Worachanok Youttananukorn
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Department of Geography
King's College London
Strand
London
WC2R 2LS
Email: worachanok.youttananukorn@kcl.ac.uk
King's College London
Strand
London
WC2R 2LS
Email: worachanok.youttananukorn@kcl.ac.uk
Research
Thesis title: Social networks and grassroots development in rural Northeast Thailand: An analysis of two micro-development projects
This thesis is about rural development in the Northeast Thailand (Isan), one of the country’s poorest areas. Solutions to rural development across the globe have long been sought from large-scale, capital intensive approaches of the industrial era to smaller scale bottom-up approaches and most recently participatory approaches which attempt to empower the rural poor. Aware of the diversity of opinion, and aware also of the failure of past approaches to development, the Thai government has moved towards innovative micro-level, people-centred, participatory approaches to development. Fieldwork results suggest that these are achieving some success.
‘Success’ is difficult to define but primary data collection has shown that people involved in these micro-level schemes are benefiting economically, and that economic benefits are being transformed into social benefits. This thesis investigates two groups of rural handicraft producers each involved in a participatory micro-finance scheme. The research aims to understand the processes operating within these groups and how and why they appear to be succeeding in empowering those who are involved in them.
Through careful investigation of the two projects, the author aims to identify common explanations for the projects’ achievements with a view to contributing to the literature on rural development and informing rural development policy specifically in Thailand.
Supervisors: Dr. Kathy Baker and Dr. Debby Potts
This thesis is about rural development in the Northeast Thailand (Isan), one of the country’s poorest areas. Solutions to rural development across the globe have long been sought from large-scale, capital intensive approaches of the industrial era to smaller scale bottom-up approaches and most recently participatory approaches which attempt to empower the rural poor. Aware of the diversity of opinion, and aware also of the failure of past approaches to development, the Thai government has moved towards innovative micro-level, people-centred, participatory approaches to development. Fieldwork results suggest that these are achieving some success.
‘Success’ is difficult to define but primary data collection has shown that people involved in these micro-level schemes are benefiting economically, and that economic benefits are being transformed into social benefits. This thesis investigates two groups of rural handicraft producers each involved in a participatory micro-finance scheme. The research aims to understand the processes operating within these groups and how and why they appear to be succeeding in empowering those who are involved in them.
Through careful investigation of the two projects, the author aims to identify common explanations for the projects’ achievements with a view to contributing to the literature on rural development and informing rural development policy specifically in Thailand.
Supervisors: Dr. Kathy Baker and Dr. Debby Potts
Biography
Toong joined the Department of Geography as a research postgraduate in 2001, having completed the MA in Southeast Asian Studies at SOAS. As a Thai national Toong has long had a deep interest in Thailand and its socio-economic development, and particularly in developments in rural Isan. Owing to his interest in this region he focused his research there. Toong is currently completing his thesis and hopes to submit it for examination at the end of September, 2007.
