5.1 Introduction
The rural frontier of the peri-urban zone is defined by a rapid shift of urbanity over rurality. It is evident in both the physical changes and dynamic adjustments in the social landscape of class composition, and in their interaction. The social landscape in this rural frontier is particularly complex. It is full of contestation and tension regarding various matters of urbanity and rurality, and modernity and tradition. Some are obvious and some are subtle. In order to understand the place of the peri-urban community, one first has to realise that changes in the physical landscape alone do not provide a complete picture of place. Class relations must also be considered. In Chapter 4, I explored the shifting rural frontier and new class composition resulting from urban expansion at the community level of Nam Jam and Mu 5. In this chapter I dig more deeply into relations, encounters and attitudes between social classes in order to provide texture to the making of a peri-urban place.
In general, each social group exists in its own space with little relation to others. In-migration has brought different classes together to live in close proximity as neighbours in communities in which they share space and encounter each other in everyday life. Therefore, clearly place matters. Over the last decade, when Burmese workers, dormitory residents and urban middle-class newcomers commenced residence in the village, class relations have become more complex. Class differentiation among long-term villagers in Nam Jam has increasingly become based on economic status, consumption and lifestyles, and decreasingly on direct production. Furthermore, class is not fixed in the individual, rather it is geographically contingent as space and location shape social relations. In order to understand a social landscape, it is imperative to look not only at the individuals in each group, but also at the interaction among and across social groups. One important question to be considered in this chapter is whether social groups after
drawing closer in distance, develop a closer understanding. Do their classes also become closer? Or do class divisions become more sharply delineated?
As one of the urban middle-class newcomers in the community since 2007, I have come to realise both the advantages and disadvantages of studying social interaction. There are several levels of social interaction, and not all are able to be observed during a short-term research period or occasional visits to the site. In addition, some intimate aspects have to be excluded. This chapter will discuss how data were collected via my multiple positions in the community. Relevant direct and indirect stories, gossip and incidents I experienced will be selectively raised in relation to class-based issues.
The structure of this chapter will commence with the methodology, which is different from that employed in the previous chapters. The main focus of the chapter is on the dynamism of class difference through migration, and social interaction between classes and in some cases between people of the same class. Particular focus will be on two social groups, comprising long-term local residents and urban middle-class newcomers due to their living status as permanent residents and neighbours.
5.2 Methodology
Physical landscapes can be investigated through heterogeneity of land use, land ownership, and the different house styles in a community. Interpretation of social landscape, on the other hand, requires understanding people’s interactions which are often complicated and difficult to collect and observe. In 2005, I, along with five other people, all of whom worked in education (the majority were university lecturers) bought an almost five rai-plot of abandoned rice field in Nam Jam. We divided it into small plots, among which I own half rai of land. A year later, I built my house and have lived there since early 2007. I subsequently became interested in the social interaction that occurred between people, especially people from different social groups. To this end, I selected my own community for the research. This chapter explores the social interaction of different classes. It consists of data drawn
from various sources and employs multiple methods.
Regarding the study of social interaction, being a researcher in my own community, positioning myself as researcher with each informant was a crucial ethical issue that influenced the quality and direction of the data. I functioned as both an insider and an outsider in different contexts throughout this part of the research.
The data were gained from various sources and situations that evolved. Therefore, my positioning, far from being rigid, has shifted according to my study. The term
"class" (or chon-chan in Thai) is a sensitive word in Thai society. Discussion of the term is acceptable in the academic sphere but tends to be impolite and awkward when conversing in everyday life. Thai culture has always been hierarchical at all levels, both in the past and up until the present day. It has determining characteristics that specify people’s positioning of oneself with others constantly. This positioning goes along with Thai language which is also often hierarchical in the context of Thai culture. Several means are used such as age, sex, occupation, rank, work position, status, ethnicity and many other subtle signs of positioning social relations in everyday life.
One clear example of social positioning is how each person addresses the other and him/herself. Address via appellations is very common in the Thai context.
It is regarded as both polite and as paying respect to others, especially those who are in higher position which can be age or other defining positions. Terms commonly used include phii (older brother or sister), naawng (younger brother or sister), loong, bpaa (an uncle or aunt who is older than one's parents), naa, aa (an aunt or uncle younger than one's parents), and uy (northern term for elders or grandparents). These basic titles in the Thai context have hierarchical implications given that they determine the social positions between people. Another example is addressing others using the name of their occupations which are often occupations that have good status. In this context, the most common terms found in the case study were aa-jaan (university lecturer) and maaw (physician doctor). In addition, there is also meaning in the physical ways in which people react to each other. Thais normally pay respect
to others who are more senior by wai9; lowering their bodies when walking past older people; not touching older people’s heads. Addressing people using their titles and proper physical actions signals politeness towards each other. This in fact, using appropriate forms of address determine the hierarchical positions of people and, by extension, shape their expected social behaviours.
Usually, when I talk to groups of people I use titles based mainly on age differences. I refer to myself as phee (elder sister) when interacting with Burmese workers and dormitory residents as they are all of young working age. As regards the remainder who are of various generations, I either call myself phee when talking to younger persons or use my name when conversing with older. I also address them according to their ages and positions such as phaaw-luaang (village head) or aa-jaan when talking to university lecturers with whom I am not familiar. I also wai to everyone who is older than me irrespective of class. The gender of the researcher is another noticeable social position in this study. When discussing class relations and social interaction, the fact of being a woman helped me to align myself closer to my female informants when discussing private issues. As well, my male informants could feel relaxed when talking to me.
These multiple layers of social stratification, and the researcher's position in relation to my informants and research issues affected the outcomes of the data. The reflexivity of my position and clarification of the contexts will be stated throughout this chapter. I was aware that my position in this research would influence informants’ acceptances, assessments and certain of the information provided.
Therefore, for the purpose of this chapter, the data I obtained from Mu 5, and Nam Jam in particular, are treated as informants' intentions to re-present their stories to
"me", the researcher, a neighbour who lives in the same community, someone they
9 The act of wai involves putting one's palms together on one’s chest with the tips of the fingers resting against one's nose or forehead. It is a typical Thai gesture and also a good manner of paying respect to people who are higher, either by seniority or position. It is not an ordinary act for greeting, goodbye, thanks because it is only the junior people who do to the senior people. In other words, wai is explicit but at the same time subtle for class positioning in Thai culture.
meet occasionally. In other words, I am not an ordinary researcher whom they may never meet again once the research was completed.
The most basic practice I undertook during my research in the village was informing all of those since the first time of meeting about my research topic. I explained the topic of my PhD research as a study on physical and social change in a community in a peri-urban area. In particular, I specifically delineated that it was about migration and social interaction and how they impacted on the various groups in the village (with class relations in mind), the local villagers, and the different groups of newcomers. Later, I engaged in informal conversations with them on diverse occasions. The quantity of the interviews depended upon certain issues and information that each social group provided, the willingness of the informants, and the opportunities to meet them especially for ad hoc meetings. The depth of the data depended on the quality of the relationship between myself and each informant, that is, how dynamic it was and how it evolved. Both quantity and quality of the data tentatively depend on my hierarchical positions in relation to the interviewees. The Tai Yai workers, dormitory residents, and villagers are rather more welcome and provide more time to talk with me than the middle class which partly could be their differences in lifestyle.
Nam Jam provided the biggest part of the data. This is because I live there, the Nam Jam people were interviewed more often than informants from other communities. In particular, I explored the social interaction among and between the various social classes in the community. I spoke to every group in Nam Jam, focusing on the permanent households of local and urban middle-class groups who live alongside each other as neighbours. Other groups including dormitory residents, migrant workers from Myanmar, and commuting workers in the village were also explored but focus was more on their interaction with the permanent households in the village.
Most of the Nam Jam data was drawn from my interviews and talks with different groups of people during the period I lived in the village. In addition, I had
the chance to observe particular incidents that happened and to listen to different social groups' explanations vis-a-vis when the incidents occurred and how they unfolded. Moreover, I had several direct experiences of social interaction with all social groups. My position and my relationship with the Nam Jam people varied according to the different groups. However, I developed a much closer relationship with the people of Nam Jam than with the other people in other areas.
A considerable body of data accrued from my interviews with every available urban middle-class newcomer to Hua Thung and Nong Khwai, from information about their household structures and personal backgrounds. At the conclusion of the interviews, I asked about their feelings, their experiences of living in the village, and how they deal with and explain their actions. In addition, several key long-term local residents were interviewed, mostly about issues concerning the newcomers and how they could be explained. As discussed in the previous chapter (Chapter 4), I only had one chance to talk to the urban middle-class newcomers in both clusters due to their claims to privacy. My position when interviewing them was purely as an outside researcher in that I had no other relationship with them. With the local leaders and long-term local key informants, I talked to them on various community occasions such as community meetings, the monthly collection of money for the village revolving funds, and at several funerals in the village. My position and title as far as the villagers and leaders of Mu 5 were concerned was aa-jaan, linking me with the group along with whom I bought the land. Even though I told them that I did not have a position in a university, and that I was simply a PhD researcher living in the village, the appellation aa-jaan seemed an easy form of address for the villagers of Mu 5. The term aa-jaan infers an occupation regarded as a high position by the villagers due to the different levels of education between the villagers and lecturers with PhDs. Another title that some people use is khun (for both men and women, a polite form of address similar to Mister and Miss). These terms showed respect with some distance. As regards the urban middle-class newcomers to Mu 5, I was a researcher who lived in the neighbouring community. The distance was wider than my relations with the villagers.