Abstract(4) Kobayashi Satoru
“On the multiple development paths of Cambodian rural society: A reflection from livelihoods studies in Cambodia-Thai border area”
This paper aims to clarify the multiple directions and experiences of transformation in Cambodian rural society in the last two decades. The scheme of center and periphery has been considered as a basic framework for understanding the recent social transformation processes in Cambodia. The process of reconstruction/rehabilitation that began with the cease of warfare in the beginning of the 1990s was basically fueled by foreign donor assistance, international organizations, NGOs and others. Those development programs resulted in the surfacing of flows of goods, money and information ? the drivers and sources of development ? from the capital city Phnom Penh to rural communities in provinces. Industrialization started in the country at the same period, causing the emergence and increase of economic migrants, mostly young women, from rural villages to suburban areas of Phnom Penh. The scheme of center and periphery is highly useful in examining these development phenomena, as observed in lowland plains of the country.
However, the scheme is not applicable to the study of Cambodian communities located in Cambodia-Thai border area. The area was once a battle field, contaminated by landmines and UXOs in the 1990s, that is now transformed into vast farmlands growing cash crops. According to recent surveys conducted in Kamrieng district, Battambang province and Veal Seng district, Pursat province, there are three major factors that have contributed to this rapid development; (1) socio-environmental features, such as good soil for cash crop cultivation and large scale land holdings of ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers, (2) tans-border economic transactions in of agricultural materials, productions and electricity, and (3) geopolitical environment characterized by autonomy and border dispute. In sum, the area achieved steady and fast development in the context of political disinterest the Phnom Penh government and voluntary activities making multiple connections with society and economy in Thailand. In conclusion, the paper will illustrate the significance of studying connectivity in various forms and states for analyzing and planning rural development in Cambodia and other countries in Southeast Asia in an era of globalization.
