Thailand Books

by Professor Lindsay Falvey. 2000. Kasetsart University Press (White Lotus -international distributor) 459pp. US$20 (500bt at KU Bookstore, Thailand).

To understand Thailand requires a breadth of perspective that transcends the common discipline-specific works of western authors. This book presents such breath, providing a context for culture, history, economics, sociology, politics, and technology through the theme of agriculture.

Indeed, this book contains the most comprehensive English account of not only Thai agriculture, but also the real culture of Thailand-that of the rural areas where the vast majority of Thai people live. No other texts have attempted the task which is consummately accomplished here.

I have had the opportunity to read the book during an editing stage on behalf of the publisher, as well as reviewing it here. A critical subject often downgraded by more fashionable industries, Thai agriculture leads the world in so many fields that one can only be embarrassed by the wide-spread ignorance of its critical importance in social and financial terms.

The book follows an accessible format, beginning with five or six chapters of historical perspectives which trace the origin of technologies which proved sustainable across a millennia. It highlights unique cultural and administrative procedures of Thailand which can be traced directly from water management systems for agriculture and which explain some confusing organizational; elements still obvious today.

Reaching the present day, the book then presents sample statistics, noting the ready availability of these on the Internet for detailed users, for all major agricultural industries including forestry and fisheries. Thereafter, chapters deal with institutions, agribusiness, small-holders, environmental and religious elements, and the future. Written in a flowing and engaging style, the highly referenced text is complemented by this logical format.

In short, a wealth of information is contained within these 459 pages which will interest all students of Thai society, not just agriculturists, but students of Thai politics, finance and government policy. All have been influenced by the development of Thai agriculture. To view such topics independently would be to continue cultural stereo-typical inaccuracies.

In terms of content, the book appears exhaustive. It contains more than 900 references which are well integrated into the readable style, and which provide the interested reader with sources for further reading on every major point. Professor Falvey's own views are also evident in such comments as the loss of buffalo from the country, which he weaves into the factual text, as well as the Foreword, where he allows himself some personal comments and words from the early Thai poet, Suntorn Phu.

The book is attractively presented and is a tribute to KUP; as their first major English language production, they have obviously taken care at each step and have engaged White Lotus to assist in international distribution and presumably cover design. Diagrams, table and figures are clear and well referenced to sources and the text.

The utility of the book is very evident. It apparently began in order to provide a wider context for serious students of Thailand and agriculture, and expanded with the realization that related fields were inadequately linked to this central theme of the country. Previous books, out of Harvard in the 1930s, Stanford in the 1950s, and Cornell and the World Bank ever since, each met there own particular aims, but are surpassed by Professor Falvey's obvious labor of love. His 25 years in the field and research for the book at these US institutions is evident. The book will prove essential to students of Asia around the world, and to anyone remotely connected to development in Thailand.

All books have their faults. This one has its own, but it seems petty to list these against the overwhelmingly positive aspects which I hope I have conveyed. In a few words; accessible, comprehensive, scholarly and engaging.

Steve Smith Australian Studies Centre Kasetsart University Bangkok

The author’s own journey parallels, to some extent, the journey of the book. His began in the 1970’s with lengthy field experience among isolated hill ‘tribes’ in the north who practised a form of agriculture much unchanged for millennia, through pioneering irrigation farmers in the North East in the 1980’s, to the highest levels in government and the private sector involving agriculture and associated research. It spanned both the transition of Thailand from a relatively poor country to the status of an ‘emerging tiger’ and the agricultural sector that supported this.

Importantly for the authority of the book, two Prime Ministers have noticed his journey in the form of prestigious awards for activities related to Thai Agriculture, in 1988 and again in 1998. This notice is evident also in support for the book and access to Thai sources. The result is an important new source for learning and thinking about the past and future for Thai agriculture, having over 900 references from national and international study centres. Fluent in Thai and the related Tai language of Lao there would be few, if any, foreign writers able to reflect on agriculture across the practical, theoretical, social, and economic domains important to understanding its place in the future of Thailand.

The theme of the book is the central role of sustainable rice cultivation to the culture and economy of Thailand, which in turn evolved from the Tai people of southern China (and others including Mon-Khmer and Indian influences), whose culture arose as agro-city states in tandem with their ability to cultivate a sustainable surplus of glutinous rice. Thailand is shown as the furthest Tai migration and, at least in modern times, the most ‘developed’ expression of this evolution in the sense that it now feeds more than four times its own population from less intensive agriculture than its neighbours. It refers to other migrations to the Shan states in Burma, Vietnam, Laos, North Eastern India, and Cambodia. It engages the Buddhist and Indian influences on this development, and particularly doctrines of the cycle of life, while cautioning the reader not to read too much western environmental ideology into this influence.

The book describes how successive Thai city-states based, notably around Ayutthaya and now Bangkok, assimilated foreign influences in trade and investment in agriculture to prosper with evolution into different products. This eventually made Thailand one of the world’s few major agricultural exporters, leading the world in rice, rubber, canned pineapple, and black tiger prawn, the region in chicken meat export and several other commodities and is now apparently poised to benefit from a predicted boom in livestock products. The book returns often to the central place of sustainable rice production in these developments, and in particular to the multifaceted subsistence production system and society that underpins sustainable rice production. It points out that the way Thailand reports its economy, divided as it is between agriculture and industry, may unintentionally disguise the relationship of this success to the farming community who implement this low cost system with little effective help.

By discussing the rise and fall of the extractive timber industry and sustainability issues related to black prawn production, it makes the point that although Thailand has assimilated much of use from foreign sources, it should not assume that the intensive production systems of the West will be of benefit.. Failure to recognise the social support and cultural aspects of traditional and subsistence farming contains the real risk that benefits will evaporate again to the cost of all, particularly the urban society which sit astride the policies and institutions needed to facilitate such an evolution. The book points out that the recent currency crisis may be a harbinger of a moral and economic collapse if non-farmers forget this, intrinsically sustainable, agricultural underpinning of Thai society....

To understand Thailand requires a breadth of perspective that transcends the common discipline-specific works of western authors. This book presents such breath, providing a context for culture, history, economics, sociology, politics, and technology through the theme of agriculture.

Indeed, this book contains the most comprehensive English account of not only Thai agriculture, but also the real culture of Thailand—that of the rural areas where the vast majority of Thai people live. No other texts have attempted the task which is consummately accomplished here.

I have had the opportunity to read the book during an editing stage on behalf of the publisher, as well as reviewing it here. A critical subject often downgraded by more fashionable industries, Thai agriculture leads the world in so many fields that one can only be embarrassed by the wide-spread ignorance of its critical importance in social and financial terms.

The book follows an accessible format, beginning with five or six chapters of historical perspectives which trace the origin of technologies which proved sustainable across a millennia. It highlights unique cultural and administrative procedures of Thailand which can be traced directly from water management systems for agriculture and which explain some confusing organizational; elements still obvious today.

Reaching the present day, the book then presents sample statistics, noting the ready availability of these on the Internet for detailed users, for all major agricultural industries including forestry and fisheries. Thereafter, chapters deal with institutions, agribusiness, small-holders, environmental and religious elements, and the future. Written in a flowing and engaging style, the highly referenced text is complemented by this logical format.

In short, a wealth of information is contained within these 459 pages which will interest all students of Thai society, not just agriculturists, but students of Thai politics, finance and government policy. All have been influenced by the development of Thai agriculture. To view such topics independently would be to continue cultural stereo-typical inaccuracies.

In terms of content, the book appears exhaustive. It contains more than 900 references which are well integrated into the readable style, and which provide the interested reader with sources for further reading on every major point. Professor Falvey's own views are also evident in such comments as the loss of buffalo from the country, which he weaves into the factual text, as well as the Foreword, where he allows himself some personal comments and words from the early Thai poet, Suntorn Phu.

The book is attractively presented and is a tribute to KUP; as their first major English language production, they have obviously taken care at each step and have engaged White Lotus to assist in international distribution and presumably cover design. Diagrams, table and figures are clear and well referenced to sources and the text....

All books have their faults. This one has its own, but it seems petty to list these against the overwhelmingly positive aspects which I hope I have conveyed. In a few words; accessible, comprehensive, scholarly and engaging.

Steve Smith Coordinator, Australian Studies Centre Kasetsart University Bangkok

This is the most modern and comprehensive phrase book I've seen anywhere and the transliteration system will get you closer to native pronunciation than any other.

The book is divided into various subject areas, e.g., "Eating and Drinking," "Being Polite," "Getting Around," etcetera, and is written in a fun, breezy, narrative style.

If you are planning a trip to Thailand, this is the book you must have.

A great book for people who want to learn something about the country before they visit as well as to learn many useful phrases.