RAP Publication: 2000/06

COASTAL FISHING COMMUNITIES IN THAILAND

ANGKARB POONNACHIT-KORSIEPORN

Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Bangkok, August 2000

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NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT

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FOREWORD

The diminishing fishery resources along the coasts have increasingly added more pressure to the livelihood of fisherfolk all over Asia. Moreover, increase in the number of fishers due to population growth and migration to coastal communities can be a contributing factor in the overexploitation of local fishery resources and deterioration of the coastal environment. Recognizing that better understanding on the demographic and social dynamics of coastal fishing communities would help in developing policies to achieve sustainable use and conservation of fishery resources and the coastal environment, FAO initiated a project in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen research and training on population and development dynamics of rural fishing communities in Asia and Africa in 1995. The report of this study: Demographic change in coastal fishing communities and its implications for coastal environment by U. Tietze, G. Groenewold and A. Marcoux, was recently published as FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 403.

The study identified needs for information on socio-demographic characteristics and trends for policy analysis and more relevant interventions both in the fishery domain and in the population. For Asia, fishery household surveys were conducted in the coastal States of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and the Philippines.

It is also important to note that the National Statistical Office of the Prime Minister's Office of Thailand conducted Marine Fishery Censuses in 1985 and 1995, while an intercensal survey on marine fishery sector was conducted in 1990. These surveys and censuses collected extensive data and information on coastal fishing communities of Thailand. The ten-year interval of the 1985 and 1995 Censuses provides an excellent opportunity for analysis and comparison of changes that occurred in marine fishery sector of Thailand. The FAO Regional Office therefore commissioned Dr. Angkarb Korsieporn, a social scientist at the Social Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University (CUSRI), to analyse these changes and prepare a demographic profile of coastal fishing communities in Thailand. The study was funded by the UNFPA-FAO Project (FPA/INT/695/INT).

This publication presents the outcome of Dr. Korsieporn's study which includes not only the treatments of primary data from the Censuses but also her own field surveys in Southern Thailand to evaluate the current situation. Her efforts in preparing this important document is much appreciated. Acknowledgements are also due to Ms. Abha Siriwongs na Ayudhaya for cover picture; to Dr. U. Tietze of Fish Utilization and Marketing Service, Fishery Industries Division, FAO Fisheries Department, for his support and encouragement and to the Great Idea Co., Ltd. for the design of this publication.


	Veravat Hongskul Fisheries Group Leader FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

ABSTRACT

The study has two objectives. First is to compare the two marine fishery censuses of 1985 and 1995 in terms of sociological, demographic and economic changes, as well as fishing craft and gear. Second is to survey current small-scale fishing villages: Ban Sai Dang, Ranong province, and Koh Maphrao, Phuket province regarding the same aspects, as the censuses. The ultimate aim of the survey is to find out if the fishermen have any potential to participate in or to manage integrated coastal zone management (ICZM).

The field survey found that the people in Koh Maphrao village are all Muslim Thai, most of whom speak both Thai and the local dialect. to speak official Thai language. Formal organizations are few but working. The population is older than that of Sai Dang village, with about three children per family. The villagers have very good knowledge, attitude and practice of family planning, despite the older generation' objection against it. There is a clear division of labour between men and women. The heads of household are almost all fishermen, whereas their spouses tab latex to make smoked rubber sheets and some mend fishing nets. The craft are inboard-powered fishing boats and the majority of the gear are sand whiting gill nets. Though fish are depleting and the catches declining, the villagers maintain economic status despite the economic crisis because of the higher prices fetched by the catches.

The people in Sai Dang village are Buddhist Thai; some of them migrated from other regions and there is a sprinkling of newly migrated Burmese families. The village has the same number of formal organizations as Koh Maphrao, but are not as active. Migration has resulted in the population being newer and less socially cohesive than Koh Maphrao's. They also have very good knowledge and practice of family planning; each family has on average two children. The occupations of the heads of household are more diversified and the proportion of fishing families is lower than among their counterparts in Koh Maphrao. The women are mostly housewives, some engage in primary post-harvest processing. The families are poorer than in Koh Maphrao; more than half engage in either orchards or other service occupations. Fishing families also have inboard-powered boats, but the main gear are crab and fish traps.

The survey is supplemented by in-depth interviews of four people of two generations in each village as well as of officials of various ministries at the provincial level. The conclusion of the study is that the embers of the small-scale fishing communities do not have the knowledge, confidence and ability to set up and manage their own integrated coastal zone management as yet.

Distribution:

FAO Fisheries Department
Fishery Officers in FAO Regional Offices
International Fishery Organizations

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FOREWORD

ABSTRACT

CONTENTS

List of figures

Part I

Part II

List of tables

Part I

Part II