Bang Chan

Bang Chan traces the changing cultural characteristics of a small Siamese village during the century and a quarter from its founding as a wilderness settlement outside Bangkok to its absorption into the urban spread of the Thai capital. Rich in ethnographic detail, the book sums up the major findings of a pioneering interdisciplinary research project that began in 1948. Changes in Bang Chan's social organization, technology, economy, governance, education, and religion are portrayed in the context of local and national developments

Bang Chan: Social History of a Rural Community in Thailand

Bang Chan traces the changing cultural characteristics of a small Siamese village during the century and a quarter from its founding as a wilderness settlement outside Bangkok to its absorption into the urban spread of the Thai capital. Rich in ethnographic detail, the book sums up the major findings of a pioneering interdisciplinary research project that began in 1948. Changes in Bang Chan's social organization, technology, economy, governance, education, and religion are portrayed in the context of local and national developments

Ethnographic notes on northern Thailand, edited by Lucien M. Hanks, Jane R. Hanks [and] Lauriston Sharp.

Data Paper: Number 58. Total number of pages: 96 p

Bibliography of Thailand; a selected list of books and articles with annotations by the staff of the Cornell Thailand research project. Lauriston Sharp, director. Contributors: Beth Dickerson [and others]

Data Paper: Number 20. Total number of pages: 64 p

Urbanization and Water Development in the Pacific Islands

Many urban centres in the Pacific islands have witnessed rapid growth and considerable cultural transition. Despite well-meaning and considerable efforts to improve water service delivery, there usually remain very real concerns relating to the limited supply of freshwater and notoriously poor water quality. Many water developments fail due to lack of ownership and ultimately from naïve assumptions about the socio-cultural contexts in which solutions are applied. Owing to a range of inter-relations and socio-cultural considerations, water development under these circumstances is a complex task that typically cannot be approached in a simplistic manner. Magnus Moglia, Pascal Perez and Stewart Burn describe three archetypes for water development (techno-centric, micro-credit and companion modelling), but in the end identify the companion modelling approach as being more suitable for developing context-specific institutions. While this methodology is part of the preferred participatory approaches, applying it to a real-world context is not easy, and a number of lessons are described based on previous experiences in the atoll town of Tarawa. Development (2008) 51, 49–55. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100451