The Establishment of State Power over Territory through Land and Forest Administration in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces

Abstract

This study examines the evolution of the Thai state's land and forest management in the southern border region, its impacts on local communities, and its connection to regional unrest. Using the concepts of internal territorialization and the failure of state development schemes as analytical frameworks, it adopts a qualitative approach combining documentary analysis with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions among affected community members. The findings show that state intervention in forested and mountainous areas has enabled the Thai state to extend more comprehensive control over the southern border region through four interconnected contexts: economic development, security, forest conservation, and climate change. In this process, local ways of life have been rendered invisible by a state perception that treats forests as vacant and unoccupied land. As state control over remote areas has intensified, local populations have lost the ability to sustain livelihoods and access land rights. While this expansion has strengthened state security, it has not improved local well-being and has instead hindered peacebuilding in the southern border region.