Abstract
Top-down industrial development strategies initially dominated the developing world after the second World War but were eventually found to produce inequitable economic growth. For a decade or more, governments and international development agencies have embraced the idea of participatory grass roots development as a potential solution. Here we review Thailand's experience with development strategies and we examine the current focus on participatory approaches. Thai government planning agencies have adopted "people centred development" and a "sufficiency economy", particularly emphasised since the disruptions caused by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. They aim to address the inequitable sharing of the benefits of decades of rapid growth that was particularly unfair for the rural poor. Thai policies aim to decentralise power to the local level, allowing civil society and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) more of a voice in national decision making and promoting sustainable farming practices aimed at enriching rural communities. An example of this change in Thai government policy is the Community Worker Accreditation Scheme which is aiming to develop human resources at the local level by training community based leaders and supporting networks of community organisations. This enables autonomous local development projects led by trained and accredited individuals and groups. The political tensions notable in Thailand at present are part of this modern transition driven by conflicting models of top-down (industrial) development and the bottom-up (participatory) development ideals described above. Once resolved, Thailand will have few obstacles to moving to a new economic level.
Highlights
Development theory and practice has evolved rapidly over the last century and the current emphasis places a high premium on participatory approaches
We review the evolution of development theory first with a global assessment followed by a focus on Thailand
This country has often been seen as a model because it has retained much of its traditions while adopting development practices that have succeeded economically and lifted the nation from its poor agrarian background to become a modern industrialised Southeast Asian state
Summary
Development theory and practice has evolved rapidly over the last century and the current emphasis places a high premium on participatory approaches. Inspired by the writings of Paolo Freire in the 1960s, the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chambers synthesised his experience of working in international development in many areas of the world and emphasised the importance of “activist participatory research” This meant reversing the traditional process of outsiders researching the development problems and needs of communities, to one where local people informed outsiders of their needs. One possible way to alleviate this limitation of participatory development as currently practiced may be to encourage development initiatives which as well as improving the material livelihoods of communities aim to improve the political capabilities of marginalised groups This could perhaps include encouraging participation in local governance leading to a more balanced interaction with the state and more awareness of political rights, this would obviously depend on the local political contexts (Williams, 2004). Allowing open communication and consensus decision making without rules and formal structures may merely leave dominant members of the group in the same position (Kapoor, 2002)
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