The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

266 Laurence D. Stifel
until mechanization and fertilizer application became more common
in the 1950's. Where irrigation facilities altered the duration and
depth of the flooding, there has been some shift from the land-intensive
broadcasting mode of planting to the labor-intensive transplanting
mode, but this apparently has not been an autonomous adjustment to
relieve the pressure of surplus labor on the land. 23
Custom of equal inheritance: Although there are some regional
variations and preferences for the child who cares for the elderly parents,
the general custom is for a landowner to distribute his land roughly
equally between his children. This custom is apparently responsible
for the declining average size of land transaction in this study which is
shown in Table 9.
In addition to the existence of the elements of the Burmo-Maltbusian
model, the simplicity of the diagnosis strengthens the appeal and
acceptance of the conventional wisdom. The large landlord is a convenient
scapegoat for the failure of agricultural productivity to rise more
rapidly; the conventional wisdom mounts a parallel attack on the
middleman and supplies a comparable solution-to control or eliminate
him. This simple approach is an attractive alternative because it avoids
the stubborn problem of developing an improved agricultural technology
suitable for local conditions and extending it to the village level.
In conclusion, two possible explanations for the divergence between
the data in this study and the conventional wisdom are suggested. While
the land frontier in the Central Plain may be largely exhausted, alternative
23) Hanks argues that "populations increased and land became scarcer, so that
transplanting became a more suitable mode of cultivation." Lucien M. Hanks.
Rice and Man: Agricultural Ecology in Southeast Asia (Chicago and New York:
Aldine-Atherton, Inc. 1972) p. 65. But Leslie Small's research in the Central
Plain found no significant relation between population density and the
percentage of area transplanted. Leslie E. Small. Returns to Public Investment
in Water Control in Southeast Asia : A Case Study of the Greater Chao Phya
P1·oject a/Thailand (New Brunswick: Rutgers University, 1975), New Jersey
Agricultural Experiment Station/Cook College Bulletin 842, p. 32. The
varieties grown and the planting method depend primarily on th~