Life in Isaan

[richard]

Here is an interesting read.

I have been trying for months to point out to the villagers that they may well be poor in relation to urban Thailand but they are in no way poor compared to many other parts of the globe.

They have land, they have food on their doorstep, they can turn their hand to many crafts and they can barter. They have few overheads and are therefore rich in terms of survival.


The Down-Trodden Rural Poor of Thailand

It's not quite what you think


Here's what you need to know about the rural have-nots of Thailand. They are the richest poor people in the Third World. And they owe none of their affluence to Thaksin Shinawatra.

Fugitive former Prime Minster Thaksin, a billionaire wanted in connection with corruption and tax-evasion on a staggeringly egregious scale, has done a remarkable job of convincing the world that he is the champion of the rural poor in Thailand, and that such prosperity as the farmer enjoys is in some way due to him. Yet all of "his" programs have been in place for decades. His well-financed public-relations machine merely invented catchy new terms for them.

In Europe and North America, farmers tend to be affluent. A comparison is therefore not at all meaningful. But take a village carpenter in Thailand's northeast and compare him with a wood-worker in a small town in Iowa. To the American, the Thai seems impoverished, his house appalling basic, his expectations in life distressingly limited. But the Thai carpenter probably lives on family land rent-free, pays nothing to moderate the climate, produces his own vegetables, chickens, eggs and pork, and rides his own motor-cycle to his jobs. He's seen the American lifestyle on TV, and it's so far beyond the range of his experience, he doesn't feel deprived or envious.

Every village in Thailand was on the electricity grid long before Thaksin came on the scene, and virtually every village family has a refrigerator, electric rice-cooker, TV, radio and a couple of oscillating fans. Almost all rural households have a motorcycle, though it may be old and battered. In every village several families own pickup trucks. Animals are no longer used for farm work except in extremely remote corners of the kingdom. If farmers don't have a mini-tractor of their own, they rent or borrow one from a neighbor.

The "landless peasant" class exists, but is very small when compared with the Philippines, India and much of South America. The rich absentee farm landlord is almost unknown. Most farming families tend a small plot of land they own outright, mortgage-free (due to unscrupulous practices in the past, an outdated, paternalistic law prevents them putting up land as security with money-lenders, though they may borrow on anticipated harvests.) They sell a small cash crop through a co-operative. Their grown-up or adolescent children supplement the family income from jobs they hold in the cities.

Thailand, like the U.S., has a fallen-through-the-cracks underclass. While statistics*, as everywhere, have to be taken with a large measure of skepticism, officially 10% of the population is below the poverty line (12% in the U.S., 14% in Britain, 36% in Bangladesh). Of course, that means the poverty line for Thailand and no international comparisons are invoked. Poverty doesn't necessarily mean doing without TV or not being able to lean a beat-up old 100 c.c. Honda Dream by the door.

Unemployment in Thailand is 1.4% -- among the lowest in the world. Here it has to be cautioned that employment statistics are notoriously unreliable. Even in advanced countries, economists cannot agree whether to include the under-employed and those not actively seeking work. But unskilled work, if not well-paid, is not hard to find. My Bangkok apartment building has had a "security guard wanted" sign out for weeks.

During the dry season, many farmers supplement their income with construction work in the cities. But some prefer to do without extra luxuries and live the slow-paced, well-fed rural life. Two or three years ago, I found it impossible for several weeks to find a plumber to put in a new bathroom. Many "peasants" have become self-employed entrepreneurs and done well for themselves. Thaksin's policies had no discernible impact on the labor force.

There is no population pressure in Thailand, since each female, on average, gives birth to 1.6 children in her lifetime. That is well below replacement level, so the population will in time shrink unless immigration is vigorously promoted. Reduction in family size was achieved through education and the perceived economic benefits of smaller families, the same way it was reduced in Europe and Japan. This got started in the 1960s.

Wealth distribution in Thailand is no more extreme than in most industrialised countries. The poorest 10% of the people of Thailand own 2.6% of the nation's wealth. The richest 10% own 33.7%. In the U.S., the comparable figures are 2% and 30%, in the U.K. 2.1% and 28.5%. These statistics may not be wholly reliable, but distribution of wealth is unquestionably much more equitable than in China, India, Brazil or South Africa. Even isolated Thai villages, especially in the central plains, would seem very prosperous to rural Pakistanis and positively utopian to most Nigerians. Thaksin's much-vaunted "village revolving development funds" financing local enterprise had their antecedents in the 1970s.

All main roads in Thailand are paved (close to First-World standards), and most secondary roads are surfaced, as are a good many of the tracks that lead into remote villages, even in the poorer north and northeast parts of the country. It was like this when Thaksin was still a bankrupt ex-cop.

There are slums in Bangkok, but you have to go out of your way to find them. Since almost everyone is employed, squatters on state land in the cities often live there by choice because it is rent-free. You certainly do not have to go out of your way to see red-light districts. Incomes from the sex industry (obviously denied to those lacking looks and personally) exceed factory wages fivefold or more. The blind and maimed can apply for state aid, but street begging is often more lucrative. One sets one's own moral priorities.

There was care at government hospitals and health clinics long before Thaksin came along with his fancy $1 scheme. Treatment is not world-class but it is medical care nonetheless. People in need of operations get them for small fees, and if they have no money the charge is written off. No one is turned away from emergency rooms at government hospitals. Doctors who went through medical school on state scholarships owe as many years of modestly paid service in rural hospitals as they had in tuition.

Almost no Thais are unable read & write. Girls on average get 14 years of schooling and boys 13 years (note that girls are ahead). About 1.75 million post-secondary students (over 20% of their age group) are enrolled in universities (ranging from world-class to barely respectable), two-year colleges or vocational schools. Bright kids from poor families get government scholarships, so up-by-the-bootstraps success stories are so common as to be unremarkable. This high rate of upward social mobility goes back at least half a century.

Infant deaths per 1,000 live births in Thailand tallies 17, compared with 180 in Angola, 153 in Afghanistan and 6 in the U.S. Life-expectancy at birth is 73.1 years (78.1 in the U.S., 66.1 in Russia). HIV-positive people make up 1.4% of Thailand's population (0.6% in the U.S.)

With a population of 66 million, Thailand has 62 million registered cellphones and 7 million landlines. Service is as reliable as it is in Europe. One-fourth of the people regularly use the Internet. Thaksin's own company, which prospered prodigiously while he was prime minister, had one-third of the nation's mobile-phone customers. He sold the firm to an investment arm of the Singapore government (and paid no income tax).

Thailand routinely exports more than it imports. It is attractive for foreign direct investment. It therefore has enormous foreign reserves, and even though the country has few natural resources to sell abroad, its reserves, at $138 billion, are the 10th highest in the world. (Britain has $56 billion, Australia $45 billion). This means plenty of capital for employment-creating new manufacturing jobs, which entice rural folk seeking work in cities. The Thai currency is so strong that even recent political troubles have not budged it.

Contrary to a widespread perception, the country's main exports are not agricultural products, but cars & trucks, motorcycles & vehicle parts (made by foreign-owned subsidiary companies). Exported pick-up trucks, the biggest single-selling item, contain negligible imported parts. One Japanese manufacturer sources its world-wide production of one-ton pickups, including those sold in Japan, from its Thai factories. Machinery is another big export, as are components for computers and other electronic goods, textiles, garments & footwear, processed food and animal fodder. Way down the list of foreign-currency earners are rice, sugar and tourism.

Over the years the Thai government has routinely produced a trade surplus, a current-account surplus and (though not this year) a budget surplus.

Since 1960 (when Thaksin was 11) no "developing" country has exceeded Thailand in average annual per-capita GDP growth. The farmers are still poor by western standards, but they've had their share of this rising affluence, and they are better off than rural folk in any other nation on earth for which we reserve the term Third World. ✹

* All statistics quoted in this article were independently cross-referenced from at least three of these sources: UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Devt. Bank, IMF, CIA, WHO, Bank of Thailand, Thai National Statistics Office. In no case is a figure quoted from purely Thai sources. In addition, plausibility comparisons were made with the statistics of a number of other countries.

[STEVE G]

One thing that is getting a little bit worrying is the lack of rainfall this year so far.
Normally May is one of the wettest months in Buriram, but this year there's been almost nothing.

[sargeant]

I just checked the spot price per US Tonne of thai fragrant rice @ 33 bt to the dollar it is 31482Bt a Tonne

anybody got any idea how much per Tonne a rice farmer gets paid

[moonmonkey]

brilliant read I really enjoyed that, looking forwards to more installments!!

[Spitfire]

....anybody got any idea how much per Tonne a rice farmer gets paid

They don't do it by the tonne Sarge, the collection points in rural settings usually advertise a price in baht by the kilo normally. It depends on whether the rice is 'sticky' or 'normal' rice, different prices for each. I think you'll find that the price is generally between 10-13baht a kilo, so you are looking at 10-15k a tonne. It's the millers that make the money coupled with the government slightly for collecting it.

To just think about it for a moment, an average 5 kilo bag of normal rice in the supermarket or Tesco might cost you 200 baht, 250-280 for Jasmine rice etc, farmer might get 50-65 baht for the average stuff, perhaps 80 for Jasmine. 'Sticky' rice is often more expensive in the supermarkets as the farmers often keep this crop for themselves as it lasts longer when cooked thus fewer sell it.

The answer to your question is "Sweet FA" but at least they have someone to sell to, it's just disappointing how little they get paid for it, but then again, it's the system.

[johnnyk]

Maybe falangs have to go out of their falang way far from Nana Plaza and Paragon to find slums in BKK but I doubt Thais have to.
I'm always gratified to read western pronouncements telling me about people being happy and smiling despite their poverty.

[caller]

My wifes family have given up selling their 10 rais worth as its not worth their while. Its retained and bartered instead. Sad state of affairs and as has been said above, what you pay whether in LOS or here in the UK, bears no relation to what the farmer gets. The profit goes elsewhere.

[cozza]

My wife and I bought 10 rai of land with no electricity/water 15 kms from Hua Hin.

We paid 600k and rent it out for 3k month. We get a better return on that investment than we do from investment property in Sydney with one of the highest rents/prices of property in the world.

We rent it to sugar cane growers/farmers, who I would say fit into the 'rural poor' category. We go on a verbal contract, payment for 12 months up front. So far land has risen in value since we bought and we choose not to raise the rent.

[sargeant]

Caller wrote

The profit goes elsewhere.

exactely i am trying to show what percentage goes to the farmer who ALONE has TO INVEST IN SEED FERTILIZER FUEL WITH ALL THE RISK OF FLOOD DROUGHT DESEASE

and what percentage is creamed of with NO RISK AT ALL by the Middlemen/rich/elite in BKK

this applies to all agricultural produce and is 60% of thai GDP

[Takiap]

Those farmers up in Scotland don't realize how good they have it. The government even pays them not to grow anything on part of their farms.

[JD]

and what percentage is creamed of with NO RISK AT ALL by the Middlemen/rich/elite in BKK

I would imagine it would be sold of firstly to a local merchant (Poo Yai Baan owned maybe), then Provincially to a National Dealer (MP or Governor owned perhaps), who in turn sells it on to the Government stock pile.

I think the poor farmers should be looking at the elite in their own back yard on that one.

Maybe the question should be - what percentage is creamed of with NO RISK AT ALL by the Middlemen/rich/elite leaders in the Red Shirt Territories.

[sargeant]

JD i dont know what your smoking but it aint sausages
according to you there are no yellow shirts in isaan and the red shirts go all the way up to the agriculture minister and are the elite

plus the farmer sells his rice to a government licenced buyer it then goes
to
1. a drier
to a
2. a shucker
to a
3. a polisher
to a
4. a trader/grader
to a
5. an exporter

they each make a profit which is probably as much as the farmer makes and most of them are based in BKK with no risk whatsoever probably

and they are your pure yellow shirts

[STEVE G]

In our area of Buriram, all the local rice buyers are of chinese descent and although they live locally, they're not from that area.
I don't know if they're part of a large company, but I would suspect it's a large family run enterprise.
My partner made a loss on last years crop and basically we only do it to give some of the family a bit of work. Personally I would prefer to plant some trees and call the land a very large garden, but they've been growing rice in that area for at least 4,000 years and it's very much part of a traditional lifestyle.

[JD]

JD i dont know what your smoking but it aint sausages - Don't make it personal now.
according to you there are no yellow shirts in isaan and the red shirts go all the way up to the agriculture minister and are the elite - I never said that. I said their own red shirt territories i.e locally.

plus the farmer sells his rice to a government licenced buyer - A Government LICENCED Buyer is not the Government, just somebody with a licence. I've got umpteen Government Licences on my wall.
it then goes
to
1. a drier
to a
2. a shucker
to a
3. a polisher
to a
4. a trader/grader
to a
5. an exporter
1-4 are probably done in the same factory, probably not anywhere near BKK and with business overheads costs that need paying.
they each make a profit which is probably as much as the farmer makes and most of them are based in BKK with no risk whatsoever probably - It really makes no difference to the farmer where it goes afterwards, my point to your 'BKK elite' comment was to point out that many of the farmers are getting paid for their rice, (at the dealers rate) by a Goverment Licenced Business local to them, within their own community.

The farmers are not going to drive 100km to sell their rice, likewise the dealer is not going to visit every farm on every dirt road to collect it.

They are selling their rice locally. That's the first and last money the farmer sees, you can't blame the final reseller of the rice for the low price the farmer gets, blame the first purchaser, who will probably be a local dealer.

Instead of comments that lay blame on your 'elitist enimies', try and think about how commerce might actually work, especially at such a grass roots level.

and they are your pure yellow shirts - also, just maybe, some are pure red shirts

[Norseman]

JD is right. All rice are sold locally, mostly either in 50 kilo bags or 100 kilo bags.
The prices are set by the government and varies every month based on demand and supply. I.E. Standard and normal business regulations.