Mainland Southeast Asia: Turmoil and Peace - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 426

monks or women as nuns (Figure 15-10). Virtually
every village has a wat , while towns and cities may
have several. Each wat has a number of buildings
such as a bot where ordinations are held; a sala for
community meetings and lectures; a tripitaka or li-
brary for Buddhist scriptures; and various chedis
(mounds or monuments) and stupas (large pago-
das) housing the ashes of worshippers. W ats are
multifunctional and are fundamental in villages.
They operate schools, clinics, community centers,
old age homes, and so forth. The typical wat is a
locus of social activity . Especially important are the
temple fairs that take place on auspicious dates
such as Buddha' s birthday .

SUSTAINABLE AGRICUL TURE
Sixty percent of Thailand' s exports are agricultural.
Thailand ranks sixth in the world in rice production but
number one in rice exports—35 percent of the global
market. It ranks third in tapioca (manioc), fourth in
sugar, and sixth in coconut production. It is the world' is
largest producer of natural rubber. Other exports include
corn, jute, pineapple, palm oil, and canned or frozen
shrimp, tuna, and chicken. Chickens are grown American-
style in large, industrial feed houses, and they are ex-
ported frozen. Pigs are also raised in industrial fashion.
One of the risks of this kind of industrial food produc-
tion is the outbreak of epidemics such as Japanese en-
cephalitis. Freshwater aquaculture is also important.
Thailand exports mainly to the United States, China,
Japan, and Australia.
About 42 percent of Thailand' is workforce is engaged
in agriculture, but the sector is fraught with problems.
One of these involves the availability of water, which
dwindles in the dry season. Some worry that decreased
flow in the Chao Praya will draw salt water from the
Gulf of Thailand to foul waterworks north of Bangkok.
Climatic change has resulted in less rainfall. Water
shortage is also attributed to deforestation. Thailand has
lost 50 percent of its forests over the last 30 years, and
there is now a moratorium on logging. The country is
procuring its wood from Burma and Laos.
Farmers are used to expanding space rather than in-
tensifying inputs to increase production. This is no
longer possible. The industrial boom has sent harvest
wages soaring, and many people have left the farm for
work in industry .
Rising competition is another problem. Sugar, the
only crop subsidized by the government, faces stiff

Figure 15-9
This is a phrapbuum, a Thai spirit house. Thais believe that if it
is well-treated and respected, it will protect homes and businesses.
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

Each Thai house and business possesses a spirit shrine
of the phrapbuum —“lord of the place” (Figure 15-9). If re-
spected, well-treated, and given offerings, the spirit
shrine will protect and care for the place. If things do not
go well, it is not the fault of the phrapbuum; the cause is
always elsewhere.
Just as individual households have lords of the place,
so do temples, villages, and provinces where the lord re-
sides at the city pillar. These rulers have no power out-
side their local territories and must be vested with
appropriate rites and offerings.

What's a Wat?

Wat is a Thai word from a Pali-Sanskrit word mean-
ing “dwelling for pupils and ascetics.” A wat is a
Buddhist compound where men can be ordained as