Historical origins of land rights insecurity and implications for conflict in Thailand

Jessica Vechbanyongratana and Kawita Niwatananun ()
Additional contact information
Kawita Niwatananun: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 2020, vol. 15, issue 2, 5-18

Abstract: This article explores the historical origins of land rights insecurity and its implications for landlessness, poverty, and contemporary conflict in Thailand. The Siamese (now Thai) government adopted the Torrens system of land administration in 1901 as part of a larger strategy to curb colonial territorial expansion in Southeast Asia. Although the Torrens system is generally associated with strong property rights, its incomplete and uneven adoption led to widespread and long-running land rights insecurity and landlessness. This article presents two case studies that demonstrate these consequences. First, the expropriation of land through the exploitation of ambiguous land rights and the implementation of new land laws. Second, the long-run associations between land rights insecurity, low levels of productive investments in agriculture, and poverty. Consequent landlessness and poverty in agricultural communities have, in turn, led to recent protests and violence in Thailand.

Keywords: Capital flows; foreign direct investment; foreign portfolio investment; political uncertainty; Thailand; land rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C32 D72 D74 E65 F3 H56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.epsjournal.org.uk/index.php/EPSJ/article/view/336 (application/pdf)
Open access 24 months after original publication.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:epc:journl:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:5-18

DOI: 10.15355/epsj.15.2.5

Access Statistics for this article

Economics of Peace and Security Journal is currently edited by Michael Brown and J Paul Dunne

More articles in Economics of Peace and Security Journal from EPS Publishing Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael Brown, Managing Editor, EPSJ ().