Canals and Orchards: The Impact of Transport Network Access on Agricultural Productivity in Nineteenth-Century Bangkok

Abstract

We assess the impact of access to Bangkok’s nineteenth-century canal network on orchard productivity using a new dataset constructed from 1880s orchard land deeds. We find that properties located adjacent to canals, which were built for purposes exogenous to orchard production, had significantly higher labor productivity than those located inland. Gaining direct access to canals led to productivity improvements through better access to markets, which in turn enhanced cultivators’ welfare. We conclude, based on a method developed by Oster (2019), that unobserved selection bias is negligible, allowing for the positive impact of canal access to be interpreted as causal.

The economic history of Thailand: Old debates, recent advances, and future prospects

“…Although the series are fragmentary, a pattern emerges where rural wages were as high if not higher than urban unskilled wages for much of the period before 1950. Recent work by Chankrajang and Vechbanyongratana (2020, 2021) finds that the nineteenth century standard of living of agricultural households was higher than previously estimated. Using microdata compiled from government issued land deeds housed at Bangkok's Department of Lands Museum to evaluate agricultural profits and translate the profits into various measures of wellbeing in the 1880s, they find that find that production on the median Bangkok orchard could support between 8 and 9 adults annually (compared to an average household size of six), based on Allen et al's (2011) ‘bare bones’ consumption basket.…”

“…Furthermore, typical employment with comparatively high wages in the Asian region at the end of the nineteenth century was primarily for short‐term infrastructure work, such as digging canals and building railways, which was ideal for temporary immigrant labour, but risky for individuals who needed more permanent employment opportunities (Manarungsan, 1989, p. 166). In addition, Chankrajang and Vechbanyongratana (2020, pp. 1025–6) find that although unpaid family workers on typical orchard plots generate less income than urban labourers and rural agricultural wage workers, the majority of orchard owners were women.…”

Exploring Thai Vernacular Houses for Heritage Tourism along the Western Bangkok Canals

“…These canals provided housing and arable land for agriculture while offering the convenience of water transportation. Consequently, the western area was transformed into a significant agricultural region, supplying food to the capital city (Chankrajang & Vechbanyongratana, 2020;Jindamaneerojana, 2012). However, with the transition of Thonburi from a neighboring province to being a part of Bangkok, and the subsequent development of road and rail systems, real estate investors seized the opportunity to acquire land in the area.…”

Bangkok’s existing mixed fruit orchards are tree diversity hotspots for city greening

“…Therefore, most of former Bangkok's natural forests have been cut down over time, giving way to agriculture and urban development (Tejajati et al 1999;Delang 2005;Asanok et al 2017). However, mixed fruit trees were planted instead of natural forests along the Chao Phraya River, forming a series of multi-storied, forest-like orchards, jointly called Bangkok's Inner Orchard (BIO) (Chankrajang and Vechbanyongratana 2020). These mixed fruit orchards, a typical traditional cultivation system in Southeast Asia, could act as an urban green area, with the potential to become an urban forest (Sritongchuay et al 2019).…”