PUBLICATIONS: “Water Ontologies and Hydrosocial Perspective: New Approaches for Understanding Water Controversies of the Ing River Basin, Northern Thailand”.

Publication Date : 24 November 2024

Author: Thianchai Surimas

For further details on the article, visit the journal at

https://so02.tcithaijo.org/index.php/jsbs/article/view/267418

Abstract

This research illustrates, through a hydrosocial perspective, how political contestation between different networks of actors reflects the meanings, values, and water ontologies. This research employs ethnography to study networks of actors involved in controversies over the hydraulic infrastructure project in the Ing River Basin. The network of project proponents, including a state-led hydraulic institution, experts, and other actors, see Water as merely a natural resource for economic development. The proponents reduce water to its materiality and physical dimensions. Water is tied with the idea of ​​development that values ​​large-scale infrastructure, and top-down bureaucratic management embodied scientific knowledge in controlling water, mainly for economic purposes. Meanwhile, project opponents, including civil society organizations, environmental NGOs, and some communities understand water as living. Living water is produced through Thai Baan research, ecological campaigns and ceremonial practices that show rivers as sacred. Living water is socially, environmentally, and culturally embedded and more than a resource for exploitation. This paper argues that water-related conflicts in the Ing River Basin not only reflect how water is managed but are also rooted in such ontological differences. Different networks produced different versions of water. Therefore, understanding water ontologies through a hydrosocial lens could provide a new perspective on water-related conflicts and controversies.

PUBLICATIONS: "Post-Development Values in Alternative Agriculture-Based Community Development: The Case Studies of 3 Alternative Agriculture Communities in Srisaket Province".

Publication Date : 25 December 2024

Author: Thita Orn-in

For further details on the article, visit the journal at

https://so04.tcithaijo.org/index.php/swjournal/article/view/270252

Abstract

In reaction to the global development paradigm, the concept of Pluriverse, as articulated by Escobar (2020), has played a pivotal role in exploring alternatives to development, aiming to foster a world that accommodates multiple worlding[1] with the goals to facilitate various approaches to collective well-being, moving away from anthropocentric, linear growth within the modern capitalist development. This study seeks to understand the underlying values of alternative agriculture-based community development to realize their contribution towards Pluriversal worldings, by examining three communities in Srisaket Province, Northeast of Thailand.

The study involves three distinct cases. Firstly, the Buddhist community of Srisa Asoke engages in natural farming guided by a stringent Buddhist moral code. Secondly, the Taam and People Association, a social movement comprises individuals whose wetland livelihoods are impacted by the Rasi Salai dam. Lastly, Raitong and SCFN Farmers, a social enterprise-oriented organization, that is dedicated to supporting smallholder organic farmers in participating in the global food market while adopting the principles of organic farming and fair-trade global standards.

This paper suggests that within the framework of Pluriversality in community development, practices and initiatives aligned with post-development and reformist values can empower communities to maintain their alternative identities, allowing communities to practically navigate within the mainstream context while holding onto diverse imaginaries. The post-development and reformist values discussed in this paper included for example inclusivity, prosperity and dignity, autonomy and self-reliance, solidarity and reciprocity, common ethics, oneness with nature, simplicity, justice, equity and non-hierarchy, rights, non-violence, the economy of care and gender.

The paper additionally argues that although similar values are found in alternative communities worldwide. The practical nuances of these values from Thailand differ from the Latin American context where Pluriverse was theorized. This article contributes to the making of the Pluriverse body of knowledge in alternative community development.

[1] Worlding: The term ‘worlding’ has emerged in the field of anthropology which defines active engagement of the world as a dynamic and interconnected entity rather than isolated departments. Worlding has an ontological connotation of the world-making process, which means that there maybe ontologically interaction and coexistence of other worlds (or reality). See more in Thinking-Feeling with the Earth (Escobar, 2019)

PUBLICATIONS: "Inter-Construction Goals: Navigating Thailand’s Digital".

Publication Date: 22 August 2024

Author: Zeng Damei and Duan Haosheng

For further details on the article, visit the journal at

https://englishkyoto-seas.org/2024/08/vol-13-no-2-zeng-damei-and-duan-haosheng/

Abstract

The digital economy has become a powerful engine for global economic resurgence in the post-pandemic era. As an ASEAN developing country, Thailand greatly values the digital economy, which facilitates its “Thailand 4.0” Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By focusing on digitalization trends in Thailand, this article examines whether new technological trends will have beneficial or detrimental impacts on the socioeconomic flowering of the Global South in the digital age. The “Constructive-Sustainable Development Theoretical Framework” is formulated by combining constructivism and the SDGs for conducting analysis. According to empirical research, bridging the digital divide and reducing poverty need to be Thailand’s top priorities. Therefore, Thai policy instruments should promote equal distribution of socioeconomic resources and close the digital divide, accelerate digital talent cultivation to fill the talent gap, build partnership networks that support transnational governance in cyberspace, promote third-party market cooperation, and share the reciprocal profits of development.

PUBLICATIONS: "A Critical Analysis of the Literature on the Internationalisation of Thai Higher Education: A Call for a Counter-Narrative".

Publication Date: 25 December 2024

Authors: Gwyn Peredur Evans

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https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/swjournal/article/view/269318

Abstract

This article examines literature related to the internationalisation of higher education (IHE) in Thailand. Through analysis of 38 publications on IHE in Thailand, the scope of literature is explored in order to determine how it frames the imperatives and narratives of IHE development, and to what extent neoliberal interpretations as drivers of Thai IHE explain practices and realities at the institutional level. The author puts forward the contextually and socially driven definition and concept of IHE by Williams et al. (2021) to both frame and recommend an alternative approach to the study of IHE as a phenomenon experienced and largely created by local institutions and actors. The article concludes that such an approach would provide a distinctive voice to the real and lived experiences of leaders and practitioners in higher education institutions in Thailand, and a counter-narrative to the dominant neoliberal assumptions of the global literature.

PUBLICATIONS:"Temporary Labor Migration from Sri Lanka to Gulf Cooperation Countries: Analyzing Labor Trafficking Amidst the Financial Crisis".

Publication Date: 08 October 2024

Authors: Niruka Sanjeewani

For further details on the article, visit the journal at

https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/IARJ/article/view/277209

Abstract

Background and Aims: The financial crisis in Sri Lanka (SL) has marked a significant growth in temporary labor migration to Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC). Temporary labor migration refers to migration from one state to another in pursuit of employment opportunities for a temporary period. The National Policy on Migration for Employment (NPME) and the National Action Plan of SL asserted the importance of developing labor migration policies in response to the country’s severe need for remittances during the financial crisis. A financial crisis occurs when a country's expenditure exceeds its national income, resulting in a shortage of goods and services for its citizens. Along with this understanding, this paper examines how the temporary labor migration from SL to GCC has developed in response to the financial crisis in the country. It argues that reforming labor migration policies solely based on remittance does not appear to be adequate to protect migrants from trafficking. In this setting, the key research question is how labor trafficking has risen amidst the financial crisis in SL.

Methodology: In this study, Delphi indicators have been utilized to identify the demarcations of labor trafficking. The data was collected from thirty interviews conducted with family members of labor migrants who migrated to GCC in 2022.

Results: The results indicate that shortcomings in the governance of labor migration during the financial crisis in SL have led to an increase in labor trafficking.

Conclusion: The paper concludes with the discursive, implementation, and efficacy gaps in the governance of labor migration and suggests a right-based framework to guarantee equitable recruitment procedures