Reference

Agrarian change and the land system in the Chao Phraya Delta, Kasetsart University and IRD, DORAS Center, Research report No 6, 190 pp.

Authors :

Fran็ois Molle
Thippawal Srijantr

Summary :

Land is the prime resource of agricultural production. Agrarian systems are often subject to historical fragmentation, alongside with growing population pressure, and/or to a trend towards a skewed distribution of ownership (small farms are absorbed by large farms which keep growing in size). It is shown that although the Chao Phraya Delta land system has undergone several crisis during the XXth century, it has by and large remained rather stable and avoided “crisis” scenarios. The report presents an extensive analysis of historical change based on secondary data and observations made by local observers and scholars. Land distribution in both farm size and tenure status, together with landlessness, are analysed along history and desaggregated at the provincial level. High discrepancies between provinces show that undiscriminating analysis based on data at the regional level or on specific areas (e.g. Rangsit) are misleading. Patterns of contractual arrangements in the rental markets are also presented in their temporal and spatial diversities. The overall interpretation of changes in the land system is attempted by analysing in details how these change relate to concomitant evolutions observed in demographic parameters (fertility revolution, increase in life expectancy, migrations), agricultural change (land development, intensification, diversification), economic change (growth of non-agricultural sectors ; regression of the land frontier ; land speculation , etc), and cultural factors (patterns of inheritance). The linkages between the land market (rent and purchase) and the capital and labour markets are also investigated.

Keywords :

Thailand, Chao Phraya, Agrarian change, Land tenure, Tenancy, Population studies.

Contact :

Fran็ois Molle
odoras@nontri.ku.ac.th