From Theory to Policy to Practice: Exploring Thailand’s Current Self-Reliance Policy and Its Socioeconomic Implications
Keywords:
Dependency Theory, Self-Reliance, Community Development, Entrepreneurship, National Economic and Social Development Plans, NESDPsAbstract
This article applies Dependency Theory to analyse Thailand's reliance on core countries in the capitalist system and its effects on national development policy as reflected in the National Economic and Social Development Plans (NESDPs). A qualitative approach was employed. The study analysed the 8th-13th NESDPs and the 20-Year National Strategy, and conducted fieldwork in the Kokmueng Community in Songkhla Province. Self-reliance policies have influenced this community since the 8th NESDP. Data were collected through participant and non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews with nine key informants selected through snowball and purposive sampling.
The findings show that after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the 8th and 9th NESDPS promoted self-reliance as a response to the crisis. The 10th to 12th NESDPs embedded self-reliance into national consciousness and community empowerment. The case of Kokmueng demonstrates the continuing influence of these earlier policies, with the community developing its own strategies to respond to national agendas, highlighting dynamic state-community relations. The 13th NESDP reframed self-reliance within an entrepreneurial framework, marking a shift from seeing it as an end to using it as a tool for building competitive grassroots economies. The study also traces the policy shifts that reflect the impact of global political-economic structures on domestic policy and identifies key turning points from self-reliance-focused frameworks to entrepreneurial-led development.
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