Mobility plans and mobility behavior: Convergences and divergences in Thailand

Using Thai data, this paper develops and tests a model of rural-urban mobility behavior in a context dominated by high levels of circular rural-urban mobility. With mobility plans and mobility behavior measured in analogous ways, a close correspondence between mobility plans and mobility behavior is found. In spite of this close correspondence, however, multivariate analysis shows that past mobility behavior—rather than mobility plans—is the most important predictor of subsequent mobility. Where experience with a given type of behavior is abundant, prior behavior may often be the best predictor of subsequent behavior, but where experience with a given type of behavior is scarce, behavioral intentions may be a more relevant explanatory variable.The research reported here was funded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations' Research Program on Population and Development Policy (RF 77065; Allocation 164). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the section on migration strategies, migration intentions, and migration decisions at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 3–5, 1984.     

A multilevel model of family planning availability and contraceptive use in rural Thailand

This paper assesses the ways in which the availability of family planning program outlets influences the likelihood of contraceptive use in rural Thailand. It focuses on a village-level measure of actual availability of sources rather than respondent perceptions of availability. Individuallevel and village-level data collected as part of the second Thailand Contraceptive Prevalence Survey are used to test three hypotheses about the effects of actual availability: that (a) availability of family planning outlets increases the likelihood of contraceptive use; (b) it enhances the effect of a desire for no more children on the likelihood of use; and (c) it weakens the positive relationship between education and the likelihood of use.     

Rural-urban mobility in Thailand: A decision-making approach

This paper has analyzed a theoretical model of mobility decision-making. The model relies entirely on individual-level factors rather than macro-level factors as determinants of migration decision-making. The individual-level variables included in the model are: recent mobility history, urban social contacts, information about urban areas, evaluations of different locations, migration plans, and actual movements in the period subsequent to an initial interview. The empirical results indicate that with some exceptions there are relatively strong links of the type suggested in the model among these variables. The model was evaluated separately for two groups of villages for movement to Bangkok and for movement to Northeast Thai towns. Thus, four submodels were estimated, providing an opportunity to observe how robust the model is with respect to varying destinations and origins. Although certain differences are found among the four submodels, the overwhelming feature is their similarity. Where differences do exist, they generally reflect differences in the effectiveness of prior mobility as a predictor of other variables in the process. Clearly, a villager's previous history of movement is a key factor affecting subsequent movement and the entire decision-making process. The primary effect of having friends and relatives in a particular urban center is to increase the amount of information a villager has about that urban center. Information has a significant effect on evaluations and plans. Except in one submodel, evaluations have a significant effect on plans; and the existence of plans--which to some extent represent a culmination of social contacts, information, and evaluations--is the only factor other than previous mobility which has a significant direct effect on subsequent movement. Thai policy makers are searching for ways to stimulate the growth of regional urban growth centers and reduce the growth of Bangkok. From the standpoint of intervention, a key variable in this process would appear to be information. Not only is information level related to evaluations of an urban area and mobility plans, but, compared to other variables in the model, it appears to be relatively amenable to modification by inputs deriving from a source external to the village itself. It appears difficult to modify evaluations or migration plans directly, though both could be indirectly influenced by informational inputs. Movement history would be difficult, if not impossible, to manipulate; while villagers could be sponsored for short trips to town, this is not likely to produce much long-range effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

The Thai Lao question: the reappearance of Thailand’s ethnic Lao community and related policy questions

This article presents an anatomy of the 2011 Thailand Country Report to the Committee responsible for the UN Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in which Thailand recognized its largest ethnic minority community, the Thai Lao, to the international community. The article analyses the Country Report as well as the deliberations of the Committee in dialogue with the Thailand Country Delegation. It provides a policy context for the Country Report, including Thailand’s classification of ethnic communities. The article argues the need to minimize racialized discrimination as regards the Thai Lao. Five policy issues, framed in the context of inclusion and which arise from the recognition of the Thai Lao by the Country Report, are considered. The article concludes by discussing how the Thai Lao may be better included in Thailand via political developments towards a social democracy in Thailand, for social democracy can recognize sociocultural rights.     

How project strategy is used in project management: Cases of new product development and software development projects

Project strategy is an emerging concept in the research literature on project management. Many authors suggest that such a strategy should be used by a project team as a guideline for effectively performing project activities. In this study, we explore how project strategy is used. We found that the project teams applied various forms of project strategy, namely, Product Superiority, Customer Intimacy, and Time-to-Market strategies. A combination of these strategies was also used. This study contributes to the literature in the area of strategic alignment and strategy implementation. It also helps practitioners better understand how to implement project strategy.     

DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A MIGRATION EXPERIMENT IN THAILAND

In many less developed countries, planners are concerned about the concentration of population in one or two major cities. The authors implemented a small-scale experimental program in Northeast Thailand designed to alter patterns of outinigration from a rural area, specifically to redirect migration to urban centers within the same region rather than toward Bangkok. Using data from a baseline survey and a follow-up survey 12 months later, strong effects on mobility behavior, modest effects on information, and little or no effect on community evaluations and mobility plans are discerned. Implications for the attitude-behavior literature are discussed.