Introduction
There is rice in the fields and fish in the rivers; thus spoke King Narai, who reigned over Ayutthaya, and thus the ambassador of the Roi Soleil, the French King Louis XIV, described the resources of this country. The Ramkhamhaeng stela of the thirteenth century documents King Narai's pronouncement. History ascribes to these two monarchs an accurate perception of the kingdom's wealth, because in the year 2000 Thailand has become the world's number one exporter of rice and processed seafood. Although Thai agriculture has developed plentifully during the past century, at the end of the twentieth century other activities have taken over, even outpacing the agriculture sector. From 1985 to 1995 the country benefited from the highest economic growth rate in the world, with an average annual GDP growth rate above 8 percent. In parallel, agriculture lost its top ranking in economic production: between 1980 and 1990, industry overtook it in its contribution to the country's GDP and exports of manufactured goods surpassed those of agricultural commodities, thus testifying to a profound change in the national economy. The farmers, on their part, went from subsistence farming to mass production to feed the entire world. However, it would be foolish to position the agricultural sector in opposition to Thailand's emerging economic sectors, from commerce to finance, or even to dissociate them. The development of industry and services has not manifested itself to the detriment of the agricultural sector, which continued to record sustained growth rates of 3 percent annually during the 1980s. Besides, it was partly on the great solidity of its primary sector that Thailand has been able to base its national development. Income produced by agriculture has fed the rest of the economy with primary resources for industry, and it has created competitive advantages. The low cost of basic food products has been one factor allowing for continuing low salaries in Thailand without concurrent social problems, and thus has bolstered the competitiveness of industries nationwide. A few years before the turn of the century, a tourist coming from Ban Phaeo, a district that was being engulfed by Bangkok's spreading urbanization, told me of his astonishment. He described a shaded orchard, an enchanting blend of coconut and fruit trees rising above a vegetable garden irrigated by canals in which a few fish were frolicking, a paradisiacal, bucolic landscape amid a village with thinly walled houses built on poles. A local craftsman had offered him a few pieces of coconut sugar with an exquisite aroma. It so happened that a few days later I met businessman who described a visit to the same district in a greatly different manner. He reported, no less enthusiastically, the existence of intensely exploited aquifers and orchid farms employing in vitro cultivation, spaced between rice fields that were harvested three times a year. He was impressed by how the export price of shrimp had been established by auction in a neighboring district. A few kilometers from there, he had seen giant tuna ships being unloaded to supply the region's canneries, some of which are among the largest in the world. These keen observers reported two realities of the agricultural and food production lines in Thailand. On the one hand, an agricultural structure that does not recognize discrete farm units.
About The Author
Roland Poupon holds a Ph.D. in geography. He is a French food engineer and an international consultant. He has been living and working in Thailand for twenty-five years. Since 2004, he has also been a fellow researcher on agriculture in Thailand at the IRASEC Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia, based in Bangkok.
About The Book
The Thai Food Complex, From the Rice Fields to Industrial and Organic Foods constitutes a fascinating paradox. Global companies such as CP and Red Bull have emerged side-by-side with more traditional rice growers. And not only are they all thriving together, they actually strengthen each other.
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