1With this Atlas of Thailand. Spatial Structures and Development our intention is to present an image of Thailand which incorporates both the internal dynamics of the country and its integration into globalization. We include a range of spatial information and maps using a variety of computer-assisted techniques. This is the first atlas of its kind to be produced for Thailand although similar ones are already available for other countries on the Indo-Chinese peninsula (Vietnam by Christian Taillard, 1993, Laos by Bounthavy Sisouphanthong and Christian Taillard, 2000). Previously, only a more traditional style of atlas was available, aimed at an academic readership in Thailand (Thai atlas, Sawat Senanarong and Nom Ngamnisai, 1986) and another work which, although not given the title “atlas”, nevertheless included a rich selection of maps (Thailand: the environment of modernization, Sterstein, Larry, 1975).

2Our aim is to portray Thailand’s spatial structures and to situate the country’s social and economic dynamics into a territorial context. The country has undergone many changes throughout its long history as the Kingdom of Siam became the Kingdom of Thailand, and also in the shorter time span of the dynamics generated by the vigorous growth the country has experienced from the middle of the 1980s. We therefore hope that this atlas will bring a new contribution to current views on the analysis of Thailand’s spatial configuration.

3In producing any atlas a number of choices must be made: choice of scales, choice of levels and periods, choice of topics and data (statistical and qualitative), choice of analysis, data processing and representation methods.

Spatial, temporal and statistical references

4In the context of our double objective of analyzing national spatial forms and examining their integration into the world-system, we have considered data at several levels according to the degree of interest they bring to the analysis. External relations are shown at world level, with a change of perspective allowing us to situate Thailand in the context of Eastern Asia. At national level, we have favored an approach based mainly, though not exclusively, on a subdivision into provinces, or into other variously delimited regions. By zooming in, we are able to study the internal dynamics of two peripheral regions (the North-East and the South) at the level of a watershed, a province or in the finer mesh of the districts. This process was also adopted for the analysis of some themes in the Bangkok metropolitan region via several spatial perspectives (region, city and some districts).

5Maps were prepared on different scales. The main base map, showing international frontiers (islands included) and province boundaries, was created from maps produced by official agencies, the Royal Thai Survey Department (Administrative Division 1990) and the National Statistical Office (NSO) (Phaenthi sadaeng khet amphoe tambon thetsaban lae khomun phunthan khong changwat ph.s. 2538. [Maps of amphoe, tambon, thetsaban and basic provincial data 1995]). National and provincial contours were simplified to avoid the visual confusion that an accumulation of too many details can create: the procedure consisted of eliminating some points while still respecting the overall shape of the spatial units. This generalization, and the fact that some islets may be absent, must not be interpreted as a statement on Thailand’s boundaries: it is justified by our concern to produce a map that is a clear cartographic representation within a set format. The distortion of the contours on some maps was used to highlight certain phenomena and processes.

6We decided to present spatial structures as they existed before the Asian crisis that hit Thailand in July 1997. We hoped to understand and describe spatial configurations that are the product both of the country’s long history and of the more recent processes of vigorous growth. Combined together, these time scales have shaped the outstanding features of contemporary Thailand: hyper-concentra-tion of population and wealth at the center of the country, regional imbalance. As they diverged, they allowed the emergence of new areas under pressure from a world-system that selects its territories and which is supported by the governing classes and entrepreneurs. Given the time-honored “memory” of the territories - with their different degrees of resistance and evolution - the lapse of time between the 1997 crisis - with the recession of the national economy and its social consequences - and these first years of the 21^st century - with movements of recovery - is probably not long enough for the relative positions of the areas to have been modified to any considerable degree. And even had this been the case, it is still too soon to assess the changes in all their complexity and globality, especially given the time needed for the statistical information required in an atlas - homogeneous in time and space - to be gene-rated and analyzed. In due time, the state of know-ledge presented in the Atlas of Thailand will be a useful reference tool with which to appreciate the spatial effects of those possible upheavals.

7Most of the statistical maps show the situation in 1996, or in 1995 (rarely before) if the data were not available, or in 1997 when the nature of the data required it (changes in the standards applied by inter-national agencies for constructing statistics, data from surveys carried out between two dates). Given the approach described earlier, but also the time required to produce an atlas and the time lag in updating statistics by the producer bodies, it was decided that we should maintain, as far as possible, a homogeneity in the dates of observation in order to provide a rele-vant basis from which to compare maps, i.e. compa-ring different but complementary phenomena taking place in identical spaces. These constraints also explain the fact that results from the 2000 population and housing census have been used in part (see Methodology appendix). Reference maps show the situation in 2000 (transport and energy networks, investment incentive zones, …) while stating the situation in 1996. Other maps, from the work of other authors, are in variable time frames.

8The diachronic approach imposed by the analysis of spatial dynamics required a reasoned choice of reference date according to the theme treated, although still dependent on the availability and comparability over time of the statistics. The years selected, which vary from chapter to chapter, show the spatial evolutions resulting from population dyna-mics (since 1970 and before for certain phenomena), the role of the state in the construction of the territory (according to important periods and dates in the country’s history or politics), changes in land use and agricultural production (1976 and 1978), and in indus-trial growth and diversification (1986).

9The Atlas of Thailand exploits a variety of sources, first and foremost of which are statistics from public bodies in Thailand. We have used demographic variables from housing and population censuses; also social and economic data produced by different ministries and public agencies, some published and some not, which we obtained either directly from these bodies or from the National Statistical Office. This co-vers information at national level, combining the pro-vinces together in some cases and sometimes keeping them separate, at regional level, from combi-nations of provinces which varied according to the different bodies, and at district level. Data from inter-national bodies were also incorporated. All this statistical information (the qualitative data also) then underwent critical analysis after statistical and cartographic processing, as a result of which any data not thought sufficiently reliable was rejected. Other data is commented on in the relevant thematic chapters.

Methodology basis

10Several types of maps have been produced, using different techniques. Here we mention only the broad outline of the methodology: for a more detailed description, see the Methodology appendix. Refe-rence maps (relief and hydrographical system, trans-port networks, historical maps) were prepared using computer-assisted mapping techniques. The majority of maps are statistical mapping and were produced by computer processing. These are analytical maps when they show the spatial distribution of one or two variables, structure maps when they define simple spatial groupings, synthesis maps when they combine a large number of variables. Graphs have been added to represent the insertion of Thailand into global markets, national sector evolutions, or to show some regional characteristics for which a map would not be appropriate.

11The maps were produced from a variety of different sources. Each one makes a concise reference to the source used, which is expanded in the bibliography. This is organized into three parts: cartographic, statistical, bibliographical. Some reference maps are taken, either in part or in their entirety, often with modifications, from maps prepared by other authors using different techniques (remote sensing, aerial photographs, topographical surveys). As well as the statistical sources already mentioned, we also used bibliographical sources, to produce an inventory, for example. The statistical and bibliogra-phical sources listed at the end of the atlas also refer to the commentaries that accompany each plate and the chapter introductions.

12For the English spelling of Thai place names we used the official transcription taken from the Romanization Guide for Thai Script (Royal Institute, Bangkok, 1982). For names that were not included, the transcription used by other authors or specialist bodies was adopted (e.g. Donner, Wolf for the relief; Royal Thai Irrigation Department for the hydro-graphical network and irrigation). “Tai” was reserved for the ethno-linguistic groups. See the comments adjacent to plate 9 Provinces and their centers for the geographical terms used.

The themes

13The volume brings together authors who are experts in the different methods and themes covered. It is the fruit of prior collaboration between Thai and French researchers, a sociologist, a remote sensing expert, an urbanist and, for the most part, geographers, so it draws on a broad range of experience in field studies, in analyses and in methods developed during earlier research projects on a variety of themes.

14Several themes are covered here, organized into nine chapters. The vitality inherent in the country’s opening up to the outside world is shown by its relations with the world-system, its place in the vast area of Eastern Asia and its unique features in comparison with other countries that make up this region. The major outlines of the physical and administrative organization and the main axes and nodes that structure the country lead on to an appreciation of population and productive activities distribution. The population is shown in its ethno-linguistic, religious and demographic dimensions with the accent on localization between rural and urban areas, and spatial mobility. The role of the state in the construction of the territory and its partnership with the private sector are analyzed through a variety of key areas, from the formation of the nation-state to the constitution of infrastructure and networks.

15Activities are localized by sector before characterizing agricultural and industrial areas, like-wise the tertiary sector, infrastructure and main axes with the flows of population and merchandise. We concentrate on three regions in our analysis of intra-regional dynamics: the metropolitan region of Bangkok, with flexible delimitation, because of its importance in the constitution of the national territory; the North-East, and the South to illustrate the peripheral regions and to which different authors brought detailed knowledge of the characteristics and dynamics. Social imbalances are indicated by income, consumption and education levels. The spatial organization of the country, revealed in its complexity by all the maps in the atlas, is presented using two different forms of graphic expression, thus demon-strating territorial structures, their relations one with another and their internal compositions.

16The aim of the Atlas of Thailand is to offer a reasoned and critical overview of our present knowledge; it does not seek to be an exhaustive study. We decided to avoid a multiplicity of maps, with an even greater quantity of information, which would only have reaffirmed what the thematic selection shows already. We set about uncovering what the dynamics of these last two or three decades have brought about in the way of changes or stability to territories which result from a long history. While the Atlas hopes to be a tool for a better knowledge of Thailand, and of the spatial expression of economic and social development strategies, useful for understanding changes and preparing diagnoses for the future, it will also be whatever its readers, teachers or students, planners or entrepreneurs, want it to be. Their critical eye will examine the information it contains but will also seize on what it does not contain, and the reasons for these omissions: apart from the reliability and availability of information, not all data is pertinent for mapping. We have no doubt that this atlas will give rise to discussion, to new questions, themes will need to be broadened and data will have to be updated: it is with the aim of inviting others to continue the analysis of spatial changes that it has been produced. The Atlas of Thailand is a beginning and not a conclusion.