Counting the Costs: Economic Growth and Environmental Change in Thailand

"This book is informative and engaging even when the issues have no apparent solution, and it is precisely because the chapters convey this complexity that the book deserves a broad readership" (Journal of Southeast Asian Studies).

Written by an international panel of specialists on Thailand who share a common concern for the environment, this volume examines the causes and consequences of environment change both in the countryside and the urban areas of the Kingdom. The papers, however, in no sense reflect a common view; the authors embrace contrasting environmental ideologies in discussing a wide range of concerns. These include the role of Buddhism and tourism in promoting sustainable development, environmental systems of thought and action, the practicalities of water pollution control in Bangkok and the Gulf of Thailand, and the changing bases of life and livelihood among the hill peoples of the North. The environment as an issue of concern is now important phase of assimilation, interpretation, prescription and action. The papers in this volume reflect this change.