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SOCIAL CHANGE IN NANG RONG, THAILAND
Description:
This study represents a major data collection effort carried out in 1994-95 by the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand, and the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The 1994-95 data collection was multipurpose, under the broad scientific umbrella of monitoring and understanding the sweeping demographic and social changes occurring in Nang Rong. The data provide a detailed account of villagers' lives, both in 1994-95 and retrospectively. The focus is on migration processes, fertility and contraceptive behavior, and life course choices within the context of rapid social and economic change. In Nang Rong, the past decade has witnessed a major fertility decline, increased use of contraception, electrification, the extension and improvement of the road network, increasing frequency of bus service, more widespread use of tractors (mostly "walking tractors") for land preparation, an increase in the number of mechanized rice mills, and improvements in sanitation and water storage. These changes notwithstanding, Nang Rong is (and was) a relatively poor district in a historically poor region of Thailand. The 1994-95 data collection had three components: a community profile, a household survey, and a migrant follow-up.
