A chinese boat unloading apples in Chiang Saen in 1994
Timothy Hamlin of the Stimson Center has written this update on commercial navigation on the upper-Mekong. It seems that the environmentally dubious project of blasting the Mekong rapids between southern China and northern Thailand is now all but complete, making the way for a greater influx of Chinese boats into the northern Thai Mekong port of Chiang Saen.
If any New Mandala readers have had a chance to observe these developments first hand, we would be very happy to post a report!
The topic of Mekong navigation brings me back to one of my favourite topics – not sufficiency economy or coyote dancing, I’m afraid, but garlic. Timothy Hamlin’s report repeats the common claim about the impact of the import of Chinese garlic on Thai producers:
Thai farmers have already felt the impact of cheap garlic arriving from Yunnan, and they will continue to feel pressure until the markets equalize.
In previous posts (here and here) I expressed some scepticism about the view that imports from China are the sole, or even primary, driver of garlic prices in Thailand. The garlic price in Thailand certainly did drop in 2004 (the first full year of the agricultural trade agreement with China) but it recovered after that, to reach record levels in 2007. This year it has fallen again, for reasons that are not clear.
While researching this issue I came across this news clipping in my data-base.
Garlic growers yesterday laid siege to Chiang Mai city hall and set up a road block in Mae Hong Son to demand government action over the low price of their produce. They want the government to guarantee them a price of 17-20 baht per kilogramme of garlic – the current market price is five or six baht a kilo. In Chiang Mai, more than 1,500 growers, who began their rally yesterday, laid siege to the city hall while negotiations between their representatives and Deputy Commerce Minister Chalermphol Sanitwongchai took place. Mr Chalermphol flew to Chiang Mai yesterday to meet the protesters. Those attending the meeting included Chiang Mai MP Kingkarn na Chiang Mai and protester representatives led by Theera Jiaboonyok. Demonstrators burned effigies of Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, Agriculture Minister Chucheep Harnsawat and Commerce Minister Narongchai Akrasanee yesterday afternoon. They also threatened to set fire to the city hall if their demands were not met. Officials were prevented from entering city hall to work. Protesters had come from Mae Taeng, Fang and Chiang Dao districts of Chiang Mai, as well as from Lamphun and Mae Hong Son provinces. They blame the low price of garlic on illegally imported garlic from neighbouring countries, especially Burma. In Bangkok, Interior Minister Sanoh Thienthong vowed to take tough action against the protesters if they damaged government property. He said the government reached an agreement with garlic growers on Tuesday which would see the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives paying 14 baht per kilogramme for 80 percent of their garlic produce. In Mae Hong Son, around 1,500 garlic growers in Pai district blocked Highway 1095 between Pai and Chiang Mai. The want the government to guarantee a garlic price of 20 baht per kilo. About 30 police officers were at the scene.
As readers will have noticed, this is not a recent report. It is from the Bangkok Post on 24 April 1997, well before the trade agreement with China.
The more things change …
1 response so far ↓
1 John Roberts // Jun 17, 2008 at 12:29 pm
In response to your request for on-site information of the development of the river traffic to Chiang Saen, I’m not sure my points are of relevance as they are anecdotal and based on casual observation, usually over a beer, on the river-side, however, a few things to note over the past few days…
The first stage of road widening happened in November 2006 out of Mae Chan towards Chiang Saen, about 2km were done (as far as Ban Don) before they petered out – typically the widened area had started to fall apart within a month (similar to the road widening in Mae Sai toward the Golden Triangle this year). However, on a trip to Chiang Rai this week we noted that they had started cutting roadside trees for the first kilometre or so outside Chiang Saen – we guess this is the beginning of another road widening.
My Manager (calling in Thai from a Thai number) was quoted 2,000,000 baht a rai for some swamp land just outside the Chiang Saen bypass yesterday – this price included filling to prevent flooding. Someone obviously thinks the proposed industrial area might be in Chiang Sean town – though this site is in the view of Wat Pa Sak and the antiquities department seem to be a powerful voice against development.
I haven’t been to the proposed Sob Kok site (BKK Post June 2nd http://www.bangkokpost.com/020608_News/02Jun2008_news13.php) since late May but there was no sign of anything at that point except receding grassland and informal maize plantation.
The manager of the private port quoted in the same BKK Post piece has a point but then his port is upstream of Chiang Saen and would require no blasting – environmentally better and perhaps more sense but it is a private port.
There has been some blasting in the area over the past few days but I believe this is tied in with the Nam Pheung Casino and not in the river, but I’ve been working so haven’t had time to check this.
I am not sure but it is my feeling that river traffic has actually lessened over the past couple of months (in previous years it has opened up again after the rains raise the river level) but this could be due to any number of reasons – not least that I have been working late and not spent much time on the riverside.
If anyone has specific questions please feel free to ask.
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