"For the Progress of Thai Fishery...for Life which is Money": The Transformation of Thai Fishery Technology 1946 - 1960

Abstract

This article concerns the transfer of fisheries technologies from foreign countries to Thailand in the mid-20th century. The early industrialization of Thailand has been understood and framed by concepts of bureaucratic crony capitalism and economic nationalism. It is commonly understood that, from the end of the Second World War until the beginning of the 1960s, military and civilian bureaucratic cronies were the main agents of economic development under the US-funded and promoted ‘development’. However, a closer examination of the source materials used in existing studies reveals that private industrialists were the other main agents in early fisheries industrialization, both in the aspect of technological systems and technology transfer. They were active innovators in the creation of technological systems for fisheries. Their roles in technology transfer have varied widely, with outcomes ranging from successes and significant adaptation, to failures. These industrialists’ stories illustrate the active participation of the private sector in technological changes in the early industrialization of Thailand.