Self-governance for a better livelihood: a case study of the
Rai Dong Village

Abstract: A large share of the land in northern Thailand has been left unused
through speculative landowners and state ownership. Since 1997 landless
villagers have started to systematically occupy the unused land in order to
improve their livelihood. It has generated a series of disputes between the
villagers, the landowners, and the government. Several arrests and major
demonstrations have occurred during recent years and the villagers are
faced with several charges. The progress towards an agreement is hindered
by lack of consistency in policy implementation and corruption. Despite the
ongoing conflict, the villagers are managing their new land as a common-
pool resource. They have crafted institutional arrangements in order to
enhance the probability of continuation and sustainability of their new
land. The dilemma of how to manage common-pool resources for sustainability
has been widely discussed in academia. The experience of state and private
intervention indicates that neither has been particularly successful. An
alternative might be self-governing communities with decentralized
institutional arrangements that can become more victorious over longer
periods of time.

The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of how poor
and landless people might build and sustain institutional arrangements for
the management of communal property to enhance their livelihood. To reach
this purpose, I conducted a case study of the Rai Dong Village located in
the Lamphun Province, in northern Thailand. I investigated to what extent
the Rai Dong Village has succeeded to establish an institutional framework
for sustainability use of arable land held in common, and what general
lessons were made from this specific case study.

My main findings indicate that it is considered crucial to have clearly
defined boundaries, proportional equivalence between benefits and costs,
collective choice arrangements, monitoring, graduated sanctions, conflict
resolution mechanisms, rights to organize and nested enterprises. The Rai
Dong Village fulfills a large share of what is significant for long
enduring, self-governing, common-pool resource systems. A large missing
factor is the lack of formal recognition, which has a deteriorating effect
on the system. Despite minimal recognition, the institutional arrangements
are ambitiously crafted and are considered to be a crucial component in the
sustainability of the communal property. However, the largest threats to
the sustainability might not be the government or the institutional
arrangements. The land not is not sufficient to secure livelihood for the
new generation. Furthermore, the new generation is progressively seeking
occupation outside the traditional agricultural sector seeking occupation
in the modern industrial sector.