MOTIVATIONS AND RESOURCES OF SMALL-SCALE FARMERS FOR STAYING IN THEIR VILLAGE IN NORTHEAST THAILAND

Abstract

This study aims to examine one simple question: Why do some small-scale farmers in rural, northeast Thailand keep staying on in their villages despite the fact that they could earn a much higher income if they worked in urban areas? To answer this question, this study which is based on first-hand observations from nine years of intensive fieldwork in rural, northeast Thailand provides a detailed description of the small-scale farmers’ resources that enable them to sustain a living and also provides them motivations to stay in their village. The decision to stay on in the village and forgo the option to move out in pursuit of a higher income may seem irrational in the opinion of economists. However, the author, by employing the “capability approach” argument by A. Sen, argues that their behaviour could be understood as efforts of pursuing “lives worth living” (as expressed in his later work as an architect of the UN’s “human security” program) and not solely profit maximisation. Their efforts include establishing “community groups” and practising “sustainable agriculture” including “organic farming” and “integrated farming”. These activities are well-suited to their natural environments and economic conditions and, at the same time, give them autonomy in their villages.