The promotion of rubber plantations in Northeastern Thailand has significantly shaped the region’s political and socioeconomic landscape. Originally introduced to an economically marginalized, arid area, rubber cultivation gained momentum as Thailand transitioned from military-dominated rule to an electoral system in the late 1980s—a period marked by the rise of provincial business networks and increased civil society engagement in politics. With the Northeast holding a substantial portion of parliamentary seats, rubber plantations elevated the region’s political relevance within Thailand. This impact became particularly evident in the 2000s, when electoral politics reached its peak. Drawing on surveys, stakeholder interviews, and field research, this article examines the contested political power surrounding rubber plantation policies. Analyzing dynamics at the national, provincial, and community levels, the study illustrates how rubber policy frameworks were shaped by different political regimes, how political networks were mobilized through various channels, and how these forces influenced local communities engaged in rubber cultivation.

In western Ifugao, traditional agricultural land uses, including rice terraces, were sustained for centuries, only to be recently converted into vegetable landscapes. Througha historical landscape analysis supported by ethnographic research methods such as participatory observation and interviews, this paper describes the agricultural transitionof the Kalanguya Indigenous Peoples (IPs) occupying Tinoc, in Ifugao Province. Irrigated rice cultivation in this high-altitude part of Ifugao is carried out more for its cultural significance than for food security. As the area gradually opened up and became connected with the mainstream economy, rice was increasingly outsourced and the rice terraces were gradually replaced with temperate vegetable cultivation. The temperate climate made the area marginal land for rice but prime agricultural land for temperate vegetables. Extensive rice terraces and formerly swidden farms and forests were transformed into “vegetable terraces.” Despite its climatic suitability and income potential, the transition to vegetable farming has had negative ecological and sociocultural consequences. Possible pathways to local sustainability are discussed following the concept of ecological intensification.

This article analyzes how Melayu people choose their place of living in a coastal community in Riau, focusing on people who do not own land. Based on field research conducted in A Community, I discuss the following: (1) characteristics of the community, (2) people’s choices of place of living, and (3) people’s migration to upstream areas of the community. The relevant characteristics of A Community are that it is a fishing community—it was formed in brackish water areas around the coast—and not very dependent on land. Family dwellings and family ties are the most fundamental determinants of people’s choice to live here. People’s livelihoods rely on a combination of various sources of income, and employment and schooling are often outside the community. Plantation companies starting their business in the upstream areas in the late 1990s brought employment to the people but reduced fish stocks and deposited so much waste into the river that dwellings built on the water could no longer be repaired. These changes led people to migrate to upstream areas of the community. Over time, upstream migration may lead to deep cultural changes that transform this and other coastal communities such that they come to resemble their terrestrial counterparts.

In the aftermath of the Communist revolts in West Java and West Sumatra in 1926 and 1927, Boven Digoel was constructed as an internment camp for political prisoners. It was designed to be a place where Communists were taken from their home communities and transplanted in a foreign environment to be “re-educated” by the authorities under close surveillance. Outwardly, however, the Dutch colonial regime also used Digoel as a cautionary tale to the Indonesian populace by projecting a terrifying image of the exile colony and its feral environment. They achieved this aim by relying primarily on newspaper coverage. Such representations of Digoel came to inhabit the popular imagination during the colonial period. This article examines two prominent Malay-language newspapers, Sin Jit Po (Soerabaja) and Pewarta Deli (Medan), and their comparatively frequent reports on Digoel. Ultimately, the Digoel coverage gives insights into an important aspect of the Dutch colonial order in the Netherlands Indies, which was censorship.

The advent of World War II in 1940 and the occupation of the Indies by the Japanese military for almost three and a half years were great shocks to residents of the Indies and brought about innumerable changes. However, the commonly reproduced cartoonish image of a nation uniformly suffering under the yoke of arbitrary Japanese military overlords from 1942 to 1945 was not particularly apt. The beloved Indonesian pasar malam festival is assumed to have vanished during the wartime years, as has been explicitly claimed in the case of the Pasar Malam Gambir. In fact, while somewhat unstable during the wartime years, the institution of the pasar malam never really disappeared, and 1943 could even be described as the “Year of the Festival” due to the relatively high visibility of pasar malam around Indonesia. Examinations of newspaper articles and published programs help to show how these festivals continued to be socially, economically, and even administratively important in somewhat new ways, foreshadowing postwar changes.

This article describes the progress and challenges of Islamic economics and finance in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. Islamic economics can be defined as the system of economic knowledge that Islamic economics thinkers established based on Islamic teachings, while Islamic finance refers to financial services adhering to Shari’a (Islamic law). The Islamic financial industry has developed predominantly in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam over the past four decades. There are some criticisms of Islamic financial services in terms of their Shari’a compliance. By tracing the development of Islamic finance in the contemporary Malay world, this article shows what the ideal method of Islamic financial services has been and why and how the practice has faced criticism.

“Asian solidarity movement” has been a catchphrase for the international activities of Korean civil society for three decades. The activism of Korean civil society started to become tangible in the early 1990s, mainly because of Korea’s democratization and globalization. This article begins by describing the origin, growth, and diversification of this solidarity movement. It then emphasizes recent changes that can be observed in two key areas, namely, issues and participation. Unlike in earlier phases of the movement, when activists focused mainly on issues directly relevant to Korea, today’s activism is more concerned with universal values. It also attracts citizens beyond activists and intellectuals.

This paper investigates access to birth registration, education, and health care for cross-border migrant children in Thailand. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating migrant populations into Thai society and the role local civil society organizations play in protecting and improving children’s access to these rights. Data collected from previous fieldwork conducted in Thailand’s border areas (Mae Sot-Tak, Chumporn, Ranong, Phang-nga, and Chiang Rai) from 2016 to 2020 is analyzed here. With regional variations, the quantitative survey found that between 40 percent and 80 percent of migrant children born in Thailand had their births registered. School enrollment rates for children aged 7 to 14 ranged from 50 percent to almost 100 percent. Notably, most children were enrolled at NGO-run migrant children’s learning centers (MLCs), with less than half attending Thai regular schools (except for Chiang Rai, where Thai school enrollment surpassed MLC enrollment). When it came to access to health care, a large proportion of children (ranging from 30 percent to 95 percent) in all the surveyed areas lacked health insurance coverage. Qualitative data analysis revealed a discrepancy between Thai laws and their practical application. While regulations permit birth registration, school enrollment, and health insurance access for all migrant children regardless of their parents’ immigration status, numerous obstacles still restrict their access to these rights. The analysis demonstrates that the social integration of migrants and active local civil society organizations can be crucial enablers and mechanisms for protecting migrant children’s rights while simultaneously improving the quality of life for both cross-border migrants and local Thais in the communities surveyed.