Shifting Plantations in the Mekong Borderlands: A Challenge of Chinese Economic Influence in Southeast Asia.

Professor Yos Santasombat

Present Positions

• Professor Level 11, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University
• Head, Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge Studies Center for Research and Sustainable Development
• Chair, Ph.D. Program in Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University
• Senior Research Scholar, Thailand Research Fund

Education

Ph.D. (Anthropology) University of California, Berkeley (1985)

Specialized Field

• Biodiversity, Local Knowledge and Sustainable Development
• Political Anthropology: Elite and Power
• Peasant Society and culture: Natural Resource Management System, Community Forestry, Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge.
• Psychological Anthropology: Socialization, women and Sexuality

Special interests also include: environment and community-based natural resource management, biodiversity and indigenous knowledge, women and sexual regulations, commoditization and commercialization of sexuality, consumerism and modern society, rural development, marginalization and displacement, space and ethnic identities.

Grants and Awards ( Since 1985)

• Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropolgical Research Inc., Grant No. 4440 (1984-1985)
• Niwano Peace Foundation Grant No. 87-R-052 (1987)
• Text Book Award, Thammasat University (1987)
• Text Book Award, Thammasat University (1988)
• Text Book Award, Thammasat University (1993)
• TTF (Toyota Thailand Foundation) Text Book Award (1996)
• Distinguished Alumni Award, Chiang Mai University (1999)
• Best Text Book in Social Sciences and Humanities, TTF (Toyota Thailand Foundation) Award (2000)
• Senior Research Scholar Award, Thailand Research Fund (2002)
• Gold Pen Award for Distinguished Text in Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University (2004)
• Senior Research Scholar Award, Thailand Research Fund (2006)
• Distinguished Researcher Award in Sociology, National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) (2012)
• “Golden elephant” Award, Distinguished Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University (2012)
• Distinguished Professor, National Council of Thai Universities (2014)
• Distinguished Research Award, Thailand Research Fund (2015)
• President’s Fund Award for Distinguished Professor, Chiang Mai University (2015)

Research Experience ( Since 1985)

• Field Research on Thai Development Policies and Strategies, supported by UNESCO, Paris (1986‑1987)
• Field Research on Catholicism and Social Development in Thailand, supported by Niwano Peace Foundation, Japan (1987)
• Field Research on Thai Leadership and Security Development, supportedby the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore (1987)
• Assistant Director, Thai Khadi Research Institute, Thammasat University (1986‑1988)
• Field Research on Commoditisation and Commericialization of Female Sexuality in Northern Thailand, supported by Thai Khadi Research Institute, Thammasat University (1988 ‑ 1990)
• Policy and action research on “Community Forestry: Development Perspective” supported by Ford Foundation (1991‑1994)
• Field Research on “Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge” supported by the National Research Council (1997-1998)
• Field Research on “Tai Minority Group in Yunnan” supported by the Tai Society and Culture Studies Project, Thailand Research Fund (1997-1998)
• Field Research on “Ecotourism in Mae Hong Son” supported by Biodiversity Research and Training Program (1998-1999)
• Field Research on “Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management in Northern Thailand” supported by Biodiversity Research and Training Program (1999-2001)
• Field Research on “Flexible Peasants: Reconceptualizing the Third World’s Rural Types” supported by Thailand Research Fund (2000-2003)
• Field Research on “Ethnoecology, Biodiversity and Community Rights” supported by Biodiversity Research and Training Program (2000-2003)
• Field Research on “Power, Space and Ethnic Identities” supported by Thailand Research Fund (2003-2006)
• Field Research on “Changing Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Local Knowledge: Transregional Development and Its Impacts on Marginal Communities in the Greater Mekong Subregion” supported by the Rockefeller Foundation (2004-2007)
• Field Research on “China and Southeast Asia” supported by Thailand Research Fund (2012-2017)

Writings and Publications ( Since 1985)

• “Leadership and Security in Modern Thai Politics”, in Leadership Perception and National Security. Mohammad Ayoob and Chai anan Samudavanija, eds. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (1989)
• “The End of Premocracy in Thailand,” in Southeast Asian Affairs 1989. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (1989)
• Toward Restructuring of the Division of Labour in the Asia-Pacific Region: Economic Relations of Japan, China, NICs and ASEAN in the Year 2000. (ed.) Bangkok: Japanese Studies Center, Institute of East Asian Studies, Thammasat University (1989)
• “Community Forestry Legislation in Thailand,: paper presented at workshop on “Legal Issues in Social Forestry,” 4-6 November 1991, Bali, Indonesia, organized by the Environment and Policy Institute, East-West Center and the Ford Foundation.
• “The State of Forestry in Thailand: Development Perspective,” (with Prof. Saneh Chamarik), paper prepared for the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio, Brazil, June 1992.
• “Kinship and Marriage in Daikong” in Tai Culture: International Review on Tai Cultural Studies, Vol. 3, No.1 (June 1998)
• “Buddhist Cultural Tradition and the Politics of National Identity in Thailand,” in Virginia Dominguez and David Wu, eds., From Beijing to Port Moresby: The Politics of National Cultural Policies. New York: Gordon and Breach Publishers (1998)
• “Oral History and Self-Portrait: Interviewing the Thai Elite” in Oral History in Southeast Asia. P. Lim Pui Huen and Brian Morrison, eds. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (1999)
• Lak Chang: A Reconstruction of Tai Identity in Daikong. Canberra: Pandanus Books, The Australian National University (2001)
• Biodiversity, Local Knowledge and Sustainable Development. Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University (2003)
• ‘Karen Cultural Capital and the Political Economy of Symbolic Power’ in Asian Ethnicity, Vol.5, No. 1: 105-120 (February 2004)
• ‘Peasants, Ethnicity and the Politics of location in Thailand’ in Ethnic Identity. Lola Romanucci-Ross, G.A. DeVos and Takeyuki Tsuda, eds. New York: Altamira. (2006)
• Flexible Peasants: Reconceptualizing the Third World’s Rural Types. Chiang Mai: Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University (2008)
• The River of Life Changing Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge: Transboundary Impacts of Subregional Development on Marginal Communities in the Mekong Region. Chiang Mai: Mekong Press (2011)
• Impact of China’s Rise on the Mekong Region. New York: Palgrave Macmillan (2015)
• Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Cultures and Practices. New York: Palgrave Macmillan (2017)
• Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Prospects. New York: Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming)