Markets are a means of promoting small commerce. People come up with small items others would like to purchase and through doing so a dollar is turned, a dollar is earned. It is idealistic and supports an ongoing system of monetary movement. This creates a flow of money from which all involved may benefit.
Thailand has been said to be the “Entrepreneurial Kingdom” because not only is it one of the last remaining large-scale somewhat legitimate kingdoms left on planet Earth, it is also the host country of markets on all levels. In North America a market is usually some small-scale event organized to temporarily promote an event or a local cabin industry. The events are festive and the profits are nice to the people that make them, but usually, they are not a pure means of subsistence. In Thailand markets are just that; a means of subsistent living. And without that means of subsistence, the society of Thailand might fall.
As is popular throughout history a society will exist until there ceases to be a middle class. Once this class disappears either the economy falls for the rich or the working class rises against the upper crust. In either event it can be expected that a government will change hands, business will evolve, and somehow people will find themselves either sinking or swimming in the aftermath. This is life on planet Earth. And p.s….the Thai government fell last year. So it goes.
There is no middle-class in Thailand. I’m not sure what happened to it. Maybe it never existed in the first place. After all, history in Asia has shown many instances of lords and peasants with little place for the middle-man. Although, I have heard that there was a massive fall in the economy during the late 90’s, which might account for some of the vast difference between the classes. It appears that in Thailand you are either very poor or exceedingly rich. You drive a cranky old motorcycle, or a shiny new Mercedes complete with adjustable seats and a DVD for the kids. You eat rice with chicken parts or you get fat at Pizza Hut. There is no in-between.
Either you’re a starbelly sneetch one with no stars on thars (Dr. Suess, Sneetches on Beeches).When looking from our balcony one can see a mansion complete with walled enclosure to keep the rest of the world out, and directly next door to it, in fact leaning against the very wall itself, is a shanty-town of the forgotten class. There is no in-between. The space between the shanty and the wall is roughly the same size as the middle-class in Thailand; small to none and being pressed between the upper and lower pressures.
Markets are the glue that hold the economy together here in Thailand. They are the path through which we all may walk. They open up commerce between those with enough to provide and those who wish to possess. They are a means of making a dollar and then turning it over for necessities, and this dollar might even have the power to move up or down in the chain of economic command. To hasten this, the government does not impose much for taxes and indirectly allows for a lot of economic loopholes through which people can make informal money independent of a crushing larger infrastructure. It works out well in the end doesn’t it? The poor can bind together to create markets that may then provide for the rich. As well, the rich then purchase from the poor and help to support the tradition and strength of the working class. It becomes a form of subsistence for the society itself. Moa Zedong showed that Southeast Asia can survive under the formation of both a formal and informal market economy. It is by this that classes can exchange both independently and interdependently.
It makes me think of the story my father once told me about a thousand dollar bill that entrusted to an individual who then proceeds to spend it. The bill gets exchanged around a local market from one hand to the next until it lands with the original holder. Upon return of the bill this person finds out the thousand dollar bill is a fake, and yet, who lost money? Everyone was still able to purchase with the money so long as everyone agreed upon its worth. In this manner all money gets passed and in its path come the riches, just merely perceived.
Not every dollar (or baht as the case may be) gets recorded and therein lies the answer. Some patriotics with North America on the brain will surely say, “But what about the social systems provided by the government? Who pays for those if these so called ‘informal markets’ aren’t recording their profits and paying proper taxes?” Well to such a person I remind that in Thailand there aren’t social systems such as in North America. Here in Thailand people are generally expected to look after themselves and their own without benefit of free education, healthcare, and/or welfare. By giving the working class a break on the market, the government allows a laissez-faire approach of allowing the economy to balance itself through good old-fashioned determinism.
I am not saying any one system is better than the other but from the position I’m in there is a lot to think about. Cultural perspective is a fascinating view. At times I feel I am sitting on a meridian during rush-hour traffic: I can’t figure out which direction is the better one for cars to travel in but I am certain that everyone in the vehicles must be mad.
No comments:
Post a Comment