ABSTRACT

Recent scholarship observes that smallholder agricultural practices in East and South East Asia continue to persist, despite modernization theories predicting otherwise. This article contributes to these discussions by considering the context of smallholder agriculture in southern Thailand, where rubber and oil palm have both long been prevalent in the livelihood profiles of rural households. Beyond demonstrating the ways in which contemporary circumstances of southern Thailand’s smallholders largely cohere within the broader agricultural trends documented for the rest of the country, the discussion branches out to explore the implications of such a sustained smallholder presence beyond the farmgate. It shows specifically how protests staged in Bangkok in late 2013 and 2014, which led to the removal of the Yingluck Shinawatra administration through a coup d’état, ought to be understood partly in relation to earlier rounds of protest, in August and September 2013, when smallholders in southern Thailand blocked highways and railroad crossings to call on the administration for price supports. By assessing these stories jointly, the article shows how the sustained organization of large portions of rural life around smallholder agriculture contributes to shaping the political turns on Thailand’s national stage.

摘要

最近的学术研究发现，尽管现代化理论另有预测，但东亚和东南亚的小农农业实践仍在继续。本文通过考虑泰国南部小农农业的背景为这些讨论做出贡献，那里的橡胶和油棕长期以来一直普遍存在于农村家庭的生计中。除了展示泰国南部小农的当代环境在很大程度上与该国其他地区记录的更广泛的农业趋势相一致的方式之外，讨论还扩展到探讨了这种在农场之外持续存在的小农存在的影响。它具体展示了 2013 年底和 2014 年在曼谷举行的抗议活动，这导致英拉·西那瓦政府通过政变下台，这部分应该与前几轮抗议有关，在 2013 年 8 月和 2013 年 9 月，当时泰国南部的小农封锁了高速公路和铁路道口，呼吁价格支持管理。通过联合评估这些故事，本文展示了围绕小农农业的大部分农村生活的持续组织如何有助于塑造泰国国家舞台上的政治转变。