[Tlc] Keyes responds to Montesano

[Michael Montesano]

Biff,

You are very kind.  Actually, my understanding of Bunchu is not nearly
so thorough as I should like.  For now, my focus remains on his role in
energizing the BAAC, as this relates very directly to changes in
commercial banking in provincial Thailand, one of my main research
interests. Certainly, the party line on the BAAC's borrowers groups
always implied a sense of "ownership" ... A good part of this story was
actually pretty well documented some two decades ago in a large project
on rural credit undertaken at TDRI and Thammast with the leadership of
Ammar Siamwalla, Niphon Phuaphongsakon, Choemsak Pinthong, and Prayong
Nettayarak.  And I am working on a book chapter that revisits the story.
For me, the fascinating part of it all in the present context is that,
Bunchu's epic role in helping Chin Sophonphanit and Prasit Kanchanawat
turn the Bangkok Bank into the single greatest institution in post-1945
Thai capitalism notwithstanding, he--like Prasit--was an old-time
(Hailam, I think!) leftist.  In English, Kasian Tejapira touches on this
in his book on Thai Communism.  And the speeches cited in that bio of
Bunchu that I noted in my original response to Bob Albritton are, in
this context, very impressive.  With Thai progressives for some years
now allergic to participation in party politics and with the resultant
tragic concession of their natural constituency to the likes of Thaksin,
figures like Bunchu, the late Bunsanong, and the Isan MPs that you
discussed in your classic Cornell data paper of four decades ago really,
really bear remembering today.

And do keep us posted on work coming out of your 2005 return to
Sarakham.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: tlc-bounces at lists.ucr.edu [mailto:tlc-bounces at lists.ucr.edu] On
Behalf Of justinm at ucr.edu
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 1:36 AM
To: tlc at lists.ucr.edu
Subject: [Tlc] Keyes responds to Montesano

Dear Mike,
 
    You have obviously studied the Boonchu-Kukrit project more
than anyone else and you should really write a longer piece on
it, ending with recommending that it be reconsidered today. It
would also be useful to compare/contrast this approach and
that of Thaksin with the vision of sustainable development
that has been widely discussed since the King's speech in 1997
and which is now being advocated by the present government.
 
    I have not sought to trace the history of BAAC and clearly
this is needed for me (and others) to fully understand the
role it has played.
 
    Andrew Walker informed me that one respondent to this
discussion on New Mandala
(http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2006/12/11/pro-poor-programs/#c
omments)
asked for some references to my studies of the village in
Mahsarakham where I have carried out long term research. I am
attaching a bibliography with some references. Thus far, I
have only presented my findings from the 2005 study in seminar
presentations at the University of Washington, Chula, and
Copenhagen.
 
Cheers,
 
Biff (Charles Keyes)

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu
_______________________________________________
Tlc mailing list
Tlc at lists.ucr.edu
http://lists.ucr.edu/mailman/listinfo/tlc