Spatial Dynamics and the Persistence of Inequality in Siam during 1782-1855 (in Thai)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the problem of spatial inequality which covered farmers living in and outside the upper Chao Phraya basin during 1782-1855. The study period was before the signing of Bowring Treaty when Siam was transitionally trapped between subsistence and market economies. The study examines the impacts of critical social and economic settings on regional productivity differentiation in Siam. These settings included the rental scheme for state land, the state monopoly power over major foreign trades, risk diversification in transition economy, and the interaction between patron and peasant under the feudal system. The study gives a rough estimate of income gap among farmers living in and outside the upper Chao Phraya basin. Average income of farmers living in the upper Chao Phraya basin was in the range from 1.46 to 2 times higher than the average income of farmers living outside the upper Chao Phraya basin during that period.