The impact of internationalization processes on the region of Isan – the examples of international migration and transnational tourism

By Prof. Dr. Hans Gebhardt, Department of Geography, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Some decades ago the northeast region of Thailand, Isan, was a quite remote area in the national context of Thailand. But since the days of the Vietnam War this part of the country has developed step by step to an integrated part of the Thai national economic system with an elaborated new road network and other technical infrastructure like dams and hydro-power stations. With the opening of the borders to the neighbouring countries Laos and Cambodia new international relations have been established, especially in economic activities (e.g. transnational electricity networks) and transnational tourism. This article deals with two aspects of the process of national integration and internationalization of networks and flows in Northeast Thailand: firstly the international labour migration of Isan peasants since the end of the 1970´s and the economic and social effects as a result of this migration, and secondly the possibilities for international tourism after opening the borders to Laos and Cambodia. 1. Isan as a peripheral region in the context of the Thai nation Isan , the northeaster region of Thailand, has always been described as a peripheral region. In geographical terms this means spatial and structural peripherality. Geographically Isan was a remote area in the past, far away from Bangkok and the Thai heartland, with only a few traffic lines crossing the Petchabun mountains, a rather homogenous plateau landscape near to Laos and Cambodia. Fig.1: Isan in the Context of Thailand Fig. 2: Northeast Thailand: Orography and climatology Source: Gebhardt, 2003

Isan had also been out of sight respectively hardly present in the geographical imagination of the government in Bangkok and therefore it was not important for nation building. Structurally it was hardly affected by the developments of modern Thailand, a backward oriented society with droughts and soil erosion problems, politically suspicious since the days of the Vietnam War, depending on interests and actors from outside. “The Isan have traditionally been an oppressed people, routinely taken advantage of by local merchants, scorned and ridiculed by their politically-shrewd…Thai cousins, and exploited by regional favouritism and ethnic prejudice, subtly sanctioned by government policy and practise” (Myers, 2004, S. 2). Government officials considered being assigned to the Northeast (to Loei) signifies the end of their careers, like being sent to Siberia. The peripherality of Isan was stabilized by various endogenous factors, especially the problematic natural environment and the weak possibilities for economic activities. With more than 20 million inhabitants, Isan is the largest and most populous region in Thailand, covering 160 000 square km, mainly a plateau, which tilts from the Phetchabun mountain range in the west down towards the Mekong River. The southern part is drained by the Mun and Chi rivers, while the northern Sakhon Nakhon plain is drained by the Loei and Songhram rivers. The two plains are separated by the Phu Phan mountains. Rainfall is unpredictable, but concentrated in the rainy season from May to October. Periodical droughts as well as mostly sandy soils with substantial salt deposits occur as the main ecological and agricultural problems. Nevertheless the flat terrain of the plateau is often flooded in the rainy season. Fig. 3: Flooded areas Rain and dry forests once covered more than two thirds of Isan, actually it covers less than 8 %. The loss of the forest has also caused soil erosion, reducing the quality and fertility of the cop land and may be a contribution factor to erratic and fewer rainfalls during the last decades. The land is often difficult to cultivate since the soil is highly acidic, saline and infertile from overuse and under-replenishment.

Fig. 4: Northeast Thailand: Soils and salination Source: Gebhardt, 2003. Nevertheless, agriculture – mostly rice growing under rainfed conditions - represents the dominant sector of economy (occupying more than 80 % of the people and generating about 22 % of the Gross Domestic Product). Rice, especially sticky rice, is the main crop, accounting for about 60 % of the cultivated land, but farmers are increasingly diversifying into cassava (tapioca), sugar cane and other crops. Since the clearing of the forests nearly all suitable arable land in the Northeast had come under cultivation, although many villagers do not have legal rights to this land. Other sources of income (for example occupation in industry or in wholesale/retail trade) are rare. To make a living people “have embraced a … variable subsistence strategy ..., a diversified village portfolio of activities” (Rigg, 1991, p. 67). Difficult natural conditions have forced people to combine different jobs, for example temporary employment in Bangkok or outside the country with seasonal agricultural engagement (in rice growing, in fishing, in harvesting sugar cane etc.). Various products of handicraft are typical for most of the villages: silk weaving, pottery products, making mats or polishing synthetic gems. Fig. 5: Handicraft in Isan

2. The Vietnam War and the changing political role of Isan The peripherality of Isan has been torn up by several exogenous factors since the 1960s. Ironically the Vietnam War with all its pain for Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian people brought positive effects for the rural population of Isan. An era of job opportunities and socio-economic change started, the war offered possibilities of occupation at different United States Air Force bases (USAF) and forced the Thai government to develop more interest for its border regions next to Laos and Cambodia. This new interest of the Thai government was driven by the fear that communist subversion could take place in the impoverished regions of Isan. Development programs were initiated to court the Isan people being tempted and millions of US-dollars improved the weak transportation and communication infrastructure. The most important project was the system of “friendship highways”, that assured a quick connection between Bangkok and Nongkhai as well as a lot of improved country roads linking most of the province and district centers and interlinking isolated villages with main highways. About 15 000 km highway was built by the US in the 1960s and 1970s for strategic and political reasons. But the new road network also permitted easier travel and access to Bangkok for countless peasants. On the four US bases in Isan (Udon Thani, Nakhon Phanom, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Ratchasima) thousands of Isan people found an employment working for US construction companies, gaining valuable skills and experiences with a foreign culture they would benefit from later. At the peak of American presence in 1969 there were approximately 50 000 American servicemen based in Thailand, most of them in Isan (Myers, 2004, p. 8). In 1975 all USFA bases were closed, the US personnel returned home. Thousands of Isan people were left unemployed. But in the same period the economic take off of the Arabian oil states created thousands of jobs in the construction and oil industry especially in Saudi-Arabia, and the same companies engaged with the Americans during the Vietnam War were able to negotiate profitable new contracts for Isan people to the Middle East (see Chiengkul, 1986).

3. Internationalization by international migration from Isan

The first destination of migrant workers outside were the oil states of the Middle East, especially Saudi-Arabia (see the acronym of “Saudon”, coming from Udon going to Saudi). This migration had its peak in 1982 and continued till the end of the 1980s. In the 1990s the migration to Saudi-Arabia decreased dramatically, The reason for that was not so much the so-called “jewellery scandal”, the robbery of jewellery in Saudi-Arabia by a Thai citizen, but the higher wages in some South-East Asian tiger states. Good-paying employment opportunities arose in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore and earnings less than 10 000 Baht in Saudi-Arabia, were no longer attractive. The only new destination for Thai migrants in the Middle East was Israel where Palestinian agrarian workers were substituted through Thai and other Asians after the beginning of the Intifada. Fig. 6: Destinations of Thai Labour Migrants 1975 - 1997 Source: Sakdapolrak, 2004

19751980

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19931997

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Destination of Thai labour migrants 1975 - 1997

Between 1973 and 1995 more than 1,5 Mio. Thai workers went abroad by official mediation. At the end of the 1990s every year 200 000 persons left the country for temporary work. Thailand is - after the Philippines and Indonesia - the third important migrant country in the region. Most of these labourers work in the construction sector and the big majority is originating from the Northeast (or from some regions in the North - Lampang).

Fig. 7: Total of international migrants from Thailand (1998-2002) Source: Sakdapolrak, 2004. Actually, Thailand is a labor exporting country as well as a labor importing country. Thai migrants work in the boom economies of Taiwan, Japan, Singapore etc., whereas mostly illegal migrants from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam are working in Thailand. International migration is not a general phenomenon in all of Isan; there are some preconditions that have to be fulfilled to turn an Isan village into an out migration village. People need contacts to successful migrants of the first generation and they need money to pay job seeking agents (or a social network to help them financing this). In Udon Thani and Khon Kaen province one can find this type of village rather often whereas in poor regions in the southern districts of Isan hardly any international migration is to be found. During the 1990s a real “labour migration industry” had developed, with some very problematic results as illustrated on the poster edited by the Thai labour office. The two main problems are the “job agent” (on the left) and the “loan shark” (on the right).

Fig. 8: Poster edited by the Labour Office in Thailand The “Employment, Recruitment and Protection of Job Seekers Act” from 1985 (revised 1994) allows private agents to work as mediators. While the first contract workers for the Middle East were recruited directly, later on more and more profit-oriented agencies were involved in the process: recruitment companies, agents, subagents and syndicates. In theory, all this is well organized but in practice villagers at the end of the “pipeline” are often cheated and pay large sums for nothing. Some arrive in a foreign country only to find that there is no job waiting for them, others are forced to do jobs not arranged in the contract. Job seeking agencies of different types play a dominant role for the migration process as my own research from the mid 1990s and a new case study in a village in the Khon Kaen province show very clearly.

Fig. 9: Phases of recruitment of international contract workers

Overseas Overseas Overseas Overseas Employers Employers Employers Employers Overseas Recruitment Companies Bangkok Bangkok Recruitment Recruitment Companies Companies Co-operation of Recruitment Agents Provincial Recruitment Companies Agents Agents, Agents, Subagents Subagents and Syndicates Workers Workers Workers Workers 1975-77 Phase 1 1978-81 Phase 2 1982-Present Phase 3 Note: Double lines indicate a downward flow and single lines indicate an upward flow

Fig. 10: Job mediation in different villages

Source: Gebhardt, 2003.

Fig. 11: Job mediation in Na Chang village Source: Sakdapolrak, 2004.

Brokerage fees for job seeking agencies are in theory fixed by the Ministry for Labour and Social Welfare. For Taiwan it was 56 000 Baht at the end of the 1990s, for Singapore 16 000 Baht. But in reality often much more is paid especially for a job in Japan. For example people of Na Chang paid for a job in Taiwan an average of 130 000 Baht, for Singapore 60 000 Baht. Most of the households of course cannot pay these sums so that they are forced to sell their farms to raise the necessary capital. In nearly 90 % of all cases the migrants have to look for external financial sources: bank loans, loans from relatives or from the money lender. Especially at the money lender high interests rates have to be paid, which often use up nearly the whole income earned abroad. Fig. 12: Financing labour migration

Financing labour migration

moneylender27%

own resources11%

family and friends28%

financial service provider4%

bank30%

S

Source: Sakdapolrak, 2004. In the 1990s as well as today repayments are the most important investment made by foreign workers. More than 50% named it at first of all, followed by buying consumer goods, building or rebuilding a house or buying a car. In Na Chang for even 70% the dept service is the most important expenditure. Fig. 13: Development of international migration in Na Chan village

Source Source: Sakdapolrak, 2004.

As fig. 13 shows, international migration of Isan developed in several waves. A first low peak occured in the mid 1980s, when the construction boom in the oil states was in its full bloom. But not until the beginning of the 1990s, as the economic boom in the South-East Asian tiger states started, the migration became really important. The migration in Na Chang as well as in other villages of Isan went up dramatically after 1994. Especially the drought of the years 1994 to 1997 and the Asian economic crisis of the following years enforced emigration. Villages in Northeast Thailand with high percentages of former migrant workers change their appearance as well as their social conditions. Especially younger people come back with money (sometimes, sometimes not), with other values and ideas of the future. Almost every villager has a Japanese motorcycle or a pick up truck, television and refrigerator. They start to consume prepared-food, vegetables and goods which are bought in the next city. Farming is no longer attractive to them. You can tell different stories about the same development. International labor migration in Isan is seen very negative by some authors. From an economic point of view the most active and innovative population moves out and only the old and the very young stay in the villages. Many migrants run into depths or loose their earnings abroad with gambling or drinking. Women at home receive for the first time in their live a significant amount of money and sometimes look for a new husband. A continuing migration cycle turns over into a new life style and migrants often loose their social roots in the villages. On the other hand it has been the international labor migration which for the first time in recent history has integrated Isan into an international context. Once a closed society, the Northeast has been forced rapidly to open to a new economic and social culture. The migrants not only bring back money but also new technologies and cultural experiences; it’s a way to “reskill” the poor and to counterbalance the weak agrarian basis in Isan. On the surface the most evident result of this change are the countless “Muban Saud” in the villages that show elements of very different but not Thai styles of architecture. Fig. 14: Muban Saud

4. Internationalization by transnational tourism Tourism is an important factor of Thailand´s economy especially since the Asian crisis. With more than 10 Mio. arrivals per year the country holds the top position in South-East Asia (and is one of the top twenty destinations in the world) with an important Asian market (Japan, Malaysia) as well as an European market (Great Britain, Germany). More than 3 Mio. jobs and nearly 10 % of the Gross Domestic Product are created in the formal tourism industry, even more jobs in the informal sector as for example in ticket agencies, internet shops, motorcycle renters, ambulant traders and so on. Fig. 15: Foreign tourist in Thailand Source: Reuber, 2003. Despite the growing “asiatisation” of tourism in South-East Asia the income from Non-Asean tourism climbed from 3 % of GDP in 1985 to almost 6 % in 2001 (Ponsiriushakun/Naewmalee, 2003, p. 1) The impact of tourisms on the Thai economy is tremendous because it is estimated that each dollar in tourism generates two more dollars of real GDP. Fig. 16: Thailand and Brazil as examples of international tourisms (Source: Vorlaufer, 2003)

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Fig. 16 shows the development and structure of tourism industry in Thailand in comparison to Brazil. Beside the international tourism especially the regional tourism between the ASEAN states is growing very fast. In the past Isan was hardly mentioned in Tourism Authority of Thailand’s literature, figuring it would be least favoured by tourists. Not until 1988 the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) set of one of its targets “to promote Thailand’s Northeast which has generally been bypassed by tourists”, but not much happened. Till the mid 1990s Isan has been a destination mainly for domestic tourists or for “backpackers” on their way to Laos staying over night for example in Phimai or waiting for the Lao visa in Nongkhai. Domestic tourists travel to Isan for business or to visit friends or relatives, but not for recreation. Looking at the touristic potentials of Isan lacking of interest is hard to understand because there are various attractions of high interest for national and international tourism. Fig. 17: Tourist hotspots in Isan

1. Temples and cultural monuments, Khmer temples like Prasat Phimai, Prasat Phanom Rung and Lao style temple like That Phanon as well as different Forest Temples.

2. Natural Monuments: Rock paintings and pittoresque rock formations in Udon Thani region and different destinations along the Mekong River (Nonghkai with its market, Kaeng Kut Ku), caves in the Petchabun mountains.

3. Archeological findings like the excavatings of Ban Chiang or Chumpae and pittoresque events like the elephant roundup in Surin or the different “rocket festivals”.

But till the 1990s Isan could not compete with the attractive destinations in the south (Phuket) or in the North (Chiang Mai), because it was rated as a “dead end street” for international tourism because of the long distance to Bangkok, but also because of the closed borders to the neighbouring countries (in the case of Cambodia) or difficult travelling conditions in Laos. All this has changed fundamentally since the mid 1990s. The opening of the borders for international tourism in Cambodia, the growing tourism to Laos after stabilizing the situation in some “insecure” regions, the growing importance of Vietnam as a tourist destination and the inclusion of South China (Kunming) in the international tourist market opened quite new possibilities to take advantage of Isan´s potential. “There are today fine opportunities for the Northeast to serve as the gateway to Indochina and present plans envisage a number of new links eastwards across the Mekong and Laos to Vietnam. When these routes are in operation, they will allow greatly increased trading and tourism in both directions. As a former Thai prim minister expressed it, ´Turning the battlefields of Indochina into a market place´” (Rogers, 1993, S. 226). Fig. 18: Tourism in Isan

Source: TAT, 2004.

Khon Kaen

Nakhon Phanom

Nakhon Ratchasima

Udon Thani

Ubon Ratchatani

Total

1990 9,320 1,082 43,669 8,577 2,589 65,237

1992 8,164 858 39,431 9,192 3,920 61,565

1994 14,743 1,851 31,751 8,564 12,301 69,210

1996 14,600 1,990 28,860 9,760 14,500 66,376

1998 16,100 2,200 31,830 10,770 16,000 76,900

2003 35,191 2,510 36,559 30,637 14,982 119,879

The future will show if such high expectations will be fulfilled. But in fact tourism in Isan has been growing faster than ever in the last few years. For example in Khon Kaen province or in Udon Thani the figures have doubled between 1998 and 2003. The total of tourists in Isan raised from 77 000 in 1998 to 120 000 in the year 2003. Of course domestic tourism is still much more important than international tourism. In the actual situation of world tourism Isan has some more advantages. Some of the classic tourist destinations in South-East Asia like the southern Philippines or Bali are judged do be dangerous, and Northeast Thailand as well as the surrounding socialist countries are now seen as safe regions for international tourism. Mega events like Nine Eleven hurt tourism in general, but much more in the Near East and Mediterranean countries or in Indonesia as in Thailand or other political stable regions.

Fig. 19: Development of tourism in Mexico, Thailand and Tunisia Source: Vorlaufer, 2003 As mentioned before the Northeast was hardly promoted by the Tourism Authority, but slowly TAT begins to realize that foreign tourists do not have the same mentality as the Thai and foreigners can find an untouched touristic potential in Isan. 1998 was declared the “Year of Isan”. In fact Isan is not “burned out” for what is called in TAT´s publications “quality tourism”: the region does not have severe problems as well-known destinations in Thailand have at least in the imagination of foreign tourists: Pattaya or Patong in Phuket have lost nearly any reputation in the eyes of “quality tourists”. Generally touristic products and services in Thailand are loosing their attractiveness since some years (Ponsiriushakun/Naewmalee, 2003); Thailand has run into a low-price trap and a vicious cycle of low-cost, low-investment, and low-value tourism. As a result the country has gained an image of a cheap destination and lost from 1995 to 2000 in important markets like Malaysia, Germany, Spain or Italy. To counterbalance this trend the tourism action plan of TAT from 2003 tries to promote a high value tourism with special emphasis on eco-tourism. It will also emphasize specific market segments such as female tourists and tourist travelling with their families, particular from Japan, China and the Middle East. In addition TAT will launch a campaign to urge Thais to travel within their country and to target “home-coming” visitors. Of course Isan alone isn´t attractive enough and there is also the danger that Isan will become a ”transit corridor” to better known attractions as Angkor, Vientiane or Ho-Chi-Min-City. But with the possibility to combine destinations in Isan with others in Cambodia, Laos, South China and Vietnam the situation has changed within the last few years. A German travel agency for example offers combined tours through Cambodia, Isan, Laos and South China, starting with Angkor Wat, continuing in Isan with Phanom Rung, Surin and Ubon Ratchathani, crossing the border to Laos with a visit of the Thousand Islands in the south and finally ending in the south of China.

Fig. 20: Rotel Tours 2005 The most important travel agency for the region - Diethelm Travel - offers multi country trips, for example from Bangkok through Ayyuthaya to Korat, Surin, Phra Viharn in Cambodia, Khong Chiam, crossing the Lao Border to Pakse with trips to the Bolaven plateau and Kong Island and back to Ubon Ratchathani.

5. The future Through the last few centuries the Northeast of Thailand had been regarded as a backward area and the poorhouse of the country. But with the national and international labour migration and the arise of transnational tourism in the whole region Isan is changing its face step by step. Formerly a economically and politically deprivated region, it now provides the economic centres of Thailand not only with cheap labour but has gained better political representation than ever. The success of political parties like Chart Thai in the 1990s as well as international recognized actions of the “forum of the poor” with its organised rallies in front oft the government house in Bangkok are examples. The economic and social situation is improving not only through infrastructural measures of the government and private investors, but also through new skills and experiences of the temporarily migrating “khon isan” or through contacts with other people in tourism. Of course this development has also enlarged the gap, the disparities between the fast growing city regions and the rural areas (see Reuber, 1999) and it has destroyed the social cohesion in the villages, but on the other hand ““migration has enabled the khon isan to participate in the country´s economic growth to a greater extent than might otherwise have been the case (Parnwell/Rigg, 1996, S. 246). With the opening of the borders the role and self-confidence of Isan people may arise in contrast to their backward neighbours. In any case transportation routes through Isan become increasingly important and all this may “enable the khon isan to claim for themselves a greater slice of the development ´cake´ “(Parnwell/Rigg, 1996, p. 216).

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