................................................... 133
6.2.1 Ban Fangthai as a sending landscape .............................................. 131
6.2.2 The receiving landscape .................................................................. 137
6.3 Everyday Mobility in Lao PDR ............................................................... 143
6.3.1 The demise of daily cross-border movement
from Ban Kaemkong. .................................................................... 144

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