Abstract
“We are independent from both state and capital” is a slogan often invoked by Thai nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs) to give legitimacy to acting as a check and balance on powerful social actors. However, at present, this autonomy is coming under question as a number of Thai NGOs and POs receive financial and other support from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (THPF), “an autonomous state agency outside the formal structure of government.” Yet, it is premature to conclude that Thai NGOs and POs are under the patronage or dominated by THPF, or the state as the THPF is not seen as the state or as part of capitalism by some NGOs and POs. Thus, many of them willingly and actively cooperate with THPF and other government agencies and business groups. This chapter envisions this relationship as “collaboration” not just because the two parties benefit from and contribute to each other but also because they share something in common, especially the vision, the concepts, and the approaches that they apply in development. This collaboration between NGOs and state agencies, although each claiming to be independent of each other and working to promote alternative development, is ultimately a technology of power.
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Notes
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This is a total budget to foundations and regional organizations which included NGOs.
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For example, Witoon Lianchamroon and Kingkorn Narintrakul of Bio Thai; RojarekWatanapanit of Community Forest Support Group; Adisorn Kerdmongkol from the Project for Well-being of Migrant Workers, Ethnic Minorities, Refugees, and Stateless Persons; and Noppan Promsri of Human Settlement Foundation.
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He was the President of Local Development Foundation since 1991.
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In the drafting process of the Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1997–2001), he was the Chair of a subcommittee for rural, local, and environmental development planning. He was in the consultant committee of THPF during 2000–2006.
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Interview with DechoChaitap of Sustainable Development Foundation, May 2, 2011.
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Interview with Chatchawan Thongdeelert, May 7, 2011.
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Such as Witoon Lianchamroon and Kingkorn Narintrakul of Bio Thai, Rojarek Watanapanit of Community Forest Support Group, and Adisorn Kerdmongkol from the Project for Well-being of Migrant Workers, Ethnic Minorities, Refugees, and Stateless Persons.
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My personal communication with THPF’s staff and some NGO activists.
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Nai Nam Mee Pla Nai Na Mee Khao is a song’s name composed in 1932 by Luang Vichit Vichitvatakarn to serve the construction of Thai nationalism.
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This fund is for a 3-year program consisting of 14 projects.
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My interview, June 3, 2011.
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Community land title deed is a concept proposed by scholars and social movements for enforcing land redistribution. The land under community title deeds still belongs to the state, but eligible communities are given the right to access land to farm or harvest natural resources under the control of community. The title deeds cannot be sold or mortgaged.
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Acknowledgment
Thanks to colleagues from Thai Social Movement Watch for sharing the ideas and Rajesh Daniel for editing the paper.
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Rakyutidharm, A. (2014). Patronage, Dominance, or Collaboration? Thailand’s NGOs and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Contemporary Socio-Cultural and Political Perspectives in Thailand. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7244-1_32
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