Abstract
Small-scale fishing communities in Thailand cannot be readily classified as poor when compared to other non-fishing sectors in rural areas, or the “urban poor.” Rather, fishers have often referred to the concept of “sufficiency” as a measure of life satisfaction, which often means making ends meet and having a supportive network in case of emergency. While all were faced with changes brought about by industrialized fishing, coastal development, and globalization, some fishing communities seem to possess higher levels of capability to stay afloat, thus maintaining a satisfying level of sufficiency. From a governance perspective, learning about why some communities are better at coping and averting poverty, is useful to help those who are less able, as well as to prevent others from falling into a poverty trap. This chapter reports the findings from a study conducted in small-scale fishing villages in four provinces in Thailand that differ in geography and context, with the aim to understand their coping strategies and the poverty-averting potentials.
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Notes
- 1.
One USD is about 33.55 Baht (according to the 2009 average exchange rate).
- 2.
Hereinafter referred to as the Tsunami.
- 3.
- 4.
All quotes were translated to English from Thai.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Norwegian Research Council for funding the PovFish project, and the PovFish team members, especially Svein Jentoft and Maria-Victoria Gunnarsdottir, for their inputs. We thank all the key informants who provided us with information about their fisheries and their lives. We also appreciate the help from Daracha Thiammueang in identifying key informants and in data collection. Ratana Chuenpagdee acknowledges support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Canada Research Chairs program.
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Chuenpagdee, R., Juntarashote, K. (2011). Learning from the Experts: Attaining Sufficiency in Small-Scale Fishing Communities in Thailand. In: Jentoft, S., Eide, A. (eds) Poverty Mosaics: Realities and Prospects in Small-Scale Fisheries. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1582-0_14
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