Millenarism in Thailand has found its expression in the religious movements inspired by "phi bun" or "phu mi bun". In modern times, it developed into peasant revolts in 1902 which were followed, at least, two minor "revolts" in 1924 and 1959. All of these "phi bun" movements occurred in the Northeast. Typologically, "phi bun" shares many common traits with millenarian movements in other part of the world. Its topographical concentration in the Northeast may be explained by the fact that the peasants of this region have been suffering from a perennial poverty caused by low and unstable productivity in rice-cultivation in the region. "Nam mon" or sacred water ritual in popular Buddhism, combined with the belief of "future Buddha" and/or the "ideal king", has provided an ideological framework in which "phi bun" religious movements were formulated. The existence of popular Buddhistic belief in such a form as "phi bun" may be exploited by some political forces which aim to threaten the national integrity of Thailand.

抄録全体を表示

 Rice land in Peninsular Thailand is categorized into three groups with respect to physiographic environment during the wet season and patterns of cultivation. The areas under consideration are the lands on the coast, in the young fan region, and in the old fan-terrace region.
 On the coast region rice is grown in silted lagoons and in swales between beach ridges. These low-lying areas are moderately inundated for a considerable part of the year and therefore, are good for rain-fed rice growing. However, there still remain seizable amounts of potential rice land unreclaimed. In most cases, they are too remotely located for easy commuting from existing dwellings.
 Rice lands in the young fan region are found on gently sloping fan surfaces which are well watered by numerous bifurcated streams. Due to this ideal physiographic condition for both rice growing and human habitaiton, the region is highly developed as wet season rice land with simple water control devices. At present it is on the way to acquiring a more sophisticated irrigation system with the aid of the schemes of the Royal Irrigation Department.
 The old fan-terrace region, comprised of undulating and rolling ground surface, is primarily a terrain for tree crops rather than rice. But rain-fed rice fields were introduced to the region and have been expanding for a dozen years or so despite the danger of drought.

抄録全体を表示