Yuki Miyake
Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University
Garlic is one of the most symbolic food ingredients for Thai people. Most Thai foods, including Nam-prik (chili paste to eat with rice), cannot be made without garlic. Today, however, on the one hand, such traditional food cultures are becoming faint especially among the young. On the other hand, along with market liberalization of garlic and imported products through the Free Trade Agreement, cheaper foreign garlic flowed into Thailand, and the Thai local garlic is decreasing its share of the domestic market. As a measure to cope with these problems, there is a group that promotes eating of Nam- prik in favor of consumption of Thai local food products. Under today’s globalized and complex structure of a food market, however, the action based on good intention of supporting the local does not necessarily help them without prior good knowledge of market structure and careful tactics.
This paper firstly addresses how Thai food culture of garlic is changing; moreover, if further discusses the discourse of inclusion and exclusion of garlic promoted by Thai NGOs. Lastly, by clarifying a complex market structure of garlic, it argues that such a dichotomous way of elaboration of discourse may not solve the problems related to garlic these days in Thailand.
(Presented in the International Conference – Thai Food Heritage: Local to Global, 4-6 August 2009, Tawana Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok, organized by The Project of Empowering Network for International Thai Studies (ENITS), Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University with support from the Thailand Research Fund (TRF))