Introduction
The country’s development of modern Thailand has been strongly influenced by the growth and modernization theories for at least 50 years after the introduction of the national development plan in the early 1960s. By following this path of development, it is undoubtedly that Thailand has achieved a remarkable progress as evidenced by rapid economic and social changes not only at the macro level but also at the micro level. The successful of the country economic development is apparently supported by the growth of the country economy that has changed the level of development from being among the poorest nations in the world in 1950s to become a middle-income developing country at the present (Phongpaichit & Baker, 2005 and Wyatt, 2003). The fast economic growth has been driven by the country’s efforts to change its economic structure from being highly dependent on the traditional sector, especially agriculture, to rely more on the modern-industrial sector. Consequently, this structural change has widely induced a series of changes and impacts in the Thai society throughout the country. In response to this, the romantic feature of peasant society with subsistence mode of production and strong social cohesion may no longer be common for rural communities. Rural people’s livelihoods can no longer rely highly on subsistence-based production that simply manage rural resources to produce products for households and local uses, since their need for monetary income increases and cannot be adequately generated from this mode of production (see Rigg, 2005). People living in wetland which are often located in remote areas tend to face a great difficulty in making their livings to meet the changing needs and aspirations influenced by modernization. Additionally, negative effects of improper physical development in the name of modernization and bad-planned industrialization and urbanization in surrounding areas on natural resources and the environment have forced rural wetland settlers to face hardship and vulnerability as their livelihoods and natural resources are threatened in various ways. Therefore, livelihood adaptation is inescapable and further development that focuses on improving rural livelihood strategies must be paid attention.
Livelihoods of wetland settlers in Southern Thailand, especially those who reside in swamp areas predominantly found in the region, often depend strongly on and evolve around natural resources available in each locality. Various livelihood strategies commonly adopted fall under either agricultural or handicraft categories. While improvement of agricultural activities seems to be limited by poor soil conditions and degraded surrounding environment, handicraft activities appear to be developed in a promising manner. Our study focusing on gender and occupational development in communities located in Khuan Khreng peat swamp in Southern Thailand conducted in 2003 found that handicraft development is particularly interesting for understanding livelihood adaptation among rural households and its response to state-led development following the growth and modernization theories. The process and achievements of handicraft development in the area reflect unavoidable interactions between traditional and modern sectors in which rural households must take part in order to sustain their livelihoods. Despite their limited educational qualifications and job opportunities, out migration to seek work in urban areas were not widespread. It was observed that the majority community members, especially women, still lived and work in their communities enabling them to many other domestic duties. And they relied highly on natural resources-based activities to make their living (see Masae, 1996). The most observable and dramatically developed activity was handicraft activity using sedges grass. This activity has long been practiced by local people and inherited trough local wisdom. However, in the context that the country development was promoted through modernization, structural change driven by the state policy to modernize the country economy made rural people living in wetland must adapt their livelihood strategies by combining “local wisdom” with “modern knowledge and techniques.” By adopting a structural-functional analysis, it is expected that a clearer picture of livelihood adaptation in response to the overall changes in needs and aspirations driven by the state mainstreaming development will be illustrated.
This paper attempts to present some findings that illustrate livelihood adaptation towards sustainability among households residing in Khuan Khreng peat swamp (or Phru Khuan Khreng in Thai), an important wetland area dominated by secondary swamp forest located in the Southern region of Thailand. A structural-functional framework was employed in the analysis with the main aim to clarify the development direction leading substantial achievements which are functional in the contemporary rural Thai society. The given “structure” resulted from the state’s growth enhancement and modernization put some conditional forces on livelihood development and local people’s adaptation, as illustrated through handicraft development in wetland communities under this study. The main reason behind local people’s adaptation was likely to adjust their production purposes, manufacturing process, as well as resource utilization and labor allocation that suit given situations and sustainable.
แนะนำThe country’s development of modern Thailand has been strongly influenced by the growth and modernization theories for at least 50 years after the introduction of the national development plan in the early 1960s. By following this path of development, it is undoubtedly that Thailand has achieved a remarkable progress as evidenced by rapid economic and social changes not only at the macro level but also at the micro level. The successful of the country economic development is apparently supported by the growth of the country economy that has changed the level of development from being among the poorest nations in the world in 1950s to become a middle-income developing country at the present (Phongpaichit & Baker, 2005 and Wyatt, 2003). The fast economic growth has been driven by the country’s efforts to change its economic structure from being highly dependent on the traditional sector, especially agriculture, to rely more on the modern-industrial sector. Consequently, this structural change has widely induced a series of changes and impacts in the Thai society throughout the country. In response to this, the romantic feature of peasant society with subsistence mode of production and strong social cohesion may no longer be common for rural communities. Rural people’s livelihoods can no longer rely highly on subsistence-based production that simply manage rural resources to produce products for households and local uses, since their need for monetary income increases and cannot be adequately generated from this mode of production (see Rigg, 2005). People living in wetland which are often located in remote areas tend to face a great difficulty in making their livings to meet the changing needs and aspirations influenced by modernization. Additionally, negative effects of improper physical development in the name of modernization and bad-planned industrialization and urbanization in surrounding areas on natural resources and the environment have forced rural wetland settlers to face hardship and vulnerability as their livelihoods and natural resources are threatened in various ways. Therefore, livelihood adaptation is inescapable and further development that focuses on improving rural livelihood strategies must be paid attention.Livelihoods of wetland settlers in Southern Thailand, especially those who reside in swamp areas predominantly found in the region, often depend strongly on and evolve around natural resources available in each locality. Various livelihood strategies commonly adopted fall under either agricultural or handicraft categories. While improvement of agricultural activities seems to be limited by poor soil conditions and degraded surrounding environment, handicraft activities appear to be developed in a promising manner. Our study focusing on gender and occupational development in communities located in Khuan Khreng peat swamp in Southern Thailand conducted in 2003 found that handicraft development is particularly interesting for understanding livelihood adaptation among rural households and its response to state-led development following the growth and modernization theories. The process and achievements of handicraft development in the area reflect unavoidable interactions between traditional and modern sectors in which rural households must take part in order to sustain their livelihoods. Despite their limited educational qualifications and job opportunities, out migration to seek work in urban areas were not widespread. It was observed that the majority community members, especially women, still lived and work in their communities enabling them to many other domestic duties. And they relied highly on natural resources-based activities to make their living (see Masae, 1996). The most observable and dramatically developed activity was handicraft activity using sedges grass. This activity has long been practiced by local people and inherited trough local wisdom. However, in the context that the country development was promoted through modernization, structural change driven by the state policy to modernize the country economy made rural people living in wetland must adapt their livelihood strategies by combining “local wisdom” with “modern knowledge and techniques.” By adopting a structural-functional analysis, it is expected that a clearer picture of livelihood adaptation in response to the overall changes in needs and aspirations driven by the state mainstreaming development will be illustrated.กระดาษนี้พยายามนำเสนอการค้นพบบางอย่างที่แสดงให้เห็นถึงการดำรงชีวิตการปรับตัวสู่ความยั่งยืนระหว่างครัวเรือนแห่ง Khreng ควนพรุพรุ (หรือพรุควน Khreng ในไทย), ครอบงำ โดยป่าพรุรองพื้นที่พื้นที่ชุ่มน้ำสำคัญอยู่ในภาคใต้ของประเทศไทย กรอบโครงสร้างการทำงานเป็นลูกจ้างในการวิเคราะห์มีจุดมุ่งหมายหลักเพื่อชี้แจงการพัฒนาทิศทางชั้นนำพบความสำเร็จที่จะทำงานในสังคมชนบทไทยร่วมสมัย กำหนด "โครงสร้าง" เป็นผลมาจากการเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการเจริญเติบโตของรัฐ และทันใส่กองบางแบบมีเงื่อนไขในการดำรงชีวิตพัฒนาและปรับตัวของคนในท้องถิ่น ดังที่ผ่านการพัฒนาฝีมือในชุมชนพื้นที่ชุ่มน้ำภายใต้การศึกษานี้ เหตุผลหลักที่อยู่เบื้องหลังการปรับตัวของคนในท้องถิ่นมีแนวโน้มที่จะปรับผู้ประสงค์ผลิต กระบวนการผลิต ตลอดจนใช้ทรัพยากร และแรงงานการปันส่วนที่เหมาะสมกับสถานการณ์ที่กำหนด และอย่างยั่งยืน
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