Hegemony in Contract Farming System in Thailand

Abstract

         The objectives of the research article were 1) to study hegemony creating process, 2) to suggest the policy of implementation of the contract farming system in Thailand. The study using the interdisciplinary method which researching the documents and in-depth interviewing the target group such as farmers, capitalists and government representatives including academics and experts that are involved with the contract farming system. Data from the interviews were analyzed by descriptive method.

          The results of this study revealed that 1) Hegemony establishing processes of the Contract farming System in Thailand, the government has used poverty discourse and development policy as a process to establish the identity and meaning of the contract farming system in order to establish the power to dominate the people. The companies and the capital groups have established the language and knowledge of the new plan of the agricultural, giving them monopoly power over the market at all stages including possession of production factors and funds. Therefore, the state and capital groups have supported each other in taking over the daily living area of farmers who are in the lower structure of society by guiding through leaders and brokers. 2) Suggestion for the development policy imposing mechanisms of the contract farming system of Thailand in the future found that the government should focus on building awareness and education, and allow people to participate in policy, laws and regulations imposing including gathering to empower farmers to negotiation.