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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 3. 1966.

Straws in wind

Straws in wind

"The peasants in Thailand, like those in Vietnam, are like straws in the wind," says Mr. Harlow. He suggests that they will support whichever side (government or communist) looks likely to win, and which will punish them more severely for having supported the other.

"Most of them have no interest in politics. All they are concerned with is getting enough to eat. Their political allegience is usually a matter of pure expediency."

Mr. Harlow says that the Thai government is now trying to counter communism by economic development. This includes new dams and irrigation projects, development in rural roading, and the extension of education and health services to most of the villages in the North-east.

"The Thai government and its allies have done a lot in a very short time to try to raise living standards in the North-east, but they still have a long way to go," concluded Mr. Harlow.