Sojourn. 2000 Apr;15(1):52-75. doi: 10.1355/sj15-1c.
The current conflict over watershed management between the lowlanders and highlanders in Chomthong has unveiled various aspects of the politics of people versus nature conservation. What is important is that the conflict has exposed the shifting and inconsistent views of the Thai state towards the peripheral areas and its people. Thus, on the one hand, the official discourse on "watershed" was appropriated by the urban middle-class conservationists and lowlanders to legitimize their control of highland resources to the exclusion of the highland minorities. The two groups also used ethnic differences to justify their control over the highland resources. On the other hand, the conflict also showed that the control by the dominant power could never be absolute. Highlanders responded to the "watershed regime" by redefining watershed integrity, adapting to the state conservation pressure, and seeking and forming alliances with other groups.
目前，乔姆通低地居民和高地居民在流域管理问题上的冲突揭示了人与自然保护政治的各个方面。重要的是，这场冲突暴露了泰国政府对周边地区及其人民的观点不断变化且前后不一。因此，一方面，城市中产阶级环保主义者和低地居民挪用了官方关于“流域”的话语，以使他们对高地资源的控制合法化，将高地少数民族排除在外。这两个群体还利用种族差异为其对高地资源的控制辩护。另一方面，冲突也表明，主导力量的控制永远不可能是绝对的。高地居民通过重新定义流域完整性、适应国家保护压力以及寻求并与其他群体结成联盟来应对“流域管理制度”。
