lNi,

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY
Southeast Asia's rain forests are vital centers of
biological diversity, but they are rapidly
disappearing due to commercial logging and
agricu ltural expa nsion.
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT

Southeast Asia has a particularly uncvcn pattern

of population distribution, with some areas

experiencing serious crowding while others are
noted for their very sparse settlement.
CULTURAL COHERENCE AND DIVERSITY

Culturally, Southeast Asia is characterized by

much more diversity than coherence, hosting
significant areas of Muslim, Buddhist, and
Christian religions, as well as innumerable
la ng

uages.

GEOPOLITICAL FRAMEWORK

Southeast Asia is one of the most geopolitcally

unified regions of the world, with all but one of
its countries belonging to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Southeast Asia as a whole contains some of the
world's most globalized and advanced economies
and some of the most isolated and impoverished;
it has also experienced marked periods of boom
and bust in recent decades.
{1*:

578

Chaoter

13

Southeast Asia

F.

gay

ol

Bengal

.t
.,'

I
I
l*.

,x

#
v

(.,

l.''

Anddmon
ses

I
t

,,VD,Aw\
OCEAN

Celbet
Sea

\
)

Ttc Yol(lnlc

of

Sumfr+ JYrd

t||!

f.araf Sund ffndg Du to the converycnce

of he lnMutolon ond the Eurcslon tronc
plates, o seies of wl@nges runs through',,/5|f,'m
Sumoto, o<ots Jovo, and nto e L4Fset Sundd
lslondt SonE of the'@rids nost ipectocuhl
etuDtons how occufid n thb ares,

Fgure 13.1 Southeast fua

This region includes the large peninsula in
the southe astern corner of fuia as well as a
vast number of islands scattered to the south
end east. lt is conventionally dvided into two
subregions: mainland Southeast fuia, which
r05 t
includes Burma (Myanmad, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia, and Vietnam, and insular (or islandl Southeast
tuia, which includes lndonesia, the Philippines, Melaysia,
Brune, Singaporc, and East Tmor. Malaysia includes th tip of the mainland
peninsula and most of the northern part of the island of Borneo (Kalimantan).

tuFffi
Dtl

fiur

tflRtuatl

PUIE

lfu,

C'rapter

an important place in
contemporary dscussions of globalizatir-rn (Figure
13.l). This highl.v diverse region includes some o[ the
lvorld's rnost globally netu'orked countries, such as Singaourheast Asia occupies

pore, as rvell as sorne of tlre countries most resisunt to global

economic and cultural forces, most notably Burma (Myan

mar). Debates about the benefits and drarvbacks of economic
globalization have also often focused on Southeast Asia. Although human well-being has seen major gains in many palls
of the region, e sweashops associated u-ith low-cost global
production are criticized for their low wages and hash labor

4000+
2000-4000
2000

-s00
-

200-500

0-200
Below

Southeast

Asia

579

practices. The glohalizatron debate in regard to Southeast Asia

grew espccially heated in the 1990s, as the region's most im-

portant countries experienced a roller-coaster ride ol economic boom and bust, descendrng ahnost ol'cmight from the
giddy heighs of fast-growing "tiger econorries" to severe recessions. More stable economic conditions luve emerged in
recent years. but Southeast Asia as a *'hole is stilt highty rulnerable to fluctuations in the global economyr
Sourheast Asias involvement with the larger r,l'orld is not
new. Chinesc and especially lndian influences date back many
centuries. Later, conrmercial ties with the Middle East opened

the doors to Islam, ar.rd today lndonesia ranks as the most

populous Muslim country in the world More recently came
the heavy-handecl imprint of Westem colonialism. as Britain.
France, the Netherlands, and the United States adrninistered
large Southeast Asian colonies. During this period, national
territories were rearranged, populations relocatecl, and new
cities built to sen'e trade and military needs.

ELEVATION IN METERS

-'-

13

se

tevel

it

Southeast Asia's resources and its strategic location made

a rnaior battlefield during World \lhr 11. Yet long after the

end of this global conflict in 1945, warlare of a different sort

continued in the region. Resrstance to impenalsm mounted,
and after the colonial regime.s were replaced by ner,r4,v independent colmtries, Southeast Asia became a battleground lbr
PUTE

world powers and their different philosophical rystems. In

\ietnam, Laos, and Carnbodia, communist forces, supported

b,v

PA0F|(

PUfE

China and the Soviet Union, strupgled for control of local

territory and people. Resisting this \4'ere the United Sutes

and several of is allies. concerned that comnrunism would
rapidlv spread across the ..r'hole of Southeast Asia.

0
0

250
250

Ironicallli while communist forces did prevail in \1etnam, Laos, and Camboclia, these countdes subscquently
opened their economies to global capitalisrn. With the end
o[ the Cold 'v!hr. competing political beliefs have taken a
back seat to other problems in Southeast Asia. Accornpanvrng the economic turmoil of the past decade has been an
'increase in ethnic and social tensions. especially in Indonesia. Geopolitically, however, the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), whrch includes 10 of the region's
1l countrics, has brought a new Ievel of regional cooperation to thc area (see "Settrng the Boundaries").

soOlvliles

500 K ometers

PACIFIC OCEAN

,
f
|:

PAPUA

ti

:':1

NEIfl
GUII{EA

ENVI RON MENTAL GEOGRAPHY:

A Once-Forested Region
The lnountainous area along the border between northern
Thailand and Burma (M)anmar) ts a rugged place. Slopes
are stecp and thickly wooded in most places; rainfall is
often torrenfial: leeches abound; and several strains of
rnedicine-resistant malaria are prevalent. These uplands
are home to onc of the most distinctive Southeast Asian

AUSTNALN

ethnic groups: the Karen, a people numbering roughly

7 rnillion. Unfortunately, the story of the Kaen and their
homeland in eastern Burma (Myanmar) is not a happy

-fhe
Burmese armv has overrun much of their territory
one
forcing many of rhe Karen into squalid refugee camps in
Thailand, where they still sulfer periodic attacks from

58O

Chaptef

13

50!thest Asia

Setting the Boundaries

Southeast Asia consists of 11 countries that varv widelv ln
spatial extent, population, cultural attributes, and levels of
economic and social development. Geographicaliy, the re-

gion is commonly divide d into an Asian mainland zone

and the isands, or the insular realm The mainland
includes Burma lca ed Myonmor by the current
government), Thalland, Cambodia, Laos, and Viet- i
nam. 0f these countres, Burma (Myanmar) is the
argest in area, about the same size as Texas Thailand
s next in slze, covering an area somewhat larger than
Ca ifornia. Vietnam has the largest populaton of the mainand states, wth 85 million people.

lnsular Southeast Asia includes the sizable countres of

Indonesla, the Phllppines, and Malaysia, as well as the small
countres of Singapore, Erunei, and East Iimor. Although
classified as part of the nsular realm because of its cultural
and historical background, N,4alaysia actually splits the differ
ence between mainland and islands. Part of its nat onal terri
tory s on the main and's L4a ay Peninsula and part is on the
larqe sland of Borneo [also known as Kalimantan), some 300
m les (480 k omete rs) disLan[. Borneo also includes the Muslm sultanat of Brunei, a small but oil rich island country of
400,000 people covering an area slightly arger than Rhode
lsland. Singapore is essentially a city-state, occupy ng a sma
island just to the south of the Malay Pen nsula.
The island nation of Indonesia stretches 3,000 miles
[4,800 k lometers, or about the same distance as from New
1

Burma (Myarrnar) Furthennore, the Karenl loss o[ land

has been accornpanied bv the logging o[ the magnificent
reak forests of upland Burrna (Myanmar). In the saga of
the Karcr.r, \A'e can se e the tragic meshing o[ cultural, pohtical, econornic. and environmental [orces.

The Tragedy of the Karen

The Karen, like other tribal peoples of rhe upland areas ol
Burma (N'lyanmar), u.ere never fully incorporated into the
Burmese kingdom, u'hrch long rulecl the lowlands o[ rhe

country. With the imposition of British colonial rule in

the 1800s, hor.l,ever, the Karen territory rvas oined to the
Burrnesc lou'lands. British and American missionaries ed
ucated rnany Karen and converted over 30 percent of them

to Protestant Christianitl'. A number of Karen Christians

obtained positions in Burma's colonial government. The
Burrnans of the lowlands, a strongly Buddhtst people,
resented this cleepl for thev had long vier.l'ed rhe Karen as
culturally inferior (according to conventlonal but confusing terrninologl,, the rerm Burmese relers to all of the inhabitants o[ Burma [Myanmar], whereas Bunnans refers
only to the country's dominant, Burmese speaking ethnic
group). After independence, the Karen lost rheir favored
position and soon gre\r'to resent what they sal!.as Burman
cult trral and eeeinomic domination.

York to San FranciscoJ from the large islard of

5umatra n thc
New Gu nea in the east, and contains more than
13,000 separate islands. Not on y does it dwarf all other
Southeast Asian states n sizc, but it is by far the arqest
in population. With more than 231 million peop e,
Indonesia s the word's fourth most popuous
country. Lying north of the equaLor is the Phl ip
pncs, a country of 91 million people spread over
thousands of islands, both large and small.

west

to

Until the second half 0f the twentieth century,

much of this world region was sometimes referred to as
lndochino, a term that accurately reflects the strong historical influences of the large neighboring countries of India and
Ch na. Western co onlal powers, including France, Britain, the
Netherlands, and the United States, controlled most of the
region until World War ll, when lapan temp0rar y expanded
its emp re into Southeast Asia Because of the strategic
importance of this region, many heated battles were fought

on its territory during World War ll, and it was during this
period that the geographic term southeost Aslo replaced
lndochino and similar terms. After Wor d War ll, with the
gradual and often reluctant withdrawal of the colonial powers'hold on terrtory, newly ndependent statcs appeared and
the modern geopolitical map emerged. Today, because of ts
continued strategic value, coup ed with its close linkages t0
the dynamic world economy, Southeast Asia occupies a
prorninent p ace in the list of world regions.

By the I970s, the Karen rvere r open rebellion and soon

managed to establish a semi-independent state o[ their owrr
(Ftgure I3.Z). Thev supporred their rebellion by srnuggling
goods between Thailand and Bumra (Myanrr-rar) and by mining
the gemstones of their tenirory t3ecause Rumra (M1'anmar) hacl
one o[ the world'-s most protected econor.nies, .,r..ith a full range
ol govemmental controls inhibiing colnmcrce. smuggling was
(and to some extent still is) an especialll' rrofitable occupation.
Some estimates in the 1980s ranked the Karen economy as
almost as large as the official Bumrcse cconorny
The Burmese arml', howevcr, began to rnake headwa,v
against the rcbcls in the early I990s, ancl by the end of the
decade had ovcrrun l.nost of the Karen rerritory, Although
some Karen colrtinue to fight. as a whole they are demoralizcd and divided- Crucial to Burma's success was an agreemcnt made with Thailancl in rvhich the Thai government
agrecd to prevent Karen solcliers from linding sanctllary on
rts side of thc border, reportedly in exchange for access b,v
Thai tirnber interests to Burma's valuable teak forests. In
earlv 2007, a enerved rouncl o[ fighting led large numbers o[
Karcn to seek saDctuary across the border, but in several instances Thai border authoities denied entry to th refugees,
All told, some 200,000 Karen people were driven from their
hornes bv the Burmese military between 1994 and 2004.
Thailands interests in Burma's forests stems lrom its ou-n
environmenul problems. Thailand rvas once a major exporter

)
Chapter

l3

Southeast

Asia

581

driven by Asia's seemingly insatiable appetite for wood

products such as plJ-rvood and paper pulp.

Most xperts agree that Japan first globalized w-orld

in the I960s, but other Asian countries, such
as Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia, have

forestry

follov'ed suit with their own wood-products firms,

Although the headquarters, boardrooms, and profits of
these cornpanies may be global, the damagrng eflecs of
commercial logging are both local and global. Landscapes
are denuded. watersheds destroyed, wildlife habitat devastated. Additionally, the costs are high for rural peoples who
rely on forest resources for their traditional way of life.
Although countries such as lndonesia look to rheir
forestlands for increasing food supplies through expanded
agriculture and for relieving population pressure in their
more densely settled areas, farming and population growth
usually are not the main cause o[ deforestation. Most forests
are cut so that the wood producs can be exported to other
parts of the world. Subsequently, some o[ the logged-off
lands are replanted (often with fast-growing, "weedy" tree
species), while others are opened for agricultural settlement.

of Deforestation Malaysia has long

been a leading exporter of tropical hardwoods. ln recent
decades, 60 percent o[ these log exports went to Japan. The
cost to the environment, however, has been high. PeninsuIar Malaysia was largely denuded by 1985, when a cutting
ban was imposed, Since then, forest cutting has accelerated
in the stales of Saawak and Sabah on the island of Borneo,
where the granting of logging concessions to Malaysian and
foreign firms has caused consiclerable problems with local
tribal people by disrupting their traditional esource baseIndonesia, the largest country in Southeast Asia, has
fully two-thirds of the region's forest area, including about
l0 percent of the world's true tropical rain forests. Its forest
coverage, however, is deeply threatened; between 1990 and
2005. Indonesia lost an estirnated 69 million acres (28 milLocal Patterns

Figure 13.2 Karen Rebels

The Karen people have been in rebellion against Burma ([,4yanmar)
snc the 1970s. For several yea15 they maintained a separate
rnsurgent state, with its own capital city and regular army. The
Burmese military advanced in the 1990s, however, forcrng the Karen

back to a guerrilla-style war. [Deon Chapmon/Ponos Pictures)

o[ teak and other tropical hardwoods, but by the 1990s the

country had been largely deforested. The Thai govemment responded by banning commercial logging within the country
The only way Thai logging firms cor-rld stay in business was to
move into the extersive forests o[ Burma (Myanmar), [os,
and Cambodia, countries at had previously been relatively
isolated from the world economy and therefore little touched
by commercial loggrng operations. The price of admission in
e case o[ Burma (Myanmar) was for Thailand to crck down
on Karen guerrillas on

is

side o[ the border.

The Deforestation of Southeast Asia

While the story of the Karen and Burma's tcak forests is
unique, deforestation and related environmental problems
are major issues throughout most of Southeast Asia (Figure

13.3). Globalization has had a particularly profound effect

on the Southeast Asian environment. Export-oriented logging companies have reached deep iuto the region's forest.s,
cutting trees, damaging watersheds, and severely reducing
biodiversity.
Ahhough colonial powers cut Southeast Asian
forests for tropical hardrvoods and naval supplies, and
indigenous peoples have long cleared small areas of forest
for agricultural use, rarnpant deforestation has come only
in the past several decades rvith large-scale international
commercial logging (Figure 13.4). This activity is largely

lion hecrares) of foresr. Most of Sumatra's primary forests

ae gone, and those of Borneo (Kalimantan) will not last
long at presenr rares of curting. Indonesia's last forestry
fromier is on the rsland o[ New Guinea. But lndonesia,
which rs still covered in I 19 million acres (48 million
hectares) of primary forests, is fortunate in comparison to

rhe Philippines, which has lost most of its original forest

coverage (see "Geographic Tools: Statistical Comparisons
and the Assessment of Phihppine Deforestation").
Thailand cut more than 50 percent o[ its forests between
1960 and 1980. This loss was followed by a senes of logging
bans, making forest cutdng illegal by 1995. Damage ro the
landscape, hou'ever, was severei flooding increased in lowland aeas, and erosion on hillslopes led to such problems as
the accumulatron of sih in irrigation rvorks and hydroelectric facilities. Increasingly, these cutover lands are being reforested with fast-growrng Australian eucalyptus trees, a
nonnative species that cannot support local wildlife. As a resuh of the Thai logging ban, the forestry lrontier in mainland
Southeast Asia has moved into the rugged uplands of Laos,
Cambodia, and Burma (Myanmar).

I
582

Chapter

l3

.l

Southast Asia

Throughout the coastal areas of Southeast Asia,

a more

Protected Areas Despite rampant deforestation, ln-

specific problem is the destruction of the mangrove forests

that thrive in shallow and silty marine areas. Often
mangrove forests are burned for charcoal, but may also be
converted to fish and shrimp ponds as well as rice fields and
oil palm plantations. As mangrove forests serve as nurseries
for many fish species, their destruction threatens to undercut a number of imoonant Southeast Asian fishenes.

donesia, like most othe Southeast Asian countries, has

created a number of lage national parks and other protected areas. Kutai National Park in the province of East
Kalimantan, for example, covers rnore than 74I,000 acres

(100,000 hectares). Southeast Asian rain forests are

alnong the most biologically diverse areas on the planet,
containing a large number of species that are found

Figure 13.3 Environmental lssues in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia was once one of the most heavily forested regions of the world. Most of the tropical forests of
Thailand, the Philippines, pennsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java, however, have been destroyed by a combinaton
commercial logging and agricultural settlement. The forests of Borneo [Kalimantan), Burma (lV]yanmad, Laos, and
Vietnam, moreover, are now being rapidly cleared. Water and urban air pollution, as well as soil erosion, are also
widespread in Southeast Asia.

Mountans of northrn SoutlE6t Asa.

of

50OMiles

Extensve forcsts arc stll found n the

guntqinous rcgpns of Buma and Laos.
These arc noedingly thrcalenedt howqlea
by connerciql loggng ond, to a letser extent,
W swtulden cultvaton.

500 Kilomrers

Q
O
@
.

Tropicalforest
Forest destroyed
Coastal polluton
Poor urbn ar quality

PACIFICOCEAN

Kafantn.

Sever.e

defo rcstoton lrom

commerctol loggng. Aftet forests ore cut,

iqadnts ftorn other lndonesan islands
settle on srndll fdnng plots. HoweveL
tol depleton is a rnolor problem, resultng
n mony obondoned forms ond fulher
envtrcnmentol deteiorction. As, ell, fot6
ond eld buning conibute to regional
smol@ polluon.

INDIAN
OCEAN

"I
)ava. Foests werc deorcd in most orcos
decodes dgo fot rke cuhvotion ond plonoton

ctopt Popuhti plessurc and oveoming

how rcsuled in seious deg@doton n ony
ot4ls.

./
,^\)4.',.
.,' "' -.rq}

.,-

.l

Chaoter

Fires, Smoke, and

l3

SoJthest As

583

Air Pollution

Logging operations tlpically leave large quantires of wood

(small trecs. broken logs, roots, branches, and so on)

on lhe ground. Exposed to the sun, this renraining "slash"
becomes highly inflammable lndced, ir is often burned on
purpose in order to clear thc ground for agriculture or tree
replanrrng. Commcrcial forest cutting is responsible [or
most burning, evcn though thc large logging firrns commonly blame small fal-mcrs- Wildfires also are comrnon in
other Southcast Asiar.r habitats. The most thoroughl,v deforestcd areas are often coverecl by rough grasses; these
grasslands often are purposely burned everv year so that
cattle can graze on the tender shoots that emerge after a fire

Figure 'l 3.4 Commercial Logging

Southeast Asia has long been the wor d's most important supplier of
tropical hardwoods. The logging process has destroycd most of the
tropical forests ol thc Phi ippines and Thailand, as well as on the
lndonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. (Borry Colhoun/Redux)

nowhere else. Consenatiolr offictals hope that protectecl

areas will allorv animals such as the orangutan. which
survives nor.r'only in a srnall portion o[ northern Sumatra
and a solnewhat larger area o[ Borneo (Kalimantan), a
chrnce to survivc in the wild. Others are less oprimistic,
noting Lhat Sor-rtheast Asian nationalparks often exist only
on paper, rccerving no real protcction from loggers or
imrnigrant [armers. Much oI Kutar National Park, fbr

example, has been logged and burned.

passes through Grassland fires, in turn. preVent forest regeneration. further unclercutting the region's biodiversity:
ln the late I990s, rvildfires associated u-ith both logging
practices and a severe drought raged so intensively across
much of insular Southeast Asia that the region su{Iered from
two consecutive vears of disastrous alr pollution. During that
period. a commercial arrliner crashed because of poor usibility: countless road accrdents resulted; two ferries collided in
smoke-laden conditions: and hundreds of thousands of
people ',4'ere admiued to hospitals with life-threatcning rcspiratory problems (Figure I3 5). The snrokc crisis o[ the late
1990s led several Southeast Asian countries to devote rnore
attentron to air quahty Deforestation continues, holl'ever,
and the fire threaf rcmains. rvith a ne,,r'smoke crisis occurnng rn the dry season of 2006.
F-fforts to protect Southeast Asia's air quality, moreover,
are also lrarnperecl by continuing industrial development
along rvith a rnajor increase in vehicular traffic. Southeast
Asia's large rnetropolitan areas have extremely unhealth,v
levels oI pollution. both of arr and water. Sevral cities, in
clr.rding Bangkok and Manila, have built rail-based public

Figure 13.5 lJrban Air Pollution

Air pollution has reached a crisis
stage in the rapidly industrializing
cities of Southeast Asia, particu arly
in Bangkok. l\4anila, and Jakarta.
People sometimes resort

to using

face masks to filter out soot nd

other forms of particulate matter.
Forest fires, which often fo low
logging, g rcatly cxaccrbate thc

problem. (V Milodinovic/
Corbis/Sygmo)

Statistical Comparisons and the

Assessment of Philippine Deforestation
The Philippines is one of the most thoroughly deforested
countries of Southeast Asia. Forest coverage, which was
roughly 90 percent at the time of the Spanish conquest in the
sixteenth century is less than 25 percent today tFigure 13.2.1J.

The remaining forests, most experts agree, are

rapidly

retreating and may disappear entirely.

Discussions of Philippine deforestation often are supported
by precise statstcs showing the steady decline of forest area.
Whether such statistics are accurate, however. is a different

and to inspect ongoing forestry practices. Through such work

about Philippine forest coverage. The numbers that are so

confidently used by scholan, government agencies, and
environmental activists generally turn out to be lttle better
tha n educated guesswork.
There are several reasons

matter. Geographer David Kummer has conducted research

coverage and change, Kummer shows that this smply s not

the case. Satellite images are expensive and often hard to

Fgure 13.2.1 Luzon, Phillipines

Part of northeastern Luzon in the Philippines, whch appear
dark green on this stellite image. are still thickly forested, but
most of the rest of the island has experienced extensive
deforestaton. (l moge Works)

for the poor quality of information

on Philippine deforestation. Although we often assume that

satellite images give accurate representatons of land-use

on national-level deforestation data in the Phrllioines bv

examining how the data were derved, scrutinizing the
methodologies used, and comparing the results Kummer also
traveled widely in the Philippines to confer wth ocal experb

he demonstrates that we actually know surprisingly ittle

obtain, but more importantly they can be difficult to interpret.

Cloud coverage, image overlap, shadows in steep areas, and
unclear clasification categories all create uncertainty. fu a
result, ground surveys by foresters often result in more accurate

data. In the Philppinet much of the survey work done on

forests over the past half century has been lost or destroyed.
Compounding the problem is the fact that the Phlippine

government seems

to

have msstated

the extent

of

'1987
in order to encourage
deforestation between 1950 and
unregulated logging by pol tically well-connected flrms.
A 2004 government press release indicates that "forest

cover" has actually increased since the l9B0s. However, the

data on which this statement is based mav not be reliable,
and saiellite images remain unverified by on-the-ground
investigations. More troubling is the fact that thls new survey

employs and-cover categories different from those

in

it

impossible to evaluate the changes

in the Philippines' primary forests-some of the most
biologically diverse ecosystems in the world.
Taken as a whole, Kummer's availab e evidence indicates
that primary tropical foresG continue to decline as a result of
previous work, making

both legal and lllegal logging. Poor-quality secondary forests,

however, seem to be increasing due to the abandonment of
marginal farmland. Biologically impoverished "artificial

forests" also are increasing as a result of both governmental

reforestatlon efforts and the planting of fuelwood groves by

handful of
small-scale farmers. Reforestation with
nonnative, fast-growing tree species has now become a
potential th reat to biodiversity.
Kummer's work shows that, in poorer parts of the worid
and especially in countries with high levels of politica
corruption, official statistics may be questionable. The
methods used for this type of statistlca evaluation have
potential application to other world regions, and to other
envrronmental practices with global implications.

transportation systems in order to reduce traffic and vehicular emissions. Bangkok in particular has substantially
reduced its levels of ozone and sulfur dioxide, but particuIate matter rerains at unhealthy levels. For urban Southeast Asia's air pollution problems to be fully addressed,
many serious environmental reforms are needed.
584

Patterns of Physical Geography

To undersmnd why foresrry issues are so important in
Southeast Asia, it is necessary to look in more detail at
physical geography. The southern portion of the regioninsular Southeast Asia-is one o[ the world's three main

Chote

l3

Soutt eas. A,

585

Monsoon Climates Almost all of mainland Southeasr

Asia is allectecl by the seasonally shifting winds known as
the monsoon, The climate is characterized by a distinct hor
and rainy season from May to October (figure 13.7). This
is followed by dry but srill gencrally warm condirions from
November to April. Only thc central highlands o[ Vietnam
and a fevn coastal areas receive significanL rainfall dunng
this autullrn and winter period In the [ar north. the rvinter
months bring mild and sometirnes raLher cool rveather.
Tu,o tropical climate regions are dominant in mainland
Southeast Asia. While both are affected by the monsoon
(see the discttssion in Chapter t2), they differ in rhe roral
anrount of precipitarion received during the year. Along rhc

in the highlands, the tropical monsoon (Am)

climate dominates, Rainlll rotals for this climate usualll'
register more than I00 rnches (25'1 centirneters) each year.
The greater portion o[ rnainland Southeast Asia [alls
into the tropical savantra (Aw) clirnate tvpe. Here annual
rainfall totals are about hall those of the rropical monsoon
region. In nrost cases, this can be explained by interior
locations renroved from the oceanic source of moisture.
along with the lack of orographic lifting in rhese areas of
rnore subduecl topography. A good portion of Thailand,
for example, receives only about 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain during the year. Much of Burma's central
Irrarvadclv Valley is almost semiarid, wirh rainfall totals
belorv 30 inches (76 centimeters). Forests in these areas
are especially vulnerable, being easily converted by fire
and agriculture into rough landscapes of brush and grass.
coasts and

Figure 13.6 Delta La ndsca pe

5outheast Asia has somr of the world's largest de tas. Deltaic
environments are used for intensive irrigated rce cultivaton,
allowng very hgh rural population densities. Delta wetlands are
also used for aquaculture (fish farming) and other forms of
intensive food production. lVost of mainland Southeast Asia's
large cities are located in dlta areas, resulting in periodic flooding
and other environmental problems. (John Elk lll/Stock Eoston)

of tropical rain lbrest. The northern parr of tl.re

region-mainland Southeasr Asia-is located in rhc rropical wet-and-dry zone thar is noted for particularlv valuzones

able timber species, such as reak. Disringuishing berw.cclr

the mainland and the islands ts rhus one of tl.re keys for
understanding the geography of Southeast Asia.

Mainland Environments lvlainland Southeasr Asia is an

area of ruggecl uplands interspersed uith broad lowlands and
cleltas associated \ith large rivers (Figure lj.6). The rcgion'-s

!
!

t
)

northern boundary lies in a cluster of mountains connccred to

the highlands ofeastern Tibet and south-central China. ln tl-Le
far north of Bunna (\,tyanmar). peaks reaclr 18,00i] feet
(5,500 metes). From this point, a series of distincr mounrain
ranges radiates out, e\tendlng through .estcm Burnm
(M,vanmar), along the Burma-Thailand borde and thr-ough
[-aos into sourhern Viernam.
Several large rivers flou'southward out oI Tibet ancl its
adjacent highlands into nrainland Southeast Asia. The
longest is the Mekong, r,".hich flows tl.rrough I aos and Thailand. then across Cambodia before enrcril.lg the South Clnna
Sea through an extensive delta in southent Vietnarn Second
longest is the lrralvaddl', which flo1r's through Burma's central plain before reaching thc tlay o[ Bengal This river also
has a large delta. Tu'o smaller nvcrs are cqually significant:
the Red Rrver, rvhich forms a sizablc and l.reavily settld delta
in northern Vietnam, and the Chao Phraya. which l.ns created
rhe [ertile alluvral plain of central Thailand

The centermost area o[ mainland Southeast Asra

is Thailand's Khorat Plateau, u.hich is neither a ruggecl
upland nor a frtile river r,alley This lou', sandstone plateau
averages about 500 feer ( 175 nreters) in height ancl is notecl
fbr its thin, poor soils. Water shortaBes and perioclic
drouqhts makc this extcr-rsive area difficult for settlement.

Insular Environments The signal feature of insular

Southcast Asia rs its islancl environment. Indeed. this is
region of countless islancls o[ all sizes and shapes. Borneo
(Kalirnantan) ancl Sumatra are the rhird and sixth largest
islancls in the world, respectivel)', u'hile many thousands
of others are little rnore than specks of land nsing at lolv
trde frorn a shallow sea.
Inctonesia alone is said to contain more than I3,000
islands, clominated by the four great land masses of Suma
tra Borneo (Kalimantan), Java, and the oddly shaped
Sulawesi. Thrs island nation also includes rhe vyesrern half
o[ Neu' Guinea and the Lesser Sunda lslands, which extend
Lo [he east of lar a. .{ prominent mountain sninc txns
through these islands as a result o[ tectonic forces. ln rhe
weslern Indonesian islands, volcanic peaks o[ 10,000 feet
(3.500 meters) are common.
The Philippines, another insular country rncludes more
than 7.000 islands. The r'o largest and most imponant are
Luzon (about the se of Ohio) in the nonh and Mindanao (the
sze o[ South Carolina) in the south. Sandwiched berween
them are the Visayan lslands, which number roughly a dozen.
Again becar-rse oI tectonic forces that generate active volcanoes,
the topographv of the Philippines includes mountainous land
scapes that reach elevations of 10,000 leet (3,500 meters)
Closely relared to this impressive collection of islands

is the worldb largest expanse of shallow ocean. -l'hese

walers cover the Sunda Shelf, rvhich is an extension of the
continental shelI extending from the rnainland through the

586

Chaoter

13

Southeast Asia

!g

15

5
9

!g
p

1J

e
&

I0-

,C

5
,-E

tr

F&

l0i

O Af Tropical wet climate

O Am Tropicalmonsoon
Q Aw Troprcal savanna climate

0^

10t

TROPICAL AND HUMID CTIMATES

l0t

MILD MIDTAIITUDE CtIMATEs

Cwa Humid subtroPical, \^,ith

dfy season, nolsummefs

H HIGHTAND

H complex mountain climates

It
I0-

t59
r0E

South
5

Chino
Sed

PACIFIC
OCEAN
0
0

rD
tova

210
500 Mil!
250 50O Kllomters

Sad

f/3

^N'riRl:

!
^

r0t

INDIAN

OCEAN

Aii! d le l

Fgure I 3.7 Climate Map of Southeast tuia

Most of insular Southeast Asia is characterized by the constantly hot and humd climates of the equatorial zone.
Mainland Southeast Asia, on the other hand, has the seasonally wet and dry climates of the tropcal monsoon and
tropicalsavanna types.0nly in the far north are subtropical climates, with relatively cool winters, encountered. The
northern half of the region is strongly influenced by the seasonally shifting monsoon winds. Northeastern Southeast
Asia-and especially the Philippines-often experiences typhoons from August to October.

Java Sea between Java and Borneo (Kalimantan). Here waters are generally less than 200 feet (70 meters) deep. Some
insular Southeast Asian peoples have adopted lifestyles that
rely on the rich marine life of this region, essentially living
on their boats and setting foot on land only as necessary

lnsular Southeasr Asia is less geologically stable than the

mainland, and thus it is a reglon of more diverse landforms.
Four of Eanh's rectonic plarcs convetge here: the Pacific, the
Philippine, the Indo-Australian, and e Eurasian. As a result
of this tectonic sucture, eanhquakes occur frequently near

Chapte

l3

Southest

A;ia

587

monsoon effect, the stronger influence of Pacific tvphoons

in the Phrlippines, and the

equatorial location

of

the

Indonesian islandsMost of rnsular Southeast Asia, unlike the mainland, receives rain during the northem herntsphere's winter because
the winter monsoon winds cross large areas o[ warm equato-

ria'l ocean, where they absorb moisture. As a result, these

winds can bring heavy rains as the saturated air masses are
lifted over island uplands. On Sumatra and Java, for exam-

Figure 13.8 Tsunami Damage

The December 26,2004, tsunami klled some 230,000 people in

South and Southeast Asia, hitting northern Sumatra especially

hard. In this photograph, an Acehnese man chants the Ouran
over the grave of his sister n the devastated city of Banda Aceh.
(Ki m i m oso Moyo m o /Beu te rs/Co

rbis/ Re u te rs

A me r i co LLC)

the plate boundaries. large. often cxplosive volcanoes are another consequent feature of the insular Southeast Asian landscape. A string ofactive volcanoes extends the length ofeastern
Sumatra (in Indonesia) acros,s Jar,z and lnto the Lesser Sunda
Islands, the small islands east ofJava. Volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes occasionally result in tsunamis (or "tidal waves"),
r.hich can devastate coastal regions over a vast area. A massrve
eanhquakc in nonhem Sr,rmatra on December 26, 2004, for
exarnplc, resulted in roughly 100,000 deattls in Indonesia
alone (Figure 13 8). Other geological hazards also conlrom rhe
region. In late 2006, 13.000 Indonesians had ro be evacuared
arvay from a new mud volcano near the city of Suraba,va, which
had alread,v covered over a rhousand acres (40.1 hecrares) of
famrland with hot and noxious mud (Figure 13.9).

t
T

ple, u'here norLh winds blow between November and March.

these air masses produce heary rarns on the northem side
o[ these east-west-runn1ng islands. But during the MaySeptember period, the heaviest rains are found on the southem llanks of these same islands because of the south *.inds
associated with the Asian summer rnonsoon.

second factor

in the climate pattern o[ insular

Southeast Asra are the tropical hurricanes, or Lyphoons, as

they are called in the western Pacific, that bring heary rainfall to the northeastern reaches of insular Asra during the

period of August to October. These strong storms bring

devastating winds and torrential rain. They develop east ol
the Philippines and then move wesrward into the South
China Sea, lvhere they often intensif,l: Each year a number
of typhoons afect parts of the Philippines with hearl' damage and loss of life through flooding and landslides. A single massive mudslide on the island of Leyte in 2006
resulted in more than 1,000 deaths. Strong tropical storms
also commonly strike the eastern coast of lietnam.
The third climate Ictor, the equarorial influence, re-

Equatorial lsland Climates The climates o[ insular

sults lrom the area's low larrtude- Morc than mainland

Southeast Asia, the islands experience very little seasonalitv Temperatures remain hrgh throughour rhe year, with
very little variation. Also assocrated with the equatorial inIluence is the fact thar rainfall is both higher and rnore
evenly distributed dunng the year rhan on the mainland.

Southeast Asia are some*'hat rnore complex than those of

the mainland be cause of three factors: a more comnlicated

As a resuk of this year-round precipitation, rnost of island

Southeasr Asia is placed into the rropical rainforest (Af )

!
)
t

I
I

Figure 13.9 Mud Volceno in

Indonesia
Villages and farmland in east Java
have been devastated by a mud
volcano that continues to pour out
hot, toxc sludge. The volcano jtself
was set off when a gas exploration
drilling project tapped into vent of
extremely hoI mud. (Redux Pictures)

588

Chaote'

l3

Southeast Asia

climate category (Figure 13.7). The southeastern islands

of Indonesia, however, do experience a distinct dry season
from May to October, whereas most of the western Phtlippines are t)?ically dry from November to April.

Global Warming and Southeast Asia

The fact that many, if not most, of Southeast Asu's people li!'e
in coashl and delta environmenls makes the regron highly
rulnerable to the rise in sea level associated with global

warming, Periodic flooding is already a malor problem in

many of the regions' lou'l)'tng cities, :rarticularly Bangkok.
and will likely intensify in the near future. Southeast Asian
farmland is also concentrated in delta euronnrenls, and
thus could sufTer from saltwater intrusion and heighrened
storrn surges. It is also feared that higher temperatures themselves could reduce rice yields through much of thc region.

Changes

in

precipitation across Southeast Asia

brought about by global warming remain highly unce ain.

Many experts foresee an intensification of the monsoon pattern, which could bring increased rainfall to rnuch
of the mainland. While enhanced precipitation would likel,v
result in more destructive floods, it could bring some agricultural benefits to dry areas such as Burma's central
lrrarvaddy Valley. Complicating this scenario, however, is
the predictron that global chmate change could intensify
rhe El Nio effect (drscussed in Chapter 4), which would
result in more extreme droughts, especrally j.n the equatorial belt of Indonesia. Some observers think that the pro-

longed drought that Indonesia experienced

in the late

1990s was a harbinger of [uture conditions.

All Southeast Asian countries except Laos, East Timor
and Brunei har.e ratrfied the 1997 Kyoto Accord. But since
all are officially classified as developing countries-even
wealthy Singapore none are obligated to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. Still, Southeast Asia's overall
emissions from conventional sources remain low by globaL
standards. Indonesia, Malaysia, and lietnam, hou'eve are
planning to increase their reliance on coal fired power plants
for electricitl' generadon, which-combined with overall

cconomic growth u'ould greatly increase the regioni

grecnhouse gas emissions, ln Thailand, local and international opposrtion has already led the govemment to reconsider iLs ow'n coal-based expansion plans. One possible
alternative is h,vdropo*'er, especrall,v in mounlainous Laos,
which is ambitiousll' planning to burld a large number of
new' dams. But dar building results in is o',r'n ecological
problerns, ar.rd is opposed by most environmental groups.
When greenhouse gas cmissions associated with delbrestation are factored ir.r, Southeast Asia'.s role rn global chmate
change is revealed to lr much larger than it appears at first

glance. By some estilnates, Indonesia is the w'orld's third

largest contributor to the problern, following only China and
the United States. \,'ast quantities o[ carbon dioxide and
nthane are relesed into the atmosphere when slash is
bumed after cutting, a l-outine practice ln much o[ the region
A far greater problcnr, however, is rhe release of carbon
[rom the burning and oxidation of peat, the partially decayed

organic matter that accumulates in perenntally saturated

soils. The wetlands of coastal lndonesia hold 60 percent of
the world's tropical peat, containing roughly 50 bilhon tons
o[ carbon. During clrought periods, peat soils somefirnes
bum, releasing the stored carbon. More worrisolnc is the fact
that both Indonesia and Malaysia are actively draining coastal
wetlands to make room for agricultural expansiotr, a process
that results in the gradual oxition of the peat. Already some
40 percent of Southeast Asla's peatlands have been 1ost. lronically many of these swamps are being destroyed in order to
produce biodiesel fiom oil palms, a supposedly eco-friendly
form of energy While brodiesel does have many potentral
enronmental benefits, its production in this region ls problematic for its effecrs on greenhouse gas emissions and overall contnbution to global warming.

POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT:

Densely Settled Lowlands amid Sparsely
Settled Uplands
The scale of Southeast Asia's population is quite different from
those of its giant neighbors, China and India. With a little over
500 million pcople today, Southeast Asia s relativel,v sparsely
settled. ln earlier periods, it was much less densely populated
lhan either East Asla or South Asia. One of the reasons lbr low
densit;- is the extensive tracts of mgged mounmins. which
generall,v remain thinly inhabited. ln contrast, however, rela-

tively densc populations are found m the region's deltas,

coastal arcas, and zones of fertile volcanic soil (Figure 13.10),
Many of the favored lou'lands of Southeast Asia have
experienced srriking population growth over the past half
centunl f)el.nographic growth and lmily planning have
thus become increas'ingly important concerns through
much of the region Scveral countries, especially Singapore
and Thailand, have scen rapid reductions in birthrates in recent years, where as fertility rates remain high in Cambodia
ancl Los. Indonesia and thc Philippines, on the other hand,
have experienced sul.rstantial rnigration to their outer islands
in part becar.rse o[ population pressure in their core areas.

Settlement and Agriculture

Part of the reason for the historical lack of population in
much of Southeast Asia is infertile soil. which is unable to
support intenslve agriculture and high population densities. The island rarn forests, though lush ancl biologicall,v
rich, grow on poor soils. Plant nutrients are locked up in
the vegetation itself, rather than being stored in the soil
vl'here they rvould easily benelit agnculture. Furthermore,
the incessant rain of the equatorial zone tends to wash nu-

trients out o[ the soil. Agriculture must be carefully

adapted to this limited soil fertility by constant field rotatron or the apphcation o[ heavy amounts o[ fertilizer.
There are. however, some notable exceptions to this
generahzation about sorl fertility and settlement clensity in
equatorial Southeast Asra. Unusually rich soils connectecl to

Chap:er

Kaf imantan. MostoFte islo nd of Kal I mo

tu n

t,eot

Souleasl

Asia

589

250

espe(elly jl5 naunlonous tnteriat-i5

stll lghtly seftled. Mgtatian from Javo and its iall
, neghbanng slond o{Modurc, howevet, have
dtostcally incrcased thepopulotion dentty of mony
, oteo' n rccent decodes.
'8o

13

250

500 K

oeer5

More than I00

POPULATION:

Metropoltan

areas

1,000,000 s,000,000

Metopolitan reas
over 5,000,000

PACIFIC OCEAN

t.'

lrian taya, The lndonesian holf af the

ElandofNew Gunea (knn Jayo), alang
with some ofthe smollerslonds of
easlern lndonesa, temoins the rcqioh\
leott settled arca. Even here, howeveL

populotion is quckly qtowing dDe to

qtation o nd re lo tve ly h i qh b h th rote s.

)
)

INDIAN
Figurc 13.'l

OCEAN

Population Map

of Southeast

In ma in la nd Southeast
Asia, population s

I
I

Asa

concentrated in the va lleys

and deltas of the region's large
rivers. In the ntervening uplands,
population dcns ty remains relatively
low In Indonesia, density is extremely high
on Java, an rsland noted for its fertile soil and large
crties. Some ol Indonesia's outer islands, especially those of thc cast.
remain lightly settled OveraJl, populat on density is high in the Philippines, especially in central Luzon.

volcanic activitv are scatLerecl thror-rgh much oI the region

but are particulnrly prcvalent on lhe lsland ofJava. Java,
with urorc than 50 volcanoes. is blessed with rlch soils that
support a largc arrral, ol Lropical crops and a verv high population clensitv It has 124 million people roughl,v half the
total population o[ lndoncsia-in an area smaller than the
statc ol lowa Dense populations also arc found in pochets
of fertlle alluvial soils along Lhe coasts o[ insular Southeast
Asia, were people have traclitionally supplemented land
basecl fanring u'ith fishing ancl other commercial activiries.
Ilre demclgraphic patterns in mainland Sourheast Asia
arc lcss coniplicatecl than thosc oI the rsland realm. In all
the mainland countries. population is concentrated rn rhe
agriculturall' intensive valLel's and deltas ol the large rivers

(see figure 11.10). The population core of Thailancl, [or

exarnple, is formed by thc valle,v and delta of the Chao
Phraya Rive just as Bumrals is focuscd ol1 the lrrawackll
In Vietnam. there arc tlvo distinct foci: the Red River Delta
in the far n()rth and thc Nlekong Delta in the far south. In
contrast to these densely seltlcd areas, tlre rniddle reaches
of the Mekong River providc onl,v limited lowland areas in
Laos. which is one of the reasons rhat courltl1, has a lnuch
smaller population rhan rts neighbors. ln Clanrbodia, thc
largest populatron historically has clusrcred around Tonle
Sap. a large lake rvith a verl ulrusual seasonal florv rever-

sal, During the rainy sunl.ncr months the lake receives

water ftoln the IVlekong drainage , but during the clrier rvinter months it contributes to the river's flow:

Swidden is sustainable when population densities

remain relatively low and *'hen uplaud people control
enough territory Todav, horvever, the srl'idden systern ls
threatened for two reasons. First, it cannot easily support
the increasrng population that has resulted from relatively
high human lertility and, in some cases, migration. With a
l.r'igher population density, the rotation period must be
shortened. undercutting sotl resources. Second, the up-

Figure 13.11 Swidden Agricultu re

In the uplands of Southeast Asia, swidden (or slash-and-burn)
agriculture is widely practiced. When done by tribal peoples with
low population densities, swidden is not environmentally harmful.
When practiced by large numbers of immigrants from the lowlands,
however, swidden can result n deforestation and extensive soil
erosion. lPoulo Bronstein/GeIty lmoges, lnc -Lioison)

Agricultural practices and settlement [orms vary

wdely across the complex environments o[ Southeast
Asia. Generally speaking, horvever, three farming and
settlement patterns are apparent,

Swidden in the Uplands Also known as shrfting cultivation or "slash-and-burn" agriculture, swidden 'is practiced
throughout the rugged uplands of both mainland and island
Southeast Asia (Figure 13.lI) In the swidden system, small
plos of several acres o[ dense tropical forest or bn-rsh are periodically cut or "slashed" by hand. Then the fal'len vegeta-

uon is bumed to transfer nlltrients to the soil before

subsistence crops are plantecl. Yielcls remain high for scveral
years, then drop off dramatically as the soil tlutrients from
burned vegetation are exhausted and iusect pests and plant
diseases multiplz These plots are abandoned completely after
a few years and allowed to ft:\,tn to w'oody vegetaon. The
tloved to another
small plot not far away-thus the tem shifting cuhiratiort.
Villages generally control a large arnount o[ temtory so they
can rotate their fields on a regular basis. After a period of l0
to 75 years, the farmers return to the original plot, wlrich
once again has nutrients in the dense vegetation.
c,vcle of cutting, burning, and planting is

land swidcler.r system often is a casualty of commercial logging becar.rse of the der,'astatron of forest environments.
Road building often exacerbates the sltuation. Vietnam.
for example, is constructing a hrghway' system through its
mountainous spine, designed to aid economic development and more fully integrate its national econom),. Partly
as a resull o[ this activitl', loq'landers are streaming into

the mountains, disrupting both local ecosystems and indigenous societies.

W'hen s*,idden can no longer support the local popu-

lation, upland people often adapt by swrtchir.rg to a cash

crop that rvill allolv them to participate in the comrnercial
economy. ln the mountains o[ northern Southeast Asia,
one of the main cash crops is opium, grown by 1ocal [arm-

ers for the global drug trade. This mountainous area is

oftcn called rhe "Golden Triangle." Burma (Vanmar)

is the

rvorld's second largest opium producer, after

Afghanistan. Drug eradicatton programs. horvever, have

proved relativel-v successful in recent years, u'ith the area
of land devotcd to opium production supposedly decreasing by son.re 8i percent between 1998 and 2006. Evidence
suggests, ho''ever, that methamphetamine manufacturing
has been rcplacing opium grow'ing and heroin production
in many areas of the Golden Triangle.

Plantation Agriculture With European colonization.

Southeast Asia became a focus for comrnercial plantation

agriculture, grorving high-value specialty crops ranging

from rice to rubber. Even in the ninetecnth century
Southeast Asia was closelv linkecl to a globalizcd econonry
through the plantation system. Forests were cleared and
swamps drained to make roorn for these plantations, labot
was supplied, often unwillingh', by indigenous people or
by contract laborers brought in from India or Chrna.
Plantauons are still an important part of Southeast
Asia's geograph,v and economy. Most o[ the worlds natural

Chapter

rubber, for example, is produced in Malaysia, Indonesia,

and Thailand, while sugarcane has long been a plantation
crop of the Philippines and parts of Indonesia. More
recently, pineapple plantations have appeared in both the
Philippines and Thailand, which are now the world's leading exporters. lndonesia ls the regron's leading producer of
tea (Figure 13.12). Malaysia has rraditionally dominated
the production of pahn oil, but by 2007 it was being surpassed by Indonesia, which plans to add 17 million acres

(7 million hectares) of oil palm plantations by 2011.

Coconut oil and copra (dried coconut meat) are widely
produced in the Philippines, Indonesia, and elsewhere. In
the early 2000s, Vietnam rapidly emerged as the world's
second-largest coffee producer, its large harvests resulting
in plummering global coffee prices.
Rice in the Lowlands The lowland basins and deltas
of mainland Southeast Asia are largely devoted [o intensive rice cultivation. Throughout almost all of Southeast
Asia, rice rs the preferred staple food. Traditionally, rice
was mainly cultivated on a subsistence basis by rural
Iarmers. But as the number o[ wage laborers rn Southeast
Asia has grown as a result of economic development, so
has the demand for commercial rrce cultivation. Thailand is currently the world's largest rice exporter by a
wide margin, with Vietnam occupying the number two
position. Across most of Southeast Asia, the use of

agncultural chemicals and high-yield crop varieties,

along wrth improved waler control and the expansion of
irrigation to facilitate dry-season cropping, have allowed
production to keep pace with population grou'th. Such
techniques have,' however, also resulted in environmental damage.

In

those areas withoul irrigation, yields remain

relatively low Rice growing on Thailand's Khorat Plateau,
for example, depends largely on the uncertain rainfall,

Figure 13.12 Tea Harvesting in Indonesia

Plantation crops, such as tea, are major sources of exports for
several Southeast Asian countres. Coconut, rubber, oil palms, and
coffee are other major cash crops. l\lany of these crops require
large amounts of labor, particularly at harvest trme. (Dermot
Totlow/Ponos Pcturesl

13

Southeast As

591

withour the benefits of the more sophistrcated water

control methods. In some lowland districts lacking irrigation, dry-field crops, especially sweet potatoes and manioc, form the staple foods of people too poor to buy
market rice on a regular basis. In some of the poorest parts
of Southeast Asia, population growth has combined with
economic stagrultion to force larger numbers of people
into such meager diets. Elsewhere, economic growth
and declining birthrates have significantly reduced the
burden of povertlr

Recent Demographic Change

Because Southeast. Asia

is not. facing the same kind oI

population pressure as East or South Asia, a wide range o[

government population policres is found. In countries
with rapid demographic expansion, moreover, internal
relocation away from densely populated areas to outlying
districts is a common response.

Population Contrasts The Philippines, the

second

most populous country in Southeast Asia, has a worrisomely high growth rate (Table 13.l). Complicated internal politics in the Philippines tend to impede effective
family planning. When a popular democratic government
replaced a dictatorship in the 1980s, the Philippine
Roman Catholic Church, which played an active role in
the peaceful revolution, pressured the new government to
cut funding for family planning programs. As a result,
many clinics and centers that had dispensed family planning information were closed. Although high birthrates
are not always associated with Catholicism, the Church's
outspoken stand on birth control seems to inhibit the dispersal of family planning information.
Laos, a country of Buddhist religious tradition,
has a partrcularly high total fertility rate ('1.8). Here the

high birthrate is best explained by the countrys low

level of economic and social development. Thailand,
I'hich shares cultural raditions with Laos yet is considerably more developed, demonstrates the other end of
the spectrum. Here the TFR has dropped dramatically

592

Chpter

13

Soutl-east Asia

13.1 Population Indicators

Population

Population
Densiry (per
SquareKilomete)

'lbtal

Percent

Malaysia

17 .1

82

2.9

Philippines

88.7

J.+

.fo

6,785

13

Urban
72
29
15
22
+2
2I
62
48
100

(N'fillions.2007)

Country

Fertility

z3
z3

0+
+98

65

Burma (\lvanmar)
Cambodia

t+4

79

10

70

34
70

ZJT ,6

lzz

2.4

5.9

.+.8

Brunei

East Tirnor

Indonesia
Laos

Singapore

71

Rare

Net \figratron

(pcr 1,000,
2000-05)

Percent
<15"

Percent

l0

2.0

27

0l

37

-0 I

+5

t9.2

28

++

-0.9
o')

3l

r.2

31

2.3

19

9.6

<65b

l na ano

657

128

r.7

JJ

-0.2

Vietnam

85.1

257

2.1

27

29

-tr-)

"l'(r.c,rt.g. oI polr/ldl/()n _!or!s.r lfi drr I5

I'Pcrr
poriirti,n ol[ r than 5
ert,rgr'
'rl

rvithin the last )0 years from 5.4 (in 1970) to L7,

a figurc

that will soon bring -ropulation stabilil,v Uut

economic growth na,v explain somc of

wl.rile
this decrcase, it

is also important to note rhat the -['hai

govcrnmcr

has promoted far.nily planning for both population and

health reasons, including the high incidence of AIDS in
the coun tr\,.

The citv-sratc of Singaporc stands out on

dcr.nographic charts $'ith its particularly

the

lo*-fertihty rate.

Figure 13.13 Pro-Reproduction Advcrtiscmcnt in Singapore

Due to ts extremely low birthrate, the population of Srngapore
will probably begin to decline soon. Shown here are perfumes
created by local students and aunched jn a government-backed
"romance" campaign. (Ed Wroy/AP World Wide Photos)

Unless the deficit is offset b,v ilnlnigration or a drarnatrc

tunrabout in the birthrate, Singapores popr-rlation will
soon begin to decline The government is concerned about
thls situation and is actively prornotrng lnarriage and chilclbearing, particularly among the nlost highly educated segrnent of its population. As a result, Singaporeans can
receive more than $ 10.000 in direcL government subsi.lis
for having a third or fourth chilcl (Figure J.3.13).
Inclonesia, rvith lhe regron's largest populaLion aL 23I
million. also has seen a clranatic clecline in [crLility in recent
decades, alLhough its fertility rate remains above the replace-

ment level. l[ the present lrend continues, however, lndonesia u'ill reach population stability i'ell before most other large
cleveloping countries As with Tharland, this clrop in lertrlity
seems to luve resullecl from a strong government family
planning effcrrt, cor-rplecl with ilnprovelnents in education.

Cambodia. like Laos. has a prsistentli high ferLiliLy

ratc. A partial explanation is ttre fact thaL Cambotlia has
onc of the lo''vesL life expectancy rats ancl one of the highest infant rnortality rales in Southeast Asia. As in orher
rvorld regions, high birthrates often are associated with
high mortalitl: Cambodia's high mortality rates are linked
Lo lLs recent history of civil stnfe and internal violence.
factors that also have inhibited economic and social development. Alrhough a semblance ol stability has returned ro
Cambodia. the country has not yet seen any significant
decline in its fertility rate.

Growth and Migration l-ntil

recer-rtly Indonesia
had an official policy of transmigration, rvith the government assistrng in the relocation of people fr-on one region

to another r.ithrn its national tcrritor\. (Figure

13.14).

Prinrarily bccause of migration from the clensel;' populaLed islands ofJava and N{adura, thc populatior.r of the outer
islands of hrdonesia has grou'n rapidly since the 1970s.
The plovince o[ East Kalimantan, for example, cxperienccd an astronrnical gro\\.th rate o[

]0 percent per,vear

t
13

Chaoter

593

Southest A5ra

MIGRATION FROM JAVA

(mllions, 1951-1993)

TXAILAND
PHILIPPINES

South
Ch na 5ea

I
ALA
.

-//

BRUNEI

llnassi5ted

v\
IA

Government sponsored

{etebet

'

Mnado.

SINGAPoRE

rin rtsya, Lerser SLrrd klaods,

PACIFIC OCEAN
tSorong

04

-s

0.3

z
=
2

f
0,1*

Figure 13.14

Indonesian

Transmg ration
The dlstribut on of population in

INDIAN
OCEAN

AUSTRAIIA

POPULATION (per square mile)

o
I

lndonesia shows a marked imbalance:

Java. along with the neighboring sland of l\4adura,
is one of thc world's most densely settled p aces,
whereas most of the c0untry's other islands remain
rather ightly populated. As a result, the Indonesian
government has encouraged the resettlement of
.Javancsc and Madurese people to the outer islands,
often payng the costs of relocation. This lransmigration
scheme has resultd ln a somewhat morc ba anced populatir..rn
distribution pattern, but has also caused substantial
envronnrental degradation and intensified several ethnrc conflicts.

520 . )5-12s
zeo sre :.- .. r-24
l3O 519
Un nhabited
Above

O
0

250
250

500fv1ils

500 Krlonrclc6

cluring the last two clecades of thc 1900s. As a result of

this shift in populaticin, man,v l]arts ol lndonesia outside

Java now havc roderatcly high population densitles,

althongh many oI the

r.nore

rcmote districts remain lightl,v

inhabitecL

High social ard cnvircnmcntal costs oftcn accompanv

Figure 13.'15 Migrant Settlement in Indonesia
l\4igration from dense y settled to sparsely sett ed areas of Southest
Asia has resu ted in the creation of thousands of new conrmunitres,
l\ilanv of thrsc communities have minimal infrastructure and seruices,
and some of them struggle to survive. (Chorly Flyn/Ponos Pictttres)

llre'c rcl.rct.iulr s( lcnlcc Javancsc p('Jsnls. arcustomcd

to working thc hrghlv fertile soils oI tl.reir honre island,
often fail rn their attcnpts Lo grow rice itt thc former rain
forest oI Borneo (Kalimantan) Field abandontnent is high
after repeated crop [ailures. In some areas. [arr.ncrs havc
little choice but to aclopt a semi-swidden fonr of cultivation. moving to nerv sites once the old ones have beeu
exhausted. a process associatcd,"vith lurlher cleforestation
and soil clegradation. The tcrm shiftcd cultivators is
sometimes usecl [or Lhese rural rnigrants t.ho are moved
Irom one area to another through relocarion schemes
(Figure 13.15). Partll' bccause of these problerns, the
Inclonesian government restl-uctured and cut back on its
transnigration program in 1000. As of 2006, it was relo
cating onl about 15.000 people a year.
The Philippines also have used intcrnal nligratlon as a
means o[ alleviating population pressure on the main
islands Beginning r the late ninetecnth ccntury Philippine
society'has responclecl to increasing .ropulation pressur-e in
the core areas o[ central Luzon by sending colonists to [rontier zones In the ear1,v twentieth centur)', this settlement

frontier still lay in Luzon; by thc

1:rostwar )'ears

it

had

I
594

Chptef

l3

Soulfeasl

Asi

Metro Manila, Primate City

of the Philippines

With more than 10 m lion rnhabitants, Manrla is

one of the word's largest cities. But, strictly
speakinq, Manila tself is a much smaller city,
supporting fewe r than 2 mi ion inhabtants. The
lerm Monilo often refers to the urban entity nore
proper y called Metro Montlo [Figure 13.3 1). N/etro
Manila, consist ng of l\,4an a itse plus 16 other
cit es and towns, was formally const tuted in 1975
as an adm nistrat ve area, the Philippines' Nationa

Capital Region (NCR). lt4ost forms of pol tical power,

however, remain decentralized among N4etro

Manila's constituent units, complrcat nq po icy
initiatives and planning efforts When a new mayor
of Mani a dec ded to crack down on prostitution

the

1990s,

... ,,e^

tr"*".

in

for exampe, most of the crty's "go-go

bars" simply relocated

to

Pasay C

ty

l\4etro [,4an a s economically as well as

pol tical y decentralized. N,4ani a tself includes the

old centra

strict, now somewhal

a congested
"Chinatown" (Binondo) famous for its discount
business d

decayed, as yrell as sizablc slums,

a P.sig

oppin g, and several o der, wealthy neighborhoods.

It also contains the historic zone of Intramuros, the
or gina fort tied city ot the Spanish colon al period
sh

(Figure 13.3.2). Although [,4an a was

a most

completely destroyed during World War ll, many of

Intramuros's build ngs have been rebuilt, ending thc
area charm and historica signif cance,
La9uno
de Boy
4 Kilometrs

Figure 13.3.1 Metro Manila

The Phi

ippinel National Capita Region

M'ntrnglupa

(l\,4etro

Manila) consists of the c ty of Manila and a number of

neighbor ng citres and suburbs, which together form a
single metropolitan area. Such municipalities

Nationalcpita region
City boundar es

as

Makati and 0uezon City are of significance equal to

[,4anila proper.

moved south to the lsland of lVlindanao and sr.rbsequently

into lvlindoro and Palarvan as w'cll. Today-. hou.ever. lhis

Urban Settlement

optton is less appealing, both because migration has reduced

the population drsparities bet'"veen islands and because o[
political instabiht)' in the country'-s fringe areas, The emphasis is nou' on international migration, resulting rn a Filipino
overseas population that nulnbers sonre 8 million
Population issues and rolicies tlrus vary greaLly across
Southeast Asia. \irtuallv ever)'part of the region, horvever.
has seen a rapid expansion of its urban :ropulation in
recent decades.

Despite rapid urban growth and relatively high levels of

economic development, Southeast Asia is still not heavily
urbanized. Even Thailand retains a rural flavor. which is
somewhat unusual for a counrry that has experienced so

much recent indusrrialization Within a lerv

decades.

however. Southeast Asia r.r'ill become. like most o[ rhe rest

of the world, a predomrnantly urban society
Several Southeast Asian countnes have primate cities,
single, large urban settlements that overshadow all orhers

t
C.

NiJctro lvlar la's-ad the Ph ippines'-cornme'c al capllal

nrw s kcaLtd n l\,lakaL scutheasI of t.tc old urba co't
lrom rura frirrge zLrne if lhe ]940s, lv'lak:tl has qrown llo
a fftur. c .y of hiEh r sc rf I cc rru dings ad hctcls
shcpping pazas, ar0 gated commun tcs I'r;l housc thr

Man a has sren lrc risc

areas ll-at serr,e the v'rea thy, niost notatllv 0'trgas
re ghboring Nilanda uyong Cit,v Part c,r arlv

cou rtrv's elite. \4ore recerrt y, l,,1etro

ct othe.
Cente

r n

sL,rcccsslul l'ere is the 5N/ lt4egamall rnrhrch

opertd n 1991

garqantu:n s x-stoly enc osed ma I contatns 12 clnemas

ancl n ce-sktinq r nk, in addit on io hundreds ofstotes ancl
r.,sluraIts. Sf',4 lulcilanra ettracts [ens of tho!sands ol
v s lurs dailv, sonrc ol rn;hom coc srmply to experience tle

Th s

n'ocern ambiance ;nrl cnjoy lhe a r condit on nq.

0fflcla goverrncft buildlnqs oI the Ph lippincs

are c0Tcentratec ln 0uezon Citv in norInrast |\,4etro

otir

l3 53u.h:r9tA!

595

[,i]anila. 0uezon C ty rep accd I'lanil as the planrcd rat onal

capital f)et\ieen 1948 and 1976 Th s spraw fq c ly r,I r; de y
separated ofrice build ngs is a so an edural ofa crflrr,

supportrng

the country's t$i0 nrost h qhly

reoardcd

univers ties, the publicly run Un vers t:v of the Phil pp nes
(UP) and tne Jesu :-run Ateneo de [.4ni a lin vers tv
One of Vctro lr,4ani a's ra n problers s a r'r exlfeme
shorl.age of deccnt hous nq lhc raprd qlowth of the c :y ias
Ird lo skvrorkrtrnq land ,ralucs and rents torc'rq roLrql '/
ha f of thc c tys rrs denls to lve in sqLattcrs'sl'ac(s Sofle
squatler settleme nts emcrqc .r ff osl overi q nt cf \,'aca f t
ots; others spra!'r Lln for n les and havc cx stcd for dccades
Ihe nadrquate lnfrastrL'cfure [tund i these communil es s
also chefacter stic of the "est of the c ty. 0nlv an estimatcd
i1 cefcel'rt of l\4etro I'v1an la s res dences, for example are
y tunct oning sewer systens.
co.rnected :o

f:

Figure 13.3.2 Intra

m u

ros

ros, Lhc "city bettveen

the lvalls,' nas thc orlgirral,
fortif ed cap ta of the Spanish
Philrppnes, t noni rs an
mportant hrstoric d strict. Uose
Fu ste Rog 0 /AG E Fota st ock
lntra

m u

Anerico,

Thailands urban s1'st.em. for erarrrtlc. is cLotrrinrtt-tl lrr'

Bangkok. just rs \4anila Iar surrasses all othcr citics irr the
Phihppines (see Citvscapes: N'lctro \lanil:r. Primatt Citr of
the Philippiues ). Both havc reccntlr' trorvn irtto ttregacilics
\\'rth lnore than l0 tnilliou rcsiclcnls. lv{orc Lhan hrlf of
all citv ducllcrs in Thailurcl livc irr tilc Bangkok metrortrlitan arca (Figurc ll,l). rrlriclr is l5 tirncs larger than the
countn s scconcl citr. hr boLll lvlnila ancl BaIrgkok. as rvith
orhcr large citics in thc rcgion. explosive grcru, th lras letl to
housrng rrohlcnls. c()ngcsti()n. ancl pcrllr-rtion IIr \'lanila. cstir)riitcs jn(iicltc thll nrorc than hal[ 0f the cit]'-s population

lnc: J

lives in scrattcr settlements. ustrallv rrithont hrsic uater

and clectricrtv scrlicc Both citlcs ;rlso sltllcr lrotn a lack oI
1:rarks and othcr plrhlic sp:rce s. u hich is onc l'cason rr hr
massir c shoprirrg malls havc be cotnc so popltlar. Bangkoki
Paragon 1\'lall has rcccnLlv cnrergccL as a l'n:rlor urban [ocus.
conrplctc u'ith a confircncc centcr rncl a ctrncert ha[l.
Thailancl. Lhc Phi)ippincs. rncl lndonesia are all making

clforts to cna()uragc grtxl'th ol secondaq cities bt clecentralizing cconomic lunctions. Thc goal is to stabrlizc thc
po1-rulirtion of lhc prirnatc citlcs In the case o[ the Philiprincs. thc cLtr of Cclli has cmerged in recent ltars as ir

I
596

Chp:er

l3

.t

Soutfeast Asia

more dvnamic economlc center than Manila, leading to

hopes that a more balanced urban system mav be emerging.

Urban primac,v is considerably less pronounced in

other Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam, for exanrrlc,
has tu'o main cities, Ho Chi Minh Cit,v (fornrcrly Saigon)
in the south, rvith 6 million pcople, and the capital city of
Hanoi in the north, with slightl,v rnore than 3 rnillion residcnts. Jakarta, a vast citJ-, is the largesr urban area in
Indonesia, but the country has a host of other large ancl

.''

'i'
!!'

Figure 13.16

Ba

grorving cities, including Bandung and Surabaya. Rangoon

(Yangon), until recently the capital city of Burma
(Myanmar). has doubled its population in the last two
decades to more than 5 million residents. In Cambodia,
the capital of Phnom Penh is still a relatively small citv of
around 2 million. VienLiane, the capital crtv oI Laos, has a
population oI only about 200,000.
Kr,rala Lumpur, the largest city in Malaysia \.!'ith some
2 million inhabiranrs. has received heavy investments
from both the national government and the global busi
ness community in recent decades. This has produced a
modern citv of grandiose ambitions that is free of mosr
inlrastructural problems plaguing other Southeast Asian

crties. The Petronas Tolvers. owned b'r' the countn"s

national orl company \\''ere the r""'orld'-s tallcst buildings at
almost I,;00 feet (450 meters) rvhe n complcted in | 996
The independent republic of Singapore is csscntiallv a
city-state of 4.5 million people on an island of 240 square
miles (600 square krlometers) (Figure 13. | 7). While space
is at a premium, Singapore has successfully developed
high-tech industries that have brought it great prosperiry:
Unlihe other Southeast Asian cities, Singapor-e has no
squatter settlements or slums. Onl;' in thc fast-disappcaring
Chinatown and hrstoric colonial district does one find

ngkok

Bangkok saw the development of an impressive skyline during

its boom years from the late 1970s through the late 1990s.
Unfortunately, infrastructure did not keep pace with populaton
and commercial growth, resulting in one of the most congested
and polluted urban landscapes in the world, (Soeed Khon/AFP/
Getty lmoges)

older buildings. Otherwise. Singapore is an cxtrcnrell' clean

but rather stenle city, of modern h igh-rise skyscrapers and
space-intensive industry
Singapore
easl Asia not

AYSIA

is uniquc in South-

onlv hccausc it is a cin -

slatc, hut lso hccausc of rhc

( hincsc

cultural background of rnost of its

people. Bur as we shall sce in the
following section, snong Chinese in60l
'

nE/

fluences also arc found in r.nost of the

other large cities o[ the region.

Pulau

l,bin

-,

ransoon

w.*."'

w^*.1 le:::"'
r,qd, t.' li;i;;;;,."
Aitpot!

Fig

**r,*o-;ffi o-=-. u'*

ure 13.1

Singapore

Singapore remains the econom ic

and technological hub of Southeast
Asia. lt is a very small and extremely
crowded country, forming one of

the world's few city-states. Despte

its high popu ation density,
Singapore has devoted almost half

rot'

of its area to open

txDot{EstA

spaces. The

country consists of one main island

and some 60 smaller islands.

i lririmrucA ucll
CULTURAL COHERENCE AND DIVERSITY:
A Meeting Ground of World Cultures
Unlike many other world regions, Southeast Asia Iacks the
historical dominance of a single civihzation. Instead, the
region has been a meeting ground for cultural diffusion
from South Asia, China, the Middle East, Europe, and
even North America. Abundant natural resources, along
wilh the region's strategic location on oceanic highways
connecting major continents, have long made Southeast
Asia attractive to outsiders. As a result, the modern cultural

Chaoter

13

Southeast

Asia

597

geography of this diverse region is in part a product of

borrowing and combining external influences.

The Introduction and Spread

Cultural Traditions

ln

of Major

Southeast Asia, contemporary cultural diversity is

embedded in the historical influences connected to the

major religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Chris-

tianity (Figure

13. 18).

South Asian Influences The first maior external influence arrived from South Asia some 2,000 years ago

when migrants from what is now India

helped establish Hindu kingdoms in

5{x)

coastal Iocations in Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia,

southern Vietnam, Malaysia,

l(Ilonete

and western Indonesia. Al-

though Hinduism

oy of

ronk'n/!-)

Bengol

\t

PACIFIC
OCEAN

Andomon
5ed

rradition is srill found on the

Indonesian islands of Bali
and Lombok, and vestiges

I
O
O
O
Q

South
Chna
Sea

fl

'--

AL

Celebes
Seo

lINDIAN

Javo

t
Seo

OCEAN

EAST

Figure 13.1
Religion in
Southeast Asa
Southeast Asia is one of
the world's most religously diverse
regons. Most of the mainland is predominantly Buddhst, wth
Theravada Buddhism prevailing in Burma ([,4yanmar), Thailand, Laos, and
Cambodia, and Mahayana Buddhism (combined with other elements of the

suro't

faded

in most locations, thrs

away

d,

so-called Chinese religious complex) prevailing in Vetnam. The Phlippnes s

primarily Christian (Roman Catholic), but the rest
of insular Southeast fuia is primarly Muslm. Substantial lvluslm minorities are
found in the Philippines, Thailand, and Burma (l\4yanmad. Animist and Christian minorities can be found in remote
areas throughout Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia's portion of the large island of New Guinea.

Antmism
Mahayana Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism
Christanity
Hinduism
tstam
Soread of lslm
r

boo-l8oo cE

598

Chaoter

l3

Southeast As

ln many other areas. The ancient Indian script

formed the basis for many Southeast Asian r,vriting systems,
and in MuslimJava (in Indonesia) the Hindu cpic called the
Ramayana remains a central cultural feature to this day
remaln

second r,'ave of South Asian religious influencc

reached mainland Southeast Asia in the thirteenth centurv
in the form of -I heravada Buddhisrn, which is closelv
associated wirh Sli l-anka Virtuallv all of the people in
lowland Burma (Mvanr.nar), l'hailand, Laos, and Cambodia con,r'erted to Buddhisnr at that time. and toclay this
faith forms the foundation for rnanl,o[ tlreir social institutions Saffron-roled rnonks, for example. are a common
sight in Thailancl ancl Burma (M,vanmar), rvhere Buddhist
temples abound. In Thailand, the country's revered consti
tutional monarchy remains closely connected \\'ith Buddhisrn, and in 2007 an influential group of Thai Buddhisr
monks began a campaign for Thailand to declare itself a
BuclclhisL countrJ.'. While Southeast Asian Theravada Bud
clhisnl shares man,v traits with the Mahayana Buddhism o[
EasL Asia, there are enough cultural and rehgious differ

encs that the lwo are mapped separately in Figure 13.18.

Chinese Influences Unlike most other mainland peoples.

the Vietnamese were not heavily influenced bv Sourh
Asian clvillzatton. Instead, therr earl_v conne ctions u'cre tcr
East Asia. Vietnam u'as actually a province of China urlril
about 1000 c, n'hen the Vietnamese establishcd a kingdom of their ol1'n. But while tlre Vietnamese rejected
China's political ru1e, they retained many arrrillures of
Chinese culture. The taditional religious and philosophical beliet's ol \ietnam are, for example, centered around
Mahayana Buddhism and Confucianism.
East Asian cultural lntluences in man,v other parrs of
Scrutheast Asia are directly linked to more recent immigration of southern Chinese. Although this migration dates
back hundreds of years, it reached a peak in the ninerecnth
and earl,v twentieth centuries. Chrna was thcn a poor and
crowded country lr.'hich made sparsell' populatcd Southeasr
Asia appear to be a place of grear opportunirv Ar first. most
migrants were single men. lvlany returncd to China after
accumulating mone but others man-icd local *.omen ancl
established mixed communities. This is especially true in
the Philippines, where the elite popularion is often descnbed
as 'Chinese Mestizo," or of l.r.rixcd Clhinese and Filipino clescent. In the nineteenth centuw Chincsc u.ornen begin to
mrgrate in large numbe rs. allowing the creatron of ethnicall,v drstinct Chinese settlcnrents. Urban areas thror,rghout
much o[ Southeast Asia arc still characterized by large and
cohesive Chinese con.nnunities. In Mala;-sia, the Chinese
minority constitutes a little less than one-thircl of the population. whereas ir.r the city-state of Singapore some threequarters of the leople are of Chinese ancestry
ln manv places in Southeast Asia, relationships
bet."l'een the C-hinese rlinoritv ancl Lhe indigenous majoritl.
are strained. Onc significant source oI Lension is the fact
that most overseas Chinese cornrnunities are relativell'
prosperous. Many Chir.rese crrigrants prosperecl bccause
they became small-scale lrerchallts. a job that u'as often

ignored by the local people. As a result, they often exert

tremeudous economic influence on local alfairs-inf]uence
that is sometimes deeply resentecl by others. Anti-Chinese
uprisings have occurred periodically throughout Southeast
Asia. In 2000 and 200I , especially severe rroting broke out
in several lndonesian cities.

The Arrival

of lslam

lvluslim merchants from South

and SouthwesL Asia arrived in Southeast Asia rnore than a
thousand years ago, and b1.the 1200s their religion began

to spread. From an initial focus in northern

Sumatra,
Islam diffused into the lvlalay Peninsula, through the main
population centers in the lndonesian islands. and east to

the southern Philippines. B,v 1650. Islan-r had largely

replaced Hinduism and Buddhism in Nfalaysia ar-rd
Indonesia. The onl,v significant holdout u,as thc small but
fertile island of Bali. r'r'he re thousands of Hindu musicians
and artists fled from the courts ofJava, giving thc island
an especially strong tradition o[ arts and crafts. Partly
because of this artistic legacy Bali is today one of the
premier destinations of international tourism.
Today rhe lvorld'-s most populous Muslim countrv is
Indolrcsia. where sorne 8tl percent o[ the nation\ 231 million inhabitants follor.r'Islarn. This figure, hou'ever, masks
a signrficant arnount o[ internal diversity- In somc parts o[
Indonesia. such as in northern Sumatra (Aceh), orthodox
foms of lslarn took root (Figure 13.19). ln others, such as
central ancl eastern Java, a more Iax form of rvorship
ctrerged that rnaintains certain Hrnclu and even animistic
beliefs. lslamic reforrners, ho*'ever, have long been striving to instill more orthodox forms of worship among the
Javanese Toda,v the young people o[Java are increasingly
turnillg to the rore rnainstrearn forms o[ Islan.
In Mala,vsia and especrally in northern Sumarra, Islamic [undarnentalisrn has recentlv gatned ground.
Whereas the current \,[alaysran government has generally

Fgure 13.19 Indonesia's Largest Mosquc

Indonesia is often said to be the world's largcst Muslim nation,
because more Muslims rcsidc hrrr than in any other country.
lslamic architecture in Indonesia is often somewhat modernistic,
especally when contrasted with the more traditional styles found
in Southwest Asia and North Atrica. (Dono Downie/Dono Downie
Mo rket no Com mu n icotion sl

Chpler

supported the revitalization of lslam, it is wary of thc

growing power of the fundamentalist movement Some
Ivlalaysian Muslirns, rroreover, vlew the fundamentalists
as advocating social practices derived from the Arabian
Peninsula thal are not nccessarily religious in origin.
Adding to Malaysia's religious tension is the fact that ethnic Malays, who narrowl,v fomr the country's majority
population. are almost al1 Muslirns, unlike the members of
Malaysia'-s mrnority groups. Religtous controversy reached
a high poinr rn 2007, when Malaysia's high court rulcd
that Lina Joy a woman who had converted from Islarn to
Christianit,li had no lcgal right to change her religion.
lslarn r'as still spreadlng eastward through insular
Southeast Asia when the Europeans arrived in the sixteenth
century When Spain clairned the Philippine Islands in the
1570s, it found the soulhwestern portion of the archipelago
to be thoroughly Islamic The Muslims resiste d the Roman
Cathollcrsm introduced b,v the Spaniards and denved their
cultural identity fiom their Islamic ties To this day tnost of
the far south*'est Philippines is thoroughly Muslim.

The Phihppines as a whole is currently roughly

85 percent Roman Catholtc, making it, along with East
Timor, the on'l,v predominantly Christian cc,runtry in all of
Asia. Ser.eral Protestant sects have been spreading rapidly
in the Philippines over the past several decades, however.
creating a more complex rehgious environment.

Christianity and Indigenous Cultures Chnstian missions spread tlirough othcr parrs of Southeast Asia in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century rvhen European colonial powers controlled the region. While l-rench pdests converted many people in Vietnam to Catholicism, the,v had little
rn uence elsewhere. Beyond Vietnarn, mrssions filed to
make headrvay in areas of Hindr,r, Buddliist. or Islamic heritage. Missionaries were, however, far more successful in
Southeast Asia's highlancl areas, where the,v found a wide
array o[ tnbal societies that had never accepted rhe major
lorvland religions. Instead. these people retained their indige
nous behef systems, ra'hich generally [ocus u'orship on nature
spirits and ancestors. Although some modern hill trilles retain
such animist beliels todali others *'ere convelted to Christiar.rity As a result, notable Christian concntrations arc found
in the t-ake Bank area o[ north-central Sumatra, the moun-

rainous borderlands betrecn sorrthcrn Burma (Vlanmar)

and Thailand, the northern peninsula of Sulau''esi. and the
highlands of southern Vie[nam. Animism retains strongholds
in the mounmins of northern Soulheast Asia, ceutral Bomeo,
far eastern Indonesia, and the highlands oI northern Luzon in
the Philippines. ln Indonesia. however, animist practices are
technically illegal, as monotheism is one o[ the country'.s
founding principles. Partly as a result, many tribal groups
havc been graduaily converted to either lslam or Christianity
Indonesia, more than an)-where else in the reg'ion. has ex
perienced rehgious strife in rcent years, especially between
'ts Muslim majorit,v and Christian rninoritl. Relations betvveen Muslims and Christians in Indonesia were generalll'
quite good until the late 1990s. indonesia, despite ils strong
Muslim maiorty is a secular state that has alwals ernphasized

13

Southeast

Asa

599

tolerance among country's of[icially recognized religlons

(Islam. Chnsrianiry Buddhisrn, Hinduism, and Confucian-

ism). With the Indonestan economic disaster of the

late

1990s, however, relations quickly deteriorated, and religious

fighting begarr to break out, especiall,v in the Maluku Islands
ofeastem hrdoncsia and in Sulawesi. Betrveen 1999 and 2003,
an estimated 2,000 people $'ere ktlled ln Christran-Muslim
clashes in the island of Sulawesi alone. Tiansmigration rs also
rmpliqated in Inclonesia's religious conflict.s. as in many in-

stances indigenous Christran and atrimist groups are now

srrugling against MusLim immrgrants from Java and Madura.

Religion and Communsm By 1975, communism had

triumphed in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In all three
coun[ries, religious practices were then strongly discouraged.

At present, lietnam's officiall,v communlst government is

struggling against a revival of faith among the country's
Buddhist majority and its 8 million Christrans. Buddhist
monks are frequently detained, and the government resen'es
for itseif the right to appoint all religious leaders. Also
expanding is Vietnam's indigenous religion of Cao Dai, a
syncretic (or mixed) faith that verlerates not onl1' the
Buddha, Conlucius, andJesus, but also the French novelist

Victor Hugo. Between 3 and 8 million Vietnamese currently

belong to this rehgious communitv.

Geography

of Language and Ethnicity

As with religion, language rn Southeast Asia expresses the

long l.ristory oI external cultural influences and migratior.r.

The linguistic geography of the regictn is

extrernelv

complicated-far too complicated, in fact, to be adequately

conveyed in a single map. The set'eral httndred distinct
languages of the region can, however, all be placed into live
major linguistic families- These are Ausronesian, r,l'hich covers most of the islands from the Phihppines to Indonesia
along with the Malay Peninsula; Tibeto-Bwmqn, rvhich includes the languagc> o[ Bunla (M1'anmarr: Tci-Kadri. centered on Thailand and los; Nlon-Khmer encompasslng most
of the languages o[ Vietnaur and Cambodia; and Papuan, e
Pacific language family found also tn eastern lndonesia
(Figure 13.20; see Chapter 14 for further detail on Papuan).

The Austronesian Languages Austronesian is one of

the world's rnost widespread language fhmilies, extencling
fiom Madagascar to Easter lsland ln the eastern Pacific. Linguists contend that this family origlnated prehistorically in
Taiu'an and adjacent areas of East Asia, then spread lvidell'
across the Indian and Pacific oceans by sealaring people
u.'ho migrated from island to island.
Today almost all insular Southeast Aslan languages are
within the Austronesian farnily: This means that elements
of both grammar and vocabulary are widely shared across
the islands; thus. it is relarivell' easy fbr a person who
speaks one o[ these languages to learn any other. BLlt despite this linguistic cotnmonahty at the fmil,v level, rnore
than 50 distinct Austronesian languages are spoken in
indonesia alone. And in far eastern lndonesia, a variety of

600

Chapter

13

Southeast Asia

languages falls lnto the complerely separare family of

Papuan, closely associated with New Guinea.
One language, hora'ever, overshadows all others in
insular Southeast Asia: Malay Malay is indigenous to the
Malay Peninsula, eastern Sumatra, and coastal Borneo,
(Kalimantan), vet was spread hisrorically throughout the
regions by merchants and seafarers. As a rcsult, it became a
common trade language, or lingua franca, understoocl and
used by people of drlferent languages throughout much of
the insular realm. Dutch colonists in lndonesia eventually
employed Malay as an adntinistrative language, although
they wrote it with the Roman aiphabet, rather than in the

Arabic-derived script used by native speakers. When Indonesia became an independent counrry in 1949, its leaders
elected to use the lingua franca version of Malay as the basis
for a new national language called Bahasa Indonesia (or
more simply Indonesian). Although Indonesian is slightly
different from the Malalsian spoken in Malaysia, they essentially tbrm a single, murually intelligible language.
The goal of the new Indonesian government \,as to
offer a common language thar would overcome ethnic differences throughout rhe far-flung state. In general, this policy
has been successful in that moe than 80 percent of all
Indonesians nor',' understand the language. However, regionally based languages, such as Javanese,
Balinese, and Sundanese, contlnue to
be primary languages in mosr

,5O

homes. More than 75 million

people speak Javanese, which
makes it one of rhe world's

flXnomters

rruuor tongues.

The eight major lanof the Philippines

also belong in the Austronesian family. Despite

guages

,,

PACIFIC

more than 300 years of colonization by Spain, Spanish

never became a unifying
force for the islands. During

OCEAN

South
TINGUISTIC FAMITIES

China

Austronesian

(D

tuirudri

(_,)

Sea

ltDeto-urman

lvlon-Khmer

Papran

Celebes
.5ed

lfIND'AN

Jova

l} Fr\
Sea

OCEAN

,{F

lib-,-*'*,-

Figure 13.20 Language Map

of Southeast Asia
A vast number of languages are found n
Southeast Asia, but most are tribal tongues spoken by only
a few thousand people. In mainland Southeast Asia-the site

fltr.lOR

of

three major language families-the central lowlands of each country

are dominated by people speaking the national languages: Burmese in
Burma ([,4yanmarl, Thai in Thailand, Lao in Laos, and Vietnamese in Vietnam.

Almost all languages in insular Southeast Asia belong to the Austronesian linguistic family, There were
no dominant languages here before the creation of such national tongues as Frlipino and Bahasa
Indonesia in the mid-twentieth centurv

,t'-){Lh

./

idr*.-l,n''''"

II
thc American periocl (1898-1946), Enghsh selvcd as the
language o[ administratron and education. After indcpendcnce following \\orld \\ar Il, Philippine natlonalists decidcd to create a national language that coulcl replace
English and help unif,r, the new country. They selectecl
Tagalog. thc tongue oI Vanila and a language rvith a fairl;*,ell-dcvclorcd hterar,v tradition, The first task was Lo
standardize and lodernize Tagalog. which had many distinct clialccLs After this u'as accomplished, it was renamed
Filipino (alternativell. Pilipno). Ibda,r: mainly because ol
its use in eclucation, television, and movies. filipino is
graduall,v becorning a unifying rlational language.

Tibeto-Burman Languages Each countrl' of mainland

Southeast Asia is closelv identifiecl ,,vith the uational
language spoken in its core territory. This does tlol luean,
however, that all the inhabitants o[ Lhese countries spcak
these oflicial languages on a daily basis. ln the urountains
and other rernote dr.slricts, nonnational langtLages are comnrou I'his linguistic diversit,v reinforces ethnic clivisions clesrite national cducational programs designed to lbster unitr
A good example of ethnic dl'ersitt' is Burma (N'lyanmar).

Its national language is Burrlese, rvhich is closclv relatecl

to fibetan ancl perhaps, much more distantl to Chrnese.
Tocla-v sor.ne l2 rillion people speal< Burmese as their
firsL language (Figurc l3 2l) AlLhough the nationalistic
military gLrvernment oI t]urna (N'lyanmar) has attempted
to lorce its r ersior.l o[ unity on the population, a major
schisrn cleveloped rvith sevel'al non-Burman "hill tribes''

that inhabit the ror:gh uplands that flank the Burmese

speaking lrrawaddy \hlle r\lrhough most oI these tribal
'l
groups speak languages in tl.re ibeto-Bunnan famrl'. they
are quite distincl from Burnrese.

Tai-Kadai Languages The Tai-Kaclai linguistic family

probabll' onginated in southern China and then spread
rnto Southeast Asia starting arouncl 1200 cE Toda1., l5sly
re

lated languages within the Tar subfamil,v are founcl t]rrough

rosl of Thailand and Laos, in rhe uplands o[ northem

Victnam. in Burma's Shan Plateau, and in parts of southern
C.hina lvtost Tai languages are quite localized, spoken b,v
snrall tribal groups. But t*'o of them, Thai ancl Lao, are
national languages of Tharland and Laos respectivel;:
Linguistic terminolog,v in this part o[ lhe t'orltl is complicared. HLsroricalll', the main language of the Kingclom ol
'l'hailand, called .Sanrcsc (just as the kingdom rvas callecl
Sinm) u,as rcstricted to the lou'er Chao Phra,va vaLley: which
loned thc national core. ln the I930s, however, the cotLntry
changed its nanle to Thailand to cmphasize the unity o[ all
the peoples speakir.rg closely related Tai languages within its
territorv Siamcse was sin-rilarll' renamed Thai, and it has

gradualll'

lre

cornc thc unif,ving language for the counLryr

There rre still sul-rstantial variations in dialect, hou'ever lvith

thosc of tlre north often considered separate languages. Even
more clistinctivc is Lao. the Tat language that became the national tongue o[ l-aos. Nlore l-ao speakers reside in Thailand
than in Los, hoq'ever-, uherc they lorm the majority population of the relatively poor Khorat Plateau.

Fig

ure 13.21 Burmese Script

in Burma's prmate city of

(Yangon),
with
round
shapes, supposedly
has
characters
Rangoon
bccause the palm leaves that were originally used as wrting
surfaces wou d havc [rccn split by straight lines. Burma's script, ike
those of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, can be traced back to a
writing system from ancie nt lnclia. (Tophon/The lmryc Works)

The Burnlese script, seen here on posters

Mon-Khmer Languages The Nlon-Khmer

language

familv probabll covered virtually all of rnainland Southeast .{>ia l. )00 lear' atL,. ll ( orllailr\ l\r'o r11ior languages.
Vietnamese ( Lhe national longue of Vietnam) and Khmer
(the national language oI Camboclia). as well as a host oI
minor languages spoken by hill peoples ancl a feu' lowland
groups. Because of the historical Chinese influence in
Vietnam, the Vietnamese language was wrilten lvith Chinese characters unttl the French rmposecl the Rornan
alphabet during their colonial reign, u'hich remains in
use. Khnrcr, like the other natronal languages ol mainlancl
\oullrca\t Asia. is wrilten in its o$n 5cript, ullimatelv
derived fi'om lndia.
Thc most inlportant aspect ol linguistic geography in
mainland Southeast Asia is probably' the fact that in each
(ounlr\ lhc natiorrrl language r< ltmlted to the eOre atc:r of

derselv ropulated lorvlands, r.vhereas the peripheral

uplands are populated by tribal peoples speaking separale
languages In laos. for example. up to 40 percent o[ the
population is non-Lao. whereas in Vietnam, less than half
of the national tcn-itor-v is occupied b,v Vietnamese speakers. even though they colrstitute a sizable majority of the
country's population. l'his linguistic contrast between the

lowlands and thc uplar,ds poses an obvious problem [or

na Lional integration Such problems arc most extreme in
Burma (Nlvanrnar). u'herc rhe upland peoples arc numerous and lvell organized-and have strenuously resisted
the clourination of tlrc lowland Burmans. The Burmese
government has, in tunr, devoted much o[ its energies tcr
resisting the influences of global culture.
60r

602

I
Chapter

13

Southeast Asia

Figure 13.22 Monks in a Burmese

Market
Budd

ma nla

I
l

ism remains important in

nd Southeast Asia, where

many men become Buddhist monks.

Relig ious traditionalism does not
prevent engagement with modern
global culture, as is evident n this
photograph of monks in a Burmese
market. fAndres Hernondez/Getty
lmoges, lnc.-Lioison)

Southeast Asian Culture in Global Context

The imposition of European colonial rule ushered rn

down by religious leaders. Although Singapore's leaders

a

new era of globalization in Southeast Asia, bringing wrth it

Europcan languages, ChrisLianityi and new governmental,

economic, and educational systems. This period also

deprived most Southeast Asians of their cultural autonom):
As a result, rvith decolonialization and political indepen,
dence after \,Vorld War Il, many countries attempted to
isolate thernselves from the cultural and economic
influences of the ernerging global system. Burma (Myanrnar), for example, retreated into its own form o[Buddhisr
socialism, placing stricr limits on foreign tourism, rvhich
the government viewecl as a source of cuitural contamination. Although the door has opened subsmnrmlly since
the 1980s, the government o[ Burma (Myanmar) remains
wary of foreign practices and influences, an attitude ar has
becorne a major source of tension. Many of the country's
student leaders and Buddhisr monks, for example, resisr
governrnental policies (Figure ).3.22).
Other Southeast Asian countries have been more
receptive to foreign cultural inf]uences. This is parricularly true in the case of the Philippines, where Anrerican
colonialism mav have predisposed the country ro n.rany of
the more popular forms of Western cuhure. As a rcsult,

Filipino musicians and othe entertatners arc rnuch in

demand throughout East and Southeast Asia (Figure
13.23). Thailand, whrch was nevr subjected to colonial
rule, is the most receprive marnland Southeast Asian
country to global culture, r'lth its open polic;- toward
tourism, mass media, and economic interdependence
But cultural globalizarion has also been cl.rallenged in
some Southeast Asian countnes. The Malaysian government, for example, ts highly critical of nranv American [ilms

and telelision programs. lslarnic revivalism, in both

Malaysia and Indonesia, also presents a challenge to cultural
globalization. In 2006. for cxample, an efforr to starr an
lndonesian edition of Plalboy magazine was quickly shot

have also criticized Western culture, the clty-state is now

seeking to enhance tourism and bolster rhe economy by

building Las Vegas-style casinos and resorts.

As the global language, English also causes ambivalence in many countries. On one hand, ir is the language
o[ questionable popular culture: yet, on the orher hand,
citizens need proficiency in English if they are ro parricipate in global business and politics. In Malaysia, wide-

in rhe 1980s
as nationalists stressed the importance of their native
tongue. This distressed the business communlty \vhich
considers English vital to Malaysia's comperitive posirion,
as well as the influential Chinese communirics. for which
spread proficienc,v in English tvas challenged

Malay is not a native language.

Figure 13.23 Filipino Entertainers
The people of the Philipprnes have adopted popular forms of
Western culture more than most other Southeast Asians, in part
because of their long experience with American colonialism. As a
result, Filipino performers arr often in demand n other Asian
countries, This photograph shows a Filipina musician snging in
Hong Kong. (Andy Moluche Photogrophy)

Filipinos Take to the Seas

The Philippine economy is highly dependent on the money sent

home by its cltizens working abroad, with up to 10 percent of

GDP (gross domestic product) stemming from such

rerttances 0nly the much larger countries of India and

its

lVexico receive higher levels of remittance than the Philippines.

than 8 million Fil pinos now live and work abroad, with
funds
that they send back supporting up to 17 percent 0f
the
all households n the country Women from the Philippines
N4ore

traveling abroad primarily work as nurses or in domestic serv ce,

whereas men often find employment in construction oI

ncreasingly, as crew members of large ocean-golng shps.
Over the past several decades, seafaring has become a major
Philippine specialization (Figure

3.4.1 J.

Approximately 30 percent

of the world's sea-going labor force, whether on container sh ps

or uxury cruise Iners, now cornes from the Philippines Almost
250,000 Filipinos gain their ive ihoods at sea, earning an average
of about $12,000 a year. Employes are required to send 80
percent of each worker's wages back to the Phi ippines 1n U.S.

dolan, substantially boosting the Philipplne economy. In 2003,

$2 bi lion entered the country in such a manner.
The origins of the Philippine merchant marne force dates back
to the Spanish period and beyond, but the maritime tradition was
strengthened during the U.S. occu pation. fu early as 190'1, the U.S.
Navy began recruiting Filip nos through a special program that

was not dlscontinued until 1992. In the earlv vears of this

program,

Fi

ipinos were restricted to low posltions n the U S. Navy,

Figure 13.4.1 Filpino Seaman

Hundreds ofthousands of Filipinos work at

sa, ether as

merchant

marines on cargo ships or, as in this photo, as crew memben of cruist

ships. (Jeif Greenbe rglmoge Works)

but they did gain valuable seafaring experience. The Philippine

government has also ong encouraged its men to take to the seas,
ma ntaining the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, Asia's
oldest maritime institution. lt has also set up special recruiting
centers to help men begin their careers as ship-hands

Much evidence suggests that young Filipino men are

attracted to the sea more by the lack of other opportunties
than by the actual rewards of a merchant marlne career.0n
container ships, men are often forced to remain at sea for up
to 10 months, during wh ch tme they work and socia ize with

In Singapore, the situation is more complex. Mandarin

Chinese, English, Malal', and Tanil (from southeastern
India) are all official languages of this country Furthermore, the local languages of southern China are common
in horne environmcnts because 75 percent of Singapore's
population is of southen Chrnese ancestry The Singapore
govrnment now encourages the use of Mandarin Chinese
and discourages the use of southern Chinese dialects. It
also suppors English as thc language of global commerce.
while discouraging Singlsh. an English-based dralect containing many sorthern Chtnese words and grammatlcal
forms. Singaporean olficials have been known to slap
restrictive ratings on local filnrs for "bad grammar" rf they
contain too much Singlish dialogue.
In the Philippines. nationalists have long decried the
common use of English. even though wrdespread fluenc,v

'10

to 20 other men everv dav Port iiberties are rare

and entertainment options on board ship are highly limited.
0pportunites for advancernent, moreover, are Scarce, with
fewer than '10 percent of seafarers from the Philippines rising
to the postion of senor officer. As a result, the large ships on
the sarne

which so many Filip nos work are sometimes jokingly referred

to as "floatng prsons " But as long as the Ph ilippine economy
as a whole cont nues to perform poorly, large numbers of
Filipino men wi sign up for lobs at sea.

has proved beneficial to the n.rillions of Filipinos rvho have

emigrated for better economic conditions or who work as
crew members in the globalized shrpping industry (see
"People on the Move: Filipinos Take to the Seas")- The
Philippine Sove rnment is nolv gradually replacing English
with Filipino in public schools and, as a result, some fear
that competence in Enghsh is slowly declining. Others,
however, counter that the spread ol cable television, with
its many U.S. shows, has enhanced the country's EnglishIanguage skills.
While the diffusion of global cultural lbrms is beginning to merge cultures across Southeast Asra, religious
revivalism and the sprcad of fundamentalism are spreading
other cultures apart. This same combinatron of cenlripetal
(merging together) and centrifugal (spreading apart) [orces
also is found in the geopolitical realm.

604

l3

Choter

5u.heast A:

regional tensir:n In I 9!)!l h-Ldonesia surprisccl much of the

n'or-lcl by relincnishing its control of the eastern portron of'

GEOPOLITICAL FRAM EWORK:

War, Ethnic Strife, and Regional Cooperation

the island o[ Tirnor. u hich emerged as a ully independenr

East Timor (or Ttmor-Leste. irs the counnJ
is oiliciall;- callecl) has applie d for membership inro ASEA\.
Lrutlrs nut ct gaincd adlnission.

countn in 2002

Southcast r\sia is sornetirles clefined as a geopolitical entrt;,'

of l0 diffcrenl states that have joined together under the

umbrclla trrganization oI the Associatron ol Southcast

Nations, or ASEAN (Figr.rre 13 2.1). Todal'ASIAN,
^sian than anything else, gircs Southeast Asia a geoprtlitimore

Before European Colonialism

cal regional coherence. Within thls fiarneu'ork. hol'"'cvcr,

man),sLatcs are still struggling lvith serious ethnic ancl

S
/

century u'hen it cor.ltr-ollcd much of u,hat is

non Thailand and southcm \,-ietnarn By
Lhe 1]00s, inclcpcntlent kingclorns hacl
been csrablishcd Jt,v the Burnran,
Siamcsc ( I'hiri). Lao, ancl Victnarncst' :lcr'rtlc r,hcl n.ere ccnotp
lcrc(l ,rn tlrc rrrajor rirer

Or ginl ASEAN rembers it 967i

.--,-: nsfAl

The morlern countries ol nrainland Southcasr Asia all

cxistccl in one lbrm or anc)ther as indigenous kingdorls
befcrre thc onset 01 European colonialisnr- Canrbodia
cmcrged earliest, reaching irs heighr in rhc ru'clfth

memner

pxperiecinq 5eparat 5t
rebel/ions, lggo piesen!
Plaeq

CHINA

Spratfy f sf ands. A/thouEf h these "slonds'

essentiolly a collection af rcckt ond reeft barely

vallc s ancl cleltas Thcsc

r\tblpot h,lhtdp 'r,pPnlPpirt Ma,or- a

Vetnom,Totwon, ond nasl prablenottc-(hna
alllay clam, prabably becouse of the patentolof
nah atl reserves in the odjoaent

wote\

krndoms
PACIFIC
OCEAN

.lxu .\ rs)
\\
.'
\"

South
Chno

re in

Ethni. srile. Migrotion af Chtiston peosants

frcm natthetnond centol P h lippines hos
oqqtovotPd tP.\:o.. tJh lo(nl llL.tn ppopt.\
leadq toethn( ond relgiaus strfe. lsldtnc
extrpmsts odvocaLe aulanany fat lheI terntaty,

Seo

Currently, the Philippute army contrc15 towns

and mo|or roo<lwoys, but not the aounttyside.

INDIAN
OCEAN

Ref

9ious tensions. f h mc vi ol e nce, often

Muln5 and Chtstans. (hreotens

lhts dtverse country a[ 2AA millon, qiving se

between

ta concenslndonesia aauld dlsntegtote nta

snaltetb, i( p.1ovp\ -hp<c probt", o p prt rt,
duetothe rna\\ive miqraton afpeaples fro)
Jovo ta aut-lytnq Blands

\ r\'....\
at\
500

M es

AUSTRAUA

Fgure

13.24 Geopolitical lssues in Southeast Asia

oi Southeast fuia have nranagcd Lo so vr most of their border

of potential confl cts through ASEAN (the fusociation of Southeast fuian
Nations). Internal disputes, howcvc mostly focused on sues of religious and ethnc diversity, continuc to

The countries

dispLrtes and other sources

tht rcgion's states, pafticularly Indonesia and Burma (fVlyanrnar) ASEAN also experiences
tcnsion lvith China over the Spratlv lslands of the South China Sca.
plague several of

othcr. ofien fighting

morc lor labor than
for territon: VicLors
rvould tlpicalll' take
holne thousands o[
prisoners [o settle

VIETNAM

5ec

u,e

nearly constant slale

of r.r,ar with one an

Chapter

13

Southeast

Asiz

605

Figure 13.25 Colonial Southeast Asia

With the exception of Thailand, all of
Southeast fuia was under Western
colonral rule by the early '1900s. The
Netherlands had the largest empir
in the region, covering the
terrtory that was later to become
lndonesa. France maintained a
substantial imperial realm in

5m Mibr

250

500 Klometet!

cHtt{A

Vietnam,

Laos,

and Cambodia, as

did Britain in Burma (l\4yanmar)

PACIF IC
oy o

OCEAN

Eengdl

and lValaysia (includng

Sngapore and BruneiJ. The
Philippines were colonized by
span, but passed to the
contml of the United
States n 1898.

South
Chno

culfof'

Andoon ,

5ed

Sea

I
J
]
O
$
Q

gRUNEI

llndcpandanca
n

A L{18003-195t1
tv s

Celebes
5eo

Britain
France

Netherlands
5pain

unit d st.tes
eortugal

1819-19651

.\

I
IND'AN

rD
Jova

Sed

OCEAN

EA''

iIMOR

1156-19t51

their lands, which led to considerable ethnic mixing during

AUSTRALIA

the precolonial period.

The situation in insular Southeast Asia was quite different from rhat of the mainland, wi e premodern map
bearing no resemblance to that of the modem nationstates. Many kingdoms existed on the Malay Peninsula and
on the islands of Sumatra andJava, but few were territorially stable. In the Philippines, eastern Indonesia, and central Borneo, most societies were organized at the village
level. The countries of lndonesia, the Philippines, and
Malaysia thus owe their territonal configuration almost
wholly to the European colonial powers (Figure 13.25).

The Colonial Era

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive (around

1500), lured by the cloves and nutmeg of the Maluku

Isiands (lormerly the Spice lslands) in what is now eastern
Indonesia. ln the late 1500s, the Spanish conquered most

of the Philippines, which they used as a base for thei silver and silk trade between China and the Americas. By the
1600s, the Dutch had started staking out Southeast Asian
rerritory followed by rhe British. With superior naval
weaponry the Europeans were quickly able to conquer
key ports and strategic trading locales. Yet for the first 200
years of colonialism, except in the Philippines, the Europeans made no major geopolitical changes.

Dutch Power By the 1700s, the Netherlands had become

rhe most powerful force in the region. As a result, a Dutch
Empire in the "East Indies" (or Indonesia) began appearing
on world maps. This empire continued to grow into the
earlv rwenrierh century when the Dutch defated rheir

606

Chaoter

I3

Southeast As

last main adversary the powerful Islarnic sultanate of

Aceh in northern Sumatra. Later, the Dutch invaded Lhe
western portion of New Guinea in response to German
and Britlsh advances in the eastern half. [n a subsequent
treaty, these imperial powers sliced New Gulnea down the
middle, with the Netherlands taking the wesr.

British, French, and U.S, Expansion The

British,
preoccupied with their empire in India, concentrated their
attention on the sea-lanes linking India to China. As a result,
they established several fortified trading outposs along the
vital Strait o[ Ma]acca, the most notable being on the $land
of Singapore, founded in 1819. To avoid confhct, the British
and Dutch agreed that the Bdtish would [mit rhef arrenrion
to the Malay Peninsula and the northem portion of Borneo.
The British allowed Muslim sultans to reuin limited powers,
and their descendens still enjoy token authority in several
Malaysian states. When Britain left this area in l96f , rhe
country of Malaysia emerged in is u,ake. Two small portions
of the former British sphere did notjoin the new country In
northem Borneo, the Sulunate of Bruner became an independent state in its own nght, backed by the riches of its oil
reserves. Singapore briefly joined Malaysia, but then withdrew and became fully independent in 1965- This divorce
was carried out partly for ethnic reasons. Malaysia was to be
a primanly Maiay sure, but with Srngapore its population
would have been almost half Chinese. Partly to avoid this,
the two states agreed to an amicable separation.
In the 1800s European colonial power spread through
most of mainland Southeast Asia, The British, seeking to
safeguard heir South Asian empire, fought several wars
against the kingdom of Burma before annexing the entire
area in 1885, including considerable upland territories
that had never been under Burmese rule. Dunng the same
period. the French moved into Vietnam's Mekong Delta,
gradually expanding their territorial control [o lhe west
into Cambodia and north to China's border. Thailand was

the only country to avoid colonial rule, although

it

did

lose substantial territories to the British in Malaysia and

the French in Laos. Thai independence was maintained
partly because it served both British and French interests
to have a buffer state between their col<nlal empires.
The final colonial power to enter the area was the
United States, which took the Philippines first from Spain
and then, after a bitter war, from Filipino nationahsts
between 1898 and 1900. The U.S, army subsequenrly conquered the Muslim areas o[ the southwest, most of which
had never been fully under Spanish authority

Growing Nationalism Organized resistance ro European

rule began in the 1920s in mainland countdes, bur ir took
theJapanese occupation during World War II to sharter the
myth o[ European invincibility. After Japan's surrender in
1945, agitation for rndependence was renewed throughout
Southeast Asia. As Britain realized thar it could no longer

control its South Asian empire,

it

also withdrelv from

adjacent Burma, which achieved independence in 1948.

Although the Nethelands attempted to reconquer Indone-

sia after

WWII, it

in

was forced to acknowledge Indonesian rn-

In the Philipprnes, the United Srates

granted long-promised independence on July 4, 1946, although it retained key military bases, as well as considerable economic influence, for several decades.
dependence

1949.

The Vietnam War and lts Aftermath

Unlike the United States, France was determined to maintain full control o[ its Southeast Asian colonies. Resistance
to French rule was organized primarily by communist
groups that were deeply rooted rn northern Vietnam. As
France reoccupied its Southeast Asian empire in 1946 after
Japan's defeat, the leader of this resistance movement, Ho
Chi Minh, emerged as president of a separatist government
based in the north. Open warfare between French soldiers

and the communist forces went on for aimost a

decade.

After a decisive defeat in 1954, the French agreed to wrthdraw An international peace council in Geneva then
determlned that Vietnam would. like Korea. be divided
lnto two countries. As a result, the leaders of the communist rebelhon came to po\Mer in Norrh Viernarn, and allied
themselves with the Soviet Union and China. South Vietnam emerged as an independent, capitalist-oriented state
with close political des to the United States.
The Geneva peace accord did not, however, end the
fightrng. Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam fought to
overthrow the nev,' govemment and unite it with the north.
For its pan, North Vietnam sent troops and war materials
across the border to aid the rebels. Most of these supplies
reached the south over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. an ill-defined
network of forest passages through Laos and Cambodia, thus
steadily drawing these t$'o countries into the confiict ]n l-aos
the communist Pathet lo forces challenged the government,
Figure 13.26 U.S. Soldier and Vietcong Prisoners
The Unted States mantaned a substantal military presence in
Vetnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. Although U.S. forces

claimed many victories, they were ultimately forced to withdraw,

leading to the victory of North Vietnam and the reunification of
the country. (Getty lmoges lnc.-Hulton Archive Photos)

Crapter

l3

Southeast As

607

while in Carnbodia the Khmer Rouge guerrillas ganed con

siderable polver In South \1etnar.n, the goverlnrent graduallv
lost control of key areas, inch,rcling rnuch of thc \4ckong
Dclta, a region perilously close lo the capit*al city of Saigon.

U.S. Interuention Bv 1962 thc United Stares rvas sending

large nurnbers o[ military advisots to South Vietnam. ln
\\hshington, DC, the domino theory becatle accepted for
eign policy According to this notion, i[ Vie tnam fcll to thc
communists. then so rvould Laos ancl Camboclia: once thosc
countries r.vere lost, Burma (M,vanmar) ancl Thailand. and
perhaps even Malaysia and Indonesia, would becotne mer.ubers o[ the Sovtet-dominated communist bloc. By l95.
thousands of U.S. troops had begun a ferocious lancl war
against the cornmunist guernllas (Figure 13.26). But despite
superiority in anns and troops-and total domination of the
air-U 5. forces failccl to gain control o'r'er much of the coun
trysicle. As casualties mountcd and rhe antiwar movement
back hone strengthened, tl.re United States held secret talks
rvith North Vietnam in search of a negotiated settlcmcnt. Lr.S.
troop rr-ithdrau'als began in earnest by the early 1970s.

Victory WiLh Lhe withdrawal of LJ.S. forces

and f rnencial supporl.. the nerneonttnunisl gorcrnmctrts oI
the lbrmer French colonial zone began to collapse. Saigon
fell in 1975. and in the following year Vietnam was officialli'reunited under the government o[ the north. ReuniCommunist

Figure 13.27 Hmong General Vang Pao

General Vang Pao, a respected leader of Hmong-Americans and a
suspect in the alleged plot to overthrow the government of Laos,
is released on bail from Sacramento County jai on Ju y 13, 2007.
Because the Hmong community in Laos continues to suffer
persecution, many Hmong-Amerlcans want to scc a new
government in their original homeland. (Corl Costos/MCT/Londov)

fication

peLrpl(ji ai5c||lblr ua. fonl'lcd lo spprove a new constitution.

The Communist Part,v still maintains a monopolv over
political pou'er in Laos, although ruch of rhe economy

professionals and businesspeople, but later migrants incluclecl rnany lelativcl,v poor ethnrc Chinese. Most of these
re[ugees fled on snrall, ricketv boats: large numbers suI

has been opened to private firms Mauy I-aotian Hmong

refugees who fled to the United States after thc war, however, continue to seek poliLical change at hole In 2007,
the American Hmong communiLy *'as shocked u'hen U.S.
federal agents arrested Il of their leaclers for piotting to
o\erthrow rhe government of Laos (Figure 13.27),

\.\,'as a traumatrc event in southern Vietnanl

Hundreds of thousands of people fled from the new
rcgime to oher countries, especially the Unrted States
'l'he first rvave of refugees consisted primarily of *'ealthy

[erecl sliipwreck or piratc at tack-

Vietnam proved fortunatc compared lvith Cambodia,

There Lhe Khmer Rouge ir.rstallcd one of the most brutal
regimes the rvorlcl has ever seen Citv-drvellers were forced
into the countr,vsicle to becorne peasants, and nrost rvealth,v

and highl,v educated persons were summarily cxccuted.

The Khmer Rouge's goal was to create a lvhollv new agrarian socrety b,v returmng to what they called "year zcro "
After several ,vears of bloodshed lhaL took an estimated
1.5 million lives, neighboring Vietnam rnvaded Carnbodia
and installed a far less brutal. but sLill repressive, regirne.

fighting between different factions continued for trol'e

than a decade, but bv the late 1980s the Llnited Nations
lvas able to broker a settlement to rhis ctvil u'ar. Since that
trme. several unstable coalition governlnents have brought

tenuous peace to the shaltered coulrtry Although

Cambodia is officially a co nstitr-rtional monarchv with a

democratic government. corruption is lvidespread and

democratic institutions remain rveak ancl unstable.
Vietnam stationed significant numbers of troops in
Laos after 1975, Large numbers o[ Hrnong and other tribal

peoples man,v of rvhom had fought on behalf of the

linited States-fled to Thailand and the UniLed States
Electrons were not held in Laos until 1989, rvhen a

Geopolitical Tensions in Contemporary

Southeast Asia
A nurnber of cunent conflicls in Southeast Asia are rooted in
the region's colonial past. ln several pars of the region, locally
basecl ethnic groups are struggling against the centraled
national governments that inherited territory from lbrmer
colonial powers Tension also rcsults when tribal groups
altempt to presen'e their homeland from logging, mintng. or
interregional rnigration Such conflics are especiall,v pronounced in rhe large, multicthmc country of Indonesia.

Conflicts in Indonesia When Indonesia gained inclependence in 1949, it encompassed all o[ the former Dutch
possessions in the region except weslern New Guinea.
The Nethcrlands retained thts territory arguing that its

cultural background distinguished lt from Indonesia. In

1962, Dutch authorities organized a elerendum to see
whether the pe ople of western New Guinea u'ished to join
Indonesia or form an irrdependent country. The vote lvent
for union, but rnany observers beheve that the election
was rigged b,v the lndor-resian go\ernment.

608

Chp:er

13

50utfeast

A5la

Tensions in western New Guinca increased ln the fbl

lowing clecacles as Javanesc irnmigrants. along rvith mining
ancl lurnber firms. arrived in the area. Faced r.l'ith the loss
of their land and the degradation of therr environment, a

number oI indigenous residents formed the scl]aratist organization OPIvI (Organiscsi Pupua Nltrdthn) and laurrched a
rebellion. Rebel leaders demanded indepcndence, or at
least autonomr', but the,v faced a far srrollger forre in the
Indonesian armr'. This u'ar is snll a srnoldcring, sporadic,
and occasionally bloody guerrilla affair'. hrdoncsia is iletermined to malntain control o[ rhe region in pat t because it is
home to one o[ the country'-s largest taxpayers, Lhe highll'
polluting Grasbe rg corrcr. and gold rline run b the Nelv
Orleans-based F rce port- 1\4cMoRan Corporation.
An even nrore brutal war erupteLl in 1975 on the
island of Tinror. ir.r southeastern lnclonesia. The eastern
half of this poor islancl hacl been a Porruguese colony (the

onlv survivor o[ Portugali sixteenth-centur' forav into

the region) ancl hacl therefore evolved into a largel,v Chris
tian societ). The EasL Timorese expected rndependence
w-hen the Portuguese [inaLly r'"'ithdrew: Indonesia, horv
ever, viewecl the area as rightfully its own, Jargely by virtuc
of its geographical position, and immediately invaded. ,.\
ferctcror-rs war ensued. which the lndonesian arnry won ilr
parl b,v starving the people o[ East Tinor inro submissiLrn
Figure 13.28 East Timorese Demonstration in Jakarta
Indonesia invaded and claimcd East Timor in 1975 when the
Portuguese left their last co onial outpOst in Southeast Asia.
The East Timorcse resisted the Indonesian takeover, and
violencr reached a climx in '1999 when the East Timorese
voted for independence, after which pro-lndonesian mi itias
attacked the Timorese leaders and large segments of Timorese
society. ltl. Milad inovic/Co rbs/Sygmo)

Aftcr cxperlencing an ccononric crisis in 1997. In

donesia-s power in Lhc rcgion slippecl. A ncr.v lndonesian
govcrnnlent prornisecl rn election in 1999 to see rvhether

thc East Timorese rvanted independence (Figure 13.28).

At Lhe srrnc time, howcver. thc lndonesian annl.began to
orgirnizc loval militias in in attempt to lntimidate the peoplc oI East Timor into voting to re marn r,vithin the counrrlt

Whcn it was clear that rhe vore q'ould be srrongll for

inclcpenclence. thc rnilitias began rioting. looring. and
sJatrghLering civilians. Under internarional pressure.
lndonesia linalll' rvirhdreu; United Narions forccs arrivcd
and the East Timorese began to build a ncw courltr\'.
Consrclering the devastation causcd ltv rhe militias, the

reconstruction process in East Tinror has not lteer-L casv Even

selecting an official languagc pror.crJ cliffictrlt, after sorne cleliberation, both Tetum (onc of l ir.rcligenous languages) ancl
Portuguesc '"vere selected. ln 2006, rnajor rioting lrrrther
darnaged the countni lequiring Australian intenention tcr
reestablish peace. The disturbance broke out alter 519 East
Timor-csc soldicrs *'erc dismissecl frorn the national arm1. for
complaining about bing discritninaLed against because thev
u,cre frorr the $ cstern-and lrore lndonesia-oriented part
oI the island A relatively successful electron in 2007, hoq'
ever, inclicatecl that East Timor has the potential to overcome
its ethnic and political divisrons,
Sctc.'i'n \lrusples hJ\e occurred clscr,r hcrt in
Indonesia as u'ell. ln the late 1950s. central Sumatra and rhe
northern ponron ol Sularvesi rebelled. but they ',r'crc quicklv
defe atecl ancl eventually reconcilcd ro lnclonesian mle . Another small-scale war t'lared up in the laLe 1990s, lhis orlc ir.l
wcstcrn and southem Borneo (Kalirrantan). Ilerc the rndiqcnous Dal,aks, a tribal people now partly converred ro (.hristianit.r began to clash with Muslim migranrs from Madura,
clenscly rnhabited island north o[ -lava. The lndonesian militan' has restored ordcr in Kalimantan's cities, but the countrvsidc remains troubled. The southern \,taluku lslands.

especially Anrbon and Serarn, are anorher conflicr zolre

betwecn Muslims and Christians. Lven the area's cities are
now clivided into Muslim and Chnstian sectors. and crossing
to lhe \vrong side can prove dangerous.
Ovcr the past several decades. lndolresja-s rrost serious
regional conllict has been that of Acch in northerl Surnatra. Manv Acehnese, in general the mosr or-thoclox Nluslim
people ol Indonesia, have long denranded thc creation of
an independent Islamic state. Whilc thc lndonesian govcrnlnenr has allowed Aceh a high dcgrec of autonornl' as a
"special ternrory of lndonesia." it has been detenninecl to
do rvhatever is necessary ro p[evc]lt actual inrlepenclnce.
lronrcalll: the dcvastatiorr caused b_v the Decerrber 2004

tsunami, which left or.er 500.000 Acchnese homeless,

allowed a pcace sctrlcment to bc finall. reachccl, as the
needs of the area w-cre so great that the separatist fighters
agreed to la,v dorvn their u.eapons A 2006 election brought
former rebel leadcrs into the heart o[ Acch\ government.
lndonesia has obviously had dilficulties crealing a unified narion over its vast, sltrawiing extent and across its numerous cultural and religious courrnunitres As a creation
oI thc colonial Deriod. lndonesia has a rveak historical

C!aptr l:l

Easlrn and northem uplands.

Ethni( graups such as theChin and
Kaahil hove been in periodic rebellian
oganst Ewmo the past severcldecades.

Shrn.The Shon hdve long

tupported Ihe rebellion ogonsr
Butmo by grawing apiumond

prc@ssinq ohd sellnq hercn

lncu6ont by the Burmese rniltory
in the rnid ond late | 990t, however,
grcady cuttoiled hs trcde oswell
as

shon outanay.

W. The Wo people hove recently

a ssumed leo det sh p of the he ro i n
o nd o m pheta m ne trod e, perh a ps
with support frcm elements n lhe
Bumese amy who ore eager to
undermine the Shon.

f
z

'tMandalay

Southeast Asia, its military remains politrcallli powerful and hostile to movements for regional autonomy.

Regional Tensions in the Philippines The Philip-

pincs also has suffel'ed from a regional secession

r.novel.r.lc11t in its lslanric southwcst. Although thc
go\crnrncnt has made some lreadu'ay in talks r,vith the
rraln rebel group by promising greater autonour\', the
lnore extrelne Ivluslim factior.rs continue to demand
indepenclence. The rnigraLion of Christian peasants
from northern and central Philippines into the lslamic
southrvest has exacerbared local tensions. The Philippine arm,v generally maintains control over the areas
main cities and roadways. but it has litrle power in the
more remote villages. As radical lslamist groups reportedly have close ties rvith Osama bin Laden and

Al

Qaeda network, the Philippines quickly beln the l-.S led struggle against global
terrorism. IvIanl' Frlipino nationalists, horl.ever, are
concerned that rhcir country. 1s again falling under

hrs

came a key slte

U.S. domination.
Katen,Ihe Koten,o peaple o[i@d
Ch i stio n, o n i i s\ a n d Budd h i st fa i
who live olang Bumo's bordet with
Thaland, have protested Burnese
poltcol domnation ond have been
rcbclling ogonst the Butmese ojority

7oy of
Eengal

THAILANO

Drotests. and imneachmenl efIorts.

The Ouagmire of Burma Burrna (\,[vanmar) has been

one of the most \\'ar-ravaged countries o[ SoutheasL Asia

MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS

TIBETO.BURMAN
urman

MON-KHMER

!
I

Burma's simultaneous \\'ars of the 1970s, 1980s, and l99Os

pitted the central governmenl. dominated by the Burmese

Lnn

a-) Kchin
'- , Rakhine
(:_l)
Karen
': . TAI (shn nd others)
/.---\

Thc Philippincs also has faced a communrstorientcd llatonwi(le rebellion. In thc nrid-1980s. the
NPA (Nerv People\ Army) controlled one-quarter oI
the countrys villagcs scatterecl across all the rnajor islancls. Although the N PAs strength has declincd since
then, it rernains a potent force in many parts of Lhe
coLlntr\'. Fr.rrthermore, the Philippine national government. although democratic, is [ar lrctm stable, sufering
Irom continual coup lhreats, corruption scandals, mass

speaking ethnic group (the Burmans), against the coun

try's varred non-Burman societies. Fightrng intensilied

Andaman
Sea

Gulf

of
Thdlond

MIXED BURMAN
AND MINORITY AREA

Figure '13.29 Ethnic Conflict in Burma (Myannrar)

Although the central Iowlands of Eurma [Myanmar) are prinarily
populated by people of thr dominant Burman ethnic aroup, the
per pheral highlands and the southeastern lowlands are home to
numerous non-Burman peoples. N,lost of these peoples have been in
per odic rebe/lion ginst Eurnra (N4yannrar) since the I970s, owing
to their perception that the national government was attempting to
impose Burman cultural norms. Economic stagnation and political
repression by th central governnrent have intensified these conflicts.

graduall,y afier independence in 19']8, until almost half of

rhe country's territory had become a combar zone (Figure
11.29). Burma'-s troubles. moreover. are bv no means limit-

ed to the counrrys erhnlc minorities. Since 1988,

it

has

been ruled by a repressive militar,v regime, one that is bitterly resented by man,v i[ not most Burmans. Democratrc

oppositlon to the government, ho\.\.'ever, has been vigor

ouslv suppressed, with its leader. Nobel Peace Prize lvinner Aung San Suu Kyi, remaining under house arrest
(Figure 13.30).
The rebe lling ethnic groups oI Burma (tvl,vanmar) have
sought to maintain rheir cultural rraditions. lands, and
r?sources. and the,v generally see the national government
as solrcrhing o[ a Burman clnpire seeking to imposc its 1an
guagc and, in sor.lle <'ases, religion-The ravada

Buddhism-

upolr them. lv{ost of the insurgent ethnic groups live in

founclation. Somc critics lravc vicu'cd it as sornct l.ring o[ a

Javanese clnpire, but it is true that lnanv rron-Javenese ir.rdividrrals havc risen to high governnrcntal positions While
Indonesia no*- has the highcst clegrcc o[ rolitical frceclom irr

rugged and inaccessiblc tcn-ain, and many of them are anirnists cr Cllrristiar.rs- But cvelr sonrc lou,land groups have
rcbellcd. l'hc Nluslim peoples of the Arakan coast (the
Rohingyas) in far wcstem tlurma (Myanr.nar) have long

610

Chpter

l3

Southeast Asia

miliury government, but they are wary of provoking it for

fear of pushing it closer to China and Russia.
Overall, Burma's government remains extremely suspiof the outside world. In 2005 it mandated the
creation o[ a new capital city ar Nay Pyr Talq located in a remote. forested area 200 miles north of the old capital of
Rangoon (Yangon). The new capital, u'hich was supposedly
slted on rhe basis of astrological calculadons and defense
considerations, is largely closed off from the outsrde rvorld.

cious

Thailand Compared to that of Burma, Thailand's recent history appears peace[ul and stable. Thailand
enjoys basic human freedoms and a thriving free press,

Trouble in

it does have a legacy of military takeovers followed by periods of authoritarian rule. In 2006, mass
although

protests in Bangkok led to the resignation o[ the comrptionplagued prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who had
Figure 13.30 Aung San Suu Kyi
The noted Burmese democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in '1991. As of 2007, she
remained under house arrest. (Dovid Von der Veen/EPA/Corbis)

faced discnminarion. In the 1980s, many were forced ro flee

to neighboring Bangladesh, while more recently Burmese

be en fleeing to Yunnan Pronce in China.
Several of Burma's ethnic insurgencies have been
financed largely by opium-growing and heroin manufacture. The Shan, for example, a Tai-speaking people inhabitrng a plateau area wrrhin the famous Golden Triangle of
drug production, formed a breakaway state in rhe lg80s
and 1990s based largely on the narcotics trade. Their efforts
began to falter in the late 1990s after Burmese agreements
with Thailand reduced the Shan heroin trade, while military operations cut off the supply of raw opium reaching

Muslims have

the Shan factories. But even though the government apparently triumphed over the Shan, other ethnic groups have
been able to move into the void. By 2001, the United Wa
State Army (UWSA), having largely abandoned ethnic politics for the drug trade, emerged as the rnajor supplier of
illicit drugs. As of 2007, the UWSA controlled an estimated
50 heroin refineries and methamphetamine factories and
maintained sorne 20,000 soldiers. Some reporters have alleged that Burma's military leaders tolerate the USWA both
because it helps them in their struggles against other ethnic
groups and because they get a share of the narcotics profis.
The fact that Burma (Myanmar) has a repressive and
Burman-dominated government has resulted i.n serious international repercussions. Both the United States and the
European Union maintain serious trade sanctions. Burma's

military rulers do not seem ver- concerned with global

opinion, however, and by joining ASEAN in 1997 they
gained international credibility and regional support.
Growrng economic tres with India and especially China
have also helped strengthen Burma's government. Russia
also maintains ties with Burma, and in 2007 it agreed to
help it build a small nuclear reactor. The other ASEAN
countries, for their part, are losing patience wtth Burma's

remained very popular among rural Thai voters. Several

months later, the Thai army seized power rn a bloodless
coup, apparently with the blessing of King Bhumibol,
Thailand'.s revered constitutional monarch. Although the

new military leaders promised a quick restoration o[

democracl', they also banned a number of political movernents, substantially reducing the freedom of the Thai
people (See "Geography in the Making: Thaiiand's Tioubled Return to Democracy").
The recent political tunnoil in Bangkok is partly rooted

in the ethnic tensions that have long plagued Thailand's

far south, a primarily Malay-speaking, Muslim region.
While minor rebellions have flared up in southern Thailand for decades. the violence sharply escaiated in 2004.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shrnawatra responded to the renerved figh ting with harsh military measures, a strategy
that many Thai military leaders viewed as counterproductive. But the more conciliatory stance taken by the Thai
government after the 2006 coup has been no more effective, as a shadowy adical Islamist group continues to attack Thai-speaking, Buddhist government officials and as
well as ordinary civilians. Between 2004 and June 2007,

over 2,I00 Thar citizens lost their lives

in this conflict.

The war has also raised the level o[ tension between Tharland and Malaysia, as Thailand accuses its southern neighbor of not doing enough to prevent lslamic miiitants from
slipping across the border.

!
International Dimensions of Southeast
Asian Geopolitics
As southem Thailand shows, geopolitical conflicts rn Southeast Asia can be complex affairs, involng several different
countries as well as nonnational organizations. ln earlier
years, some of the most serious tensions emerged when two
countries claimed the same territory More recently', radical
Islamist groups have posed the biggest challenge.

Territorial Conflicts In previous

decades, several
Sourheast Asian countries quarreled over therr common
boundaries. The Philippines, for example, sti]l maintains a

Chaoter

13

Southeast

Asla

61

United States-or any other country'-from gaining

undue influence in the region. For that reason, ASEAN
leades are keen to include all Southeast Asian countries
u,'rthin the association, although East Timor (an ASEAN
applicant) has yet to garn membership. ASEAN's ultimate
rnternational policy is to encourage conversation and negotiation over confrontation. For this reason, the ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF) u'as established in 1994 as an
annual conference in which ASEAN leaders could meet
with the leaders of both the East Asian and Western powers to attempt to ease tensions rvithin the region. Seeking
to further improve relations with East Asia, ASEAN leaders have also established an annual ASEAN+3 meeting
where its foreign ministers confer with those of China,
Japan, and South Korea.
Figure 13.31 The Spratly lslands
The Spratly lslands are small and barely above water at high tide, but

they are geopoltcally important.oil may exst in large quanttes in

the vicinity, heightening the competition over the islands. Southeast

fuian countries have been especially concerned about China's military

actvities in the Spratlys (Nouvelle Chine/Getty lnoges, lnc.-Loison)

One rmponant rssue faced by ASEAN is rhe rise of

piracy in Southeast Asian seas. Southeast Asia is a key
location for global shipping; roughly one-quarter of all of
the w-orld's maritime trade passes through the Srrait of
Malacca (between peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra)
alone. The same strait experiences roughly a quarter o[ all

global pirate attacks. Piracy recently has

"dormant" claim to lhe Malaysian stare of Sabah in northastern Borneo (Kalimantan) based on the fact that in
the 1800s the lslamic Sultanate o[ the Sulu Archipelago,
which was centered in the southern Philippines, con-

trolled much of its territory. The Philippines

has

suspended this claim as part of a general movement of

Southeast Asian countries to reduce regional tensions.
With the ise of the Associarion of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), national leaders have concluded that
friendly relations wrth one's neighbors are more important
than the possible gain of additional territory
More difficult has been the dispute over the Spratly
lslands ir.r the South China Sea, a group of insignificant
rocks. reefs, and tin,v islands that may *'ell lie over
substantral undersea oil reserves (Figure 13.31). The

Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei have all

advanced terriLorial claims over the Spratly Islands, as
have China and Taiwan. In 2002, however, all parties
pledgecl to seek a peaceful solution.

ASEAN and Global Geopolitics The development

and enlargement of ASEAN has helped reduce geopohtical
tensions across Southeast Asia. lnitially, ASEAN w'as an
alliance of nonsocialist countries fearful of the communist
regimes that had come to power in Vietnam, Cambodia,
and Laos. Through the 1980s, the United States maintained naval and air bases in the Philippines. and U.S. military force helped bolster the anticommumst coalition ln
the early 1990s, ho*'ever, the United States, under mounting pressure from Filipino nationalists, withdrew from the
Philippines By that time, the struggle between cornrnunism and caprtahsm was no longer an international issue.
In 1995, Vietnam itself gained membership in the organization, followed by Laos and Carnbodia.

While ASEAN is on friendly terms wi.th the United

States. one purpose of the organizati.on is

to prevent the

increased

markedly throughout the region, due mainly to economic

and poiitical insrability in Indonesia.
Global Terrorism and International Relations ASAN
has not defused all of the international political tensions
of Southeast Asia. Most wornsome has been rise of radical
Islamrc fundamentalism rn the Musllm parts oI the region.
One group, Jemaah lslamiya (JI), which calls for the creation of a single Islamic state across lndonesia, Malaysia,

southern Thalland, and the southern Philippines, has

cooperated extensively with AI Qaeda. ln 2002, JI agents
blew up a tourist-orrented nighrclub in Bali, kilhng 202
people. The group followed this b,v bombrng an Amencanrun horel inJakarta in 2003, serring off explosions in Australia's Indonesian embassy in 200.1, and attacking rhree
tourist restaurants in Bali in 2005.
Most evidence shows that few Southeast Asian
Muslims support radical groups such as Jl. Since 2004,
even mainstream Muslim political parties have not done
particularly well in national elections in lndonesia and
Malaysia Sorne evidence also suggests that lndonesian
authorities had by 2007 arrested most o[JI's top leaders,
thus crippling the organization. Radical Islamist groups in
the southern Philippines and southern Thailand, on the
orher hand, remain militarily capable.
Although radical Islam has relatively few supporters
in Southeast Asra, the people of the region have in general
been wary of U.S. foreign policy initiatives designed to
combat global terrorism. Resentment against the United
States is especrally pronounced in lndonesia and Malaysia,
where most people see the war in lraq as an assault on
Islam. Perhaps as a result, Indonesia's courts have given
lenient prison sentences to several JI operatir.es. The
group's spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Basyrr. for example,
served only 26 months of a J0-month sentence for his
alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing.

612

Chaoter

l3

Southeast As

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:

The Roller-Coaster Ride of Globalized
Development
I-ntil the do\\.'nturn of the late

1990s, economic development in Southeasr Asra u'as otien held up to the r.vorld as a
model for a nerv globalized capitalism, \\'ith investment capiul flowing first fromJapan and the United States, then liom
international investment portfolios, Thailand, Nf alaysia. and
lndonesia expcrienccd imprcssive economic booms. In the
surrrrer of 1997, hou'ever regional econonies suffered a
profound crisis, with thc currcncies of both Thailand and
lndonesia being dcvalued almost 50 percent (Figure 13-32).
Subsequent years lrave scen econolnic ups and dorvns, but
by 20t17 nrost of the rcgion had recovcred and rvas experier.rcing relatively strong cconornic grovu'th
Recent effos to e nhance grow'th by fostem.rg the
integralion o[ ttre region's economies have rnet rvith rnixecl

success

ln

2004, the core ASEAN countries

(BrrLnei,

lndonesia, Nfalaysia. the Philippines, Singapore. ancl Thailand)

agreed [o drop their tanfls against one another's products ancl
pledged to create a Southeast Asian free trade area. The remaining ASEAN states har,-e expressed rnterest in joining the
pact in 20I2, but some observ'ers remain skeptical. ASEAN
also agreed to pursue free trade arrangemns with China in
2002, but progress torvard implementation has been slour

Uneven Economic Development

Fgure

of 1997 98 ht Southeast Asia's banking sector particularly hard. Many banks were closed because their labilities were
much greater than their assets The economic crisis brought devastation to the poor and lower middle class. [Morcus Rose/Ponos Pictures)

Southeast Asia today is a region of strikingly unever.r

economic and social der.elopment \\4rile some countries,
such as Indonesia, have experienced both boorn and bust,

TABLE

13.2

Developme

nt Indicators

GNF
pcr Capita.

Country

13.32 Bank Closings

The economic crisis

PPP"

GDPC Average

Annual

o/o

(2000,05)

Brunei

Growth

I-ile
Lxpectancy

Percent oI'

Under Age 5

Population
l-iving on l-ess

Nlorralilv Ratc

'l han
$2 a Da,v

f990

2005

'enaler
Equityd

I)

92

Burma (N4yanmar)
Cambodia

60

130

105

l0+

Ll)

87

ttl
97

2,+90

8.9

63

j,7 z0

4.7

69

5Z

9I

l6

Easr Timor

78

58

lndonesia

2,020

6.2

55

7+

163

79

u+

Malaysia

10,120

4.8

t't

22

r2.

l0s

Phi linni ncs

5,100
29,780

+.7

48

62

l3

Singapore

+.2

80

nallilno

8,+40

5.4

7l

l7

)-I

l0t

!ietnam

3,010

7Z

53

19

9+

Laos

"(;,osi

11rIol

incomi

.Purt fiasrrg

orlr

'Cll)si

rlir

doDr(

arri,":

]r?./u(

,o,c fcrrr/o i,r frirrrr,!AccodrI srhools

!.rrlc/ cllLr/r\

dtur

/r' \lillennr

m Dc\el()prnenr (;ols

t)

t
Chapter

13

Southeast

Asia

613

Thailand's Troubled Return

to Democracy

t
I

Politics in Thailand is noted for its instability. Since the

abolition of absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has been
under seventeen separate constitutions and charte6, with
periods of democracy alternating with mlltary rule. Many
observers thought that democratic governance was fnally

revered king-overthrew the government, abrogated the

constitution, and declared martial law. Military rule was
partally suspended in January 2007, a new constitution was

solidifed with the 1997 Constitution, which guaranteed

numerous human rights. The general election of 2001 was
widely regarded as m0re open and free of corruption than
anv of ts oredecessors.
The victor in the 2001 election, however, proved to be a
divisive figure. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a
wealthy mobile telephone entrepreneur, championed the
poor, pushng for debt relief, rural development programs,
and state-supported medical care. Such polices made

Thaksin himself remained in exi e in Britain.

Thaksin extremely popular in rural Thailand, especally in the

po0r northeastern region. Urban and middle-class Thai

citizens more often complained about the Thaksin
government's alleged corruption, hostility to freedom of the
press, and human rights abuses. lvlany also objected to
Thaksin's hard-line military approach to the rebellion n
Thailand's Malay-speaking, l\4uslim dominated south.

Thaksin's landslide reelection

ln

2005 did not

end

Thailand's political unrest. In September 2006, a military

junta- apparent y conducted with the blessing of Thailand's

imposed, and new elections were promised. Thaksin's

political party, Thai Rak Thal, was officially dissolved, while
Despite

the

mi

itary junta's attempts

to

neutralize

Thaksin, the former Prime Minister's movement continued

to be an influential force in Thai politics. By mid-2007,

new political
Thaksin's supporters rallied around
organizat0n, the People's Power Party (PPP), officially led by
the fiery and sometimes vu lga r former governor of Bangkok,
Samak Sundaravej. Samak is noted for his strong support of
Thailand's consttutional monarchy,
useful position
considering the fact that Thaksin had often been accused of

berng disrespecttul toward the king.

The People's Power Party emerged as the clear winner in
Thailand's national election in December 2007, wnning 232

out of 480 seats in Thailand's House of

Representatves.

Lacking an outright majority, the PPP had to seek allies to

form a coalition government. lt promised that once t did

it would invite Thaksin to return home from exile. Any

such move would anger Thai and's top military leaders,
so,

resulting perhaps in cont nued political unrest.

others, such as Burma (Mvanmar), los, Cambodia, and East

Timor, mssed the expansion of the 1980s and 1990s and re-

it is clear that dictator Ferdinand Marcos (who ruled from

1968 to 1986) squandered biliions o[ do]lars while failing

main deeply impoverished. Oil-rich Brunei and technologically sophisticated Singapore, on the other hand, managed to
largely avoid the economic crisis of the late I990s and remaln

to enact programs conducive to genuine

two of the world's more prosperous countnes (Table 13.2). In

the Philippines the sltuation is somewhat more complicated.

The Philippine Decline Fifty years ago, the Philippines

was the most highly developed Southeast Asian country
ancl was considered by many to have the brightest
prospects in all of Asia. It boasted the best-educated populace in the region, and it seemed to be on rhe verge of
sustained industrialization and economic development.
Per capita GNI in l90 was higher in the Philippines than
in South Korea. By the late 1960s, however, Philippine
development had been derailed. Through the 1980s and
early t990s, the country's economy failed to outpace its
population growth, resulting in declining living smndards
for most. The Philippine people are still well educated and
reasonably healthy by world standards, but even the country's educational and health systems declined during the
dismal decades o[ the I980s and ].990s.
Why did the Philippines fail so spectacularly despite
its earlier promise? Although there are no simple answers,

development.

The Marcos regime instituted a kind o[ crony capitalism

in which the president's many friends were granted huge
sectors of the economy, while those perceived to be enemies had their propertles confiscated. After Marcos
declared marrial law in 1972 and suspended Philippine
democracy, revolutionary activrty lnlensified and the
country began to fall inro a downward spiral.

While

it is tempting to blame the failure of the

Philippines on the policies of the Marcos regime, such an

explanation is only partially adequate. Indonesia and Thailand also have seen rhe development of crony capitalism,
yet their economies have proved more competitive. And
ahhough the Marcos dictarorship was finally replaced by
an elected democratic government in I98, the Philippine

economy continued to languish through the 1990s.

Remitmnces by Filipinos working abroad have kept the
economy afloar, but this exodus of labor represents in
many respects a rragedy for the country as a whole (see
"People on the Move: Filipinos Take to the Seas").

By the beginning of rhe new millennium, the Philippine economy showed some signs of reval. The government turned its attention to infrastructural oroblems. such

614

Chaoter

13

Southeast As

as electricity prorlsion, and foreign investments began to

flow into the country A vibrant local economy emerged in

the fbrmer U.S. naval base of Subic Bay Boasting both

world-class facrlities and a highly competenr local government. Subic Bay has emerged as e major exporr-processing
center. Cebu City, on the central Visayan island o[ Cebu,
also has expanded quickly, giving rise to its local nickname
of "Ceboom." By 2006, the Philippine economy was expanding at a relatively rapid annual rate o[ 5.4 percent
Despite irs recent recover), the Philippine econonty
continues to be weakened by political and social problems. The Phrlippine political sysrem, modeled on that of
the United States, entaiis elaborate checks and balances

between the different branches

of government.

-t

Criti.cs

contend, however, that such "checks" are so effective that

little is ever accomplished. The Philippine government
habitually spends far more money than it takes in txes,
leading to a huge public debt that consumes a large portion of the national budget. Another obstacle is the fct
that the Philippines has the least equitable distribution of
wealth in the region. While many members of the ehte are
fantastically wealthy by anv measure, roughly half of the
country's people subsist on less than $2 a day As a result,
manv Filipinos seek empioyment abroad (Figure 13.33).

Figure 13.34 Housing in Singapore

Despite rts free-market approach to economics, the government
of Singapore has nvested heavily in public housing. I/any
Singaporeans live in buildings simlar to the one depicted in this
photograph. (Dr. Prodeep Kunor/ProPhotoz)

those involved in technology) and has itself invested heaviry

in housing, education, and some social services

(Figure

13.34). This system, however, is somewhat repressive and is

The Regional Hub: Singapore If rhe Philippines has

been the biggest economic disappointment in Southeast
Asia over the past 60 years, Singapore has surely been the
region's greatest developmental successes. Singapore has
tansformed itself from an entrept port ciry a place where
goods are imported, stored, and then transshipped, to one
of the world's most prosperous and modern states. Singa-

pore is now the communications and financial hub of

Southeast Asia, as well as a rhriving high-tech rnanufacturing center. The Singaporean govemment has played an active role ln the development process but has also allowed

market forces freedom to operate. Singapore has encouraged investment by multinational companies (especially
Fgure 13.33 Filipina Migrant Workers in Kuwait
The long period of economic stagnation in the Philippines has resulted

outflow of worken from the country Women from the

Philippines often work as domestic servants in the Persian Gulf region
and in Singapore and Hong Kong. (knnV Tweedie/fonos Picturcs)

far from lully democratic. Although elections are held, the

government is able to rnanipulate the process, ensuring that
the opposition never holds more than a few seats in parliament. Whiie many Singaporeans object to such policies,
others counter that they have brought fast growth as well as
a clean, safe, and rernarkably cor-rxption-free society.

Although the Singaporean govemrnent has thus

far been able to repress disscnt, its authoritarian form ofcapimlism confronLs a new technological challenge in the htternet. Natlonal leaders want the communication sewices that
the Net pror,rdes, but they are worried about the free expres'lead
slon that it allows, fearing that it u'ill
to excessive individualism. It will be interesting to see how Singapore
responds to this challenge, in part because the governments
of China and Vietnam may be seeking to emulate the technocratic, authoritarian capitalism pioneered by Singapore.

n n

Malaysia's Insecure Boom Although not nearly

as

prosperous as Singapore, Malaysia has experienced very

rapid economic growth over the past several decades and

has now broken

into the ranks o[ the middle-income

countries. Development was initially concentrated in agriculture and natural resource extraction, focused on tropical hardwoods, plantation products (mainly palm oil and
rubber), and tin. More recently, manufactu ng, especially
in labor-intensive high-tech sectors, has become the main
engine o[ growth. As Singapore prospers! moreovel many

o[ its

enterprises are spilling over

into

neighboring

Malaysia. Increasingly, Malaysia's economy is multinatronal;

many Western high-tech firms operate in the country

while several Malaysian companies are themselves establishing subsidiaries in foreign lands. As a result o[ is prosperityl Malaysia has attracted hundreds of thousands of

C'oLe

l3

):J-,relct

AS

615

illegal irnrnigrants, mostly frorn Inclonesra ancl the Philip-

inte nsif,ving insurgency

pines, generating some tension r.vith hose countries.

N,lalaysias economy began to grow rapidly in the
1970s. but it $'as particularl,v hard hit by the Asian economtc crisis ol the Iate 1990s. The Malaysian govemrnent's response to the crisrs .,vas diffcrent from that of its
neighbors. Spurning the advice of thc lntet lurional N{onetarv Fund, Malaysia ilrstitutcd ter.nporary currencv controls. regulating thc flow o[ intcrnational funds in ancl out
of the cor:ntr Some observers believe that these policies

slou'down. Export growth, hoq'ever, of both agricultural

helpecl Nlalavsia recovcr more rapidly than Thailand

ancl lnclonesra. br-rt others are mor inclined to credit
N{alaysia's right fiscal policies, which have kept rts external debt srnall and its foreign exchange reserves large.
Highlv dependent on the export of elecrronic goods. the
N{alaysran economy remains vulnerable to lluctuations in
thc ),lorth ,A.lncrican, Europcan, and Japanese marke ts
Thc economic geogr-aph,v of rnodern Malaysia is not umftrnn. l\'lost industrial clevclopntent has occurred on the west
sidc o[ -rr.rinsular lVlalaysia, with utost of the rcst o[ the country rcmaining largely depenclent o11 griculture and resource

cxtr?rction

N,'[orc

mrportant. hor.r,ever, are clisparities based on

ethnicitl. Thc indtrstrial wealth gcnerated in Malaysia

has

en concentra[ecl in the Chinese comrnunitr.: Ethnic Malays

rcmain lcss prosperoLLs than Chinese Valal'sians, and those
be

of South Asian clescent tend to be poorer still. Many of the

counLr\,'s tribal peoples have snfered as dcvelopment procceds ancl thcir lands are takcn awar,.

The disproportionate prosperitv o[ the local Chrnese

communitv is a leature of most Southeast Asian countries.
The problem is particularlv acute in Malaysia, ho'"vever,
sirnply because its Chinese minorit,v is so large (some
30 percent of the countrl'ls total populanon). The government'.s response has been one

of aggrcssive "affirlative

action.'by w'hich econor.r.lic clout is trarrsferred to thc lrurnerLcall,v dominant lvlalat', or Bumiputra ("sons of the
sorl"), cornmunrty This policy l.ras bcen lcasonably successful. although it has nor yct rcachcd its main goal of
placing j0 percent of thc nation'-s rvcalth in thc hands of
thc Bumiputra comnrunity. Because the NIalal,sian cconorny
as a u.h,:le has grown raprclly since the 1970s, the Chincse
cotntnunitl' has thrived even as iLs relative share o[ thc

countr)'\ lvealth declined. Consiclcrable rcsentment, however, is still fclt b,v the Clrinese. rnanv o[ 'rvhorn argr-re Lhat
Mala,vsia-s ecor.rolnic ancl educational systems are
biasecl against thenr. L)ne resulL has been a considerable
"brain drain" o[ eclucatccl Chincse Malavsians emigrating
to other countrics. such as Canacla ancl the Llnitecl SLates

both

Thailand's Ups and Downs Thailancl, likc lvlalaysia,

clirnbcd rapidly durig the l9tl0s and lc)!)s i1o thc ranks
oI thc rvorld'-s nc*,1)' inclustrialized countrics Yet it rlso
exrcr-icnccd a nrajor downtulu in thc late I990s that
undernrincd much of this clevelopment through a devaluecl
currenc\ and the exodns o[ invcsLnent capital. Thc Asian
crjsis of 1997 actuall,v began in thc ovcrheatecl Thai economy,
ancl real estate markct Recovery began in earnest alter

2000.

but ttrc militarl,

cor-rp

o[ 2006 coupled u'ith

the

ln the

ar south resuhed in anorher

goods and machrnery remains strong.

Japanesc conrpanics rvere leading players in the Thai
boonr o[ the I980s and early 1990s. AsJapan itsel[becamr

too cxpensive for assernbly and other manufacturing

processes. Japanesc [irms began to relocate factories to
such places as Thailancl- They rvere particularly attracted

by the countrvs low-wage, yet reasonabL,v rvell-educated

u'orkforce. Thailand was also seen as politically stablc.
lacking the severe ethnic tensions found in many orhcr
parts o[ Asta. Although Thailandls Chinese population is
large and economically polverful. rclations Lrcrrvcen thc
Thai and thc Chinese hal'e gcncrally ltcen goocl
Thailand's ccor-rornic erpansion has by no means
benefited the entire counlry to an equal extent Most
inch.rstrial clevelopnrent has occurretl rn the historical core, es
peciall;' in the cit;' o[Bangkok itself \i:t, even in Bangkok, the

blessings o[ progress har,'e been decidedL,v mixed. As the cit_v

begins Lo choke on iG orvn grou,th, industry has begun to
sprcad outrvard. The entire Chao Phra,va lowland area shares
to somc extent in the general prosperit,y because of both its
prorimity to Bangkok and its rich agricultural resources. In
northem Thailand, rhe Chiang Mai area has benelited from
the fact that it attracts many international tounsrc.

Thailand's Lao-speaking northeast (the Khorar

Plateau) is one ol the countryl poorest regions. Soils here
are too thrn to support intensive agriculture, yet the popuIation is sizable. Because o[ the novertv oI thcil'horrclancl.
northeasterners oftcn are forced to seck enrplo,vment
in Bangkok. As Lao-speakers, they oftcn cxpericncc et)rnic
discriminatior.r. lVlen t;-pically fir.rd work in the construction industry'; rlortheastern \r'olnen nlore often nake their
living as prostitutes (Figure 13.35)
Figure 13.35 Sex Tourism in Thailand
Thailand has one of the hghest rates of prost tution in the world.
While most prostitutes cater to a loca c ientele, thosc working in
Bangkok's nfamous Patpong district are usual y hired by foreign
men. Prostituton in Thailand is associated with high rates of HIV
infection and with the brutal exploitation of women and

girls. [Agence Fronce PressefGetty lmoges)

Indonesian Economic Development Ar the time of

independer.rce (1949), Indonesia was one of the poorest
'l"he Dutch had used their colony
countries in the rvorld.
largely as an extraction zonc for tropical crops and other
resources and had invested little in infrastructure or educa-

tion The population of Java

mushroolned

in

rhe nine-

teenth and early tlventieth ceuturies, and serious land

shortages burdenecl peasant communities.
The lndonesian econom.,v- finally began to expand in thc
1970s. Oil exports fueled t]re early growth, as dirl the logging of tropical [orests. But unlike niost otlier oil exporters,
Indonesia cortinuerl to grou' even after orl prices plummeted
in the 1980s. Oil production sr:bsequently declined, and in
2004 lndonesia had to begin importing oil. But like Tluiland
and Malaysia, Indonesia proved attractive to multinational
companies eager to export from a low-rvage economv Large
Indonesian firms. some three-quarters of them orvned by
local Chinese families, also have capitalized on the country's
low wages and abundant resources.
But despite rapid grorvth in the 1980s and 1990s.

Indonesia remalns

a poor and

economicall,v troubled

country. Its pace of economic expansion seldom matched

rhat of Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysra, and it has
remained much more dependent on the unsustainable
exploitatron of narural resources. The Iinancral crisis of the
late t990s. moreover, hurt Indonesra more severely than
an;- other courltry and its banking sector is strll considered
fragile. Political instabi'litv continues to hamper economrc
recovery, as did a series of natural disasters in 2004, 2005,
and 2006. Wl.ren fiscal 1:rroblems led h.rdonesials governrnent to raise fuel prices b.v 12.6 percent overnight in 2005,
inflation intensified and interest rate hikes followed. further undermining the country'-s econorny'.
As in Tlrailand, development in lndonesia exhibrts
pronounced gcogra:rhical disparities. Northwest Java,
close to the capital city ofJakarta, has boomed, and much
of the resource-rich and moderately populated island of

however. is still quite lorv b,v global standards, Postwar re

unification in 1975 did not lnltially bring the anucipated

grolvth, and econornic stagnation ensued. Conditions grelv
rvorse in the early 1990s after the fall of thc Sovict Union,
Vietnam's rnain supporter and trading partner. Until the
micl- I990s, Vietnam remained under ernbargo bv thc
United States. Frustrated rvith their couutry's economic performance, Vietnam's leaders began to embrace the market

q'hile retaining the political [orms oI a communist slate,

They have, in other words, follouecl the Chinese modelVietnam now rvelcomes multinational corporations, which
are attracted b,v the extremely lorv wages received by'its
relativel,v u'ell-educated rvorkforce (Figure 13.36)
Such efforts seemingl,v began to pa,v off after 2000. By

2007 the Vietnamese economy u'as expanding at roughly

8 percent a year, one of the fastest rates of gror,r,'th in the
region. Foreign investment began to pour into lhe countrl', and exporrs especially of textiles-began to surge. In
Januarv 2007, Vietnam joined the Wbrld Trade Organiza-

tion, rvhich will rrobably further boost exports while

ensuring the continuation oI market-orented reforms.

\ietnam'-s recent economic rise. horvever, has not been
untroubled. Many lowland peasants and upland tribal
peoples ha",e bccn cxcluded from the boom and are thus
grou'ing increasinglv discontented. Tensions between the
north, centel of political authority: and the south. center
o[ economic power, seeln to be increasing Trade drsputes
have arisen rvith tlie United States. u'hich has accused
Vietnamese exporters o[ dnrnping such products as farmraised catfish ancl shrimp on American rnarkets.
Laos and Cambodia face some of the most scrious economic problems in the region. h.r Cambodia, the ravages o[
u,'ar followed by continuing poliLical instability have undermined economic developrnent, rvhile Laos faces special
difficulties owing to its rough terrain and relative isolaion.
Both countries also are hampered b,v a lack of inflastructurc: outside tlie few clties. paved roads and reliable

Sulratra has long been relativell' prosperous. Another

resource-rich area, eastern Borneo (Kalimantan) also is relativcly rvell off. In the overcrorl'ded rural districts of central
and eastern Java. however, lrany peasants have inadequate
land, and thus rernain on thc nlargins of subsistence. Far
eastern Indonesia has experienced little ecolromic or- social
development, and throughout the rernote areas of all thc
"or-rter islands," tribal peoples have suffered as tl.]eir resources have been taken and their lands lost to outsiders.

Divergent Economic Paths: Vietnam, Laos, and

Cambodia -l-he three countries o[ former French
Indochina-Vietnanr, Calnbodia, and los----+xperienced
only modest economic expansion during Soutl-reasr Asials
boom years of the 1980s and 1990s. This area cndured
almost con[inual r.^,'ar[are between 1941 and 1975, and fighting persistecl until the micl-1990s in Carnbodra Critics contend that the socialist economic svstern adopted by these
counlries prevented sustained econornic growth. Thrs debate is now moot, however, since a capitalist model of development has largely rcplaced socialism rn all three countrics.
C)f tl.rese three countries, Vietnam has by far the
strongcst ecollorri) Tlre country'.s pcr capita GNl of 1i3.010,
616

Fgure 13.36 Capitalism in Vietnam

Although Vietnam is a communist state, it has-lke Chinaembraced many forms of capitalism. Prvate shops are now
al owed and foreign investmrnt is welcome. Largc multinational
corporations are increasingly investing in Vietnam, resulting in a
recent economic boom. (AP/Wide World Photos)

electdcrty are rare. As a result, the economies of both

Cambodia and [,aos remain largely agricultural in orientation, $,hile relying heavily on environmentally damaging logging and mining operations. ln Laos, subsistence frming strll
accounts for more than three-quarters o[ total emplo]rnent.

The Laotian government is pinnrng lts economic

hopes on dam and road burlding. The counrry is mounuinous and has many large rivers, and could therefore
of electricity, which is in high
demand in neighboring Thailand. Up to 100 new dam
generate large quantities

projects have been proposed for tl.re Mekong River system,

most of them to be located in Laos. The Asian Development Bank also is supporting an ambitious road-building
program that u'ould pass through Laos in order to link

China to Thailand. The Laotian governmen[,

how.ever,

remains repressive, discouraging foreign inveslment.

The Cambodian economy, lor its part, is increasingly

with that oI Thailand, a fact much resented

in Cambodra. In 2003, rioting in Phnom Penh resulted
integrated

in the clestruction o[ the Thai embassv

as well as 17 Thaiowned businesses. Since then, however, the ties between

the two countdes have only strengthened (see "Global to
Local: Poipet and Southeast Asia's Other'Sin Cities"').

Although still deeply impoverished. Cambodia

has

experienced a recent economic boom of surprising proportions. Foreign investment has led to the development
o[ an expandrng textile sector, tourism is thrivlng, minrng
t-

is taking oll, and in 2005 important oil and natural gas

fields u.ere discovered in Cambodian territorial waters. As

a result of such developments, the Cambodian economy

greu, at the breathtaking rate o[ IJ percent in 2006. Such
rapid growth was possible only because the country's economic starting point was at such a low level. A lack o[
both skills and basic infrastructurc. as wel'l as problenrs of
political instabilit,v and corruption, could easily result in
rcncwed econornic difficulties in the near future. Unfortur.ratcl the rccent ccor.ror.nic boom has led to an epidemic

of

''lar-rd-grabbing,

"

ir.r

which politically connectecl

eliLes

take over the properties o[ impoverishecl peasants in order

to develop them.

Despite their basic lack o[ clevelopment, Cambodia

and Laos are not as miserable as one might expect from

the official economic statistics. Both countries have

relatrvely lorv popr-rlation clensities and abundant resources. Their low per capita GNI figures, more importantl),, partially reflect the fact that man,v of their people
remain in a subsistence econom While the highland peoples of Laos make feu' contributions to GNI. most of them
at least have adequate shelter and [ood.

Burma's Troubled Economy tlurn.ra (tvlyanmar) stands

near the bottom of the scale of Southeast Asi.an econornic
der.elopment. For

all o[ its many problems,

horvever,

Burma (Myannrar) is a land of grcat potential. It has abundant natural g56ue5-ilding oil and othel minerals,
lvater, and timber-as well as a large expanse of fertile
farmland. Its population densit,v is rnoderate, and its people are reasonablv rvell educated The countr)', however,
has seen httle economic development, and as o[ 2006 its
economy was growing at a slow rate o[ 2.6 percent,

Burma's economic woes can be traced in part to the

continual warfare the country has experienced. Most
observers also blame economic polici,r Beginning in
earnest in 1962, Burma (Myanmar) attempted to isolate
its economic system from global forces in order to achieve
self-sufficiency under a system of Buddhist socialism.
While its intentions werc admirable. the experiment was
not successful; instead of creating a self-contained economy,
Burma (lvlyanrnar) found itsel[ burdened by smuggling
and black-market activities.
In the early 1990s, Burma began to open its economy
to marke[ forces and increase its involvement rn foreign
trade B-v 2000, however, the reform measlrres had stalled
out, and in 2003 a banking crisis resulted in another
round of economic havoc. High rates of rnflatton and worrisome fiscal deficits undermine business conlidence, but

probably the most damaging economic impedrment is

Burmas exchange rate policy ln 2005, u'hen the ofhcral
exchange rate was 5.82 Burmese kyat to the U,S. dollar,
one could usuallv get 1,075 kvat to the dollar in the street
market. Although Burma's government s non' hoping that
enhanced trade with China and lndia wrll help solve its
economic problems, its fiscal policies will probably continue to undermine genuine development.

Globalization and the Southeast

Asian Economy

;t

As the pre'r'ious discussion shorvs, Southeast Asia has

undergone rapid but highly uneven integration into the
global economv (Figure 13.37). Singapore has thoroughly
staked its future to the success oI multinational capitalism, and several neighboring countres are lbllos'ing suit.
According to one measurement, Malaysia and Singapore

have, respectively, the fourth and fifth most tadedependent economies in the world. Even Marxist Vletnam
and once rsolationist Burma (Myanmar) have opened
their doors to international corlerce, although with far
more succe ss in the forme r case than rhe latter.
Much debate has ariscn among scholars ovcr thc roots
Asia'-s economic gains, as lvell as its nrorc
recent economic problems. Those who credit primarily
the diligence, discipline, and entrepreneurial skills of the
Southeast Asian peoples are optinlistic about future economic expansion. Some skeptics argue, however, that
most of thc region's growth has corne frorn the application
of large quan titics of labor ar.rd capiral unsupported by real

of Southeast

in productivity Regardless of how- this debate

it is clear that Southeast Asia's globalized
economies are heavily dependent upon exports to the
international market, In the 1990s, many observers
thought that the booming economies of Southeast Asia
advances

turns out,

.,r.ere overly dependent

on exports to the United States,

but in recent vears the rise of China has resulted in a rnore
balanced trading regirne. In 2005, for example, 15.4 percent of Thailand's exports rvent to the United States, rvhile
13 9 percent rvert to China (including Hong Kong)
Globalized industrial production rn Southeast Asia
has become quite controversial. Consumers in the world's
*'ealthy countries are increasingly aware that many of
617

.a

2@

ment

CHIf{A

.T

PACIF IC

OCEAN
ll

1.,

0
0

250
500 Mile5
250 500 tulomereE

tt

fr

sI

4f*{
INDIAN
OCEAN

DONESIA

Figure 13.3 7
Southeast Asia's Global
Linkages
Much of Southeast Asia is tightly integrated
into global trade networks, expoding large amounts ot
both primary products and manufactured goods. This is particularly

AUSTRALIA

true of Malaysia and Singapore. Laos, Cambodia, and especially Burma

(Myanmar), on the other hand, remain relatvely isolated from the
global system. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Indonesia's tres with the
global economy were rapdly strengthening. Snce that time, however,
economic collapse, political instability, and ethnic violence have
resulted in a tremendous flow ofcapital out of the country

development and protecL their own home markets, urtder

the pretext of concern over rvorker rights

their basic purchases, such as sneakers and clothing, are

produced under exploitatlve conditions (Figure 13.38).
Movements have thus begun in Europe, the United States,
and elsewhere to pressure both multinational corporarions and Southeast Asian governments to improve the
working conditions o[ laborers in the export industries.
The multinatronal firms in question counter that such
explortative conditions occur not in their own factories.
but rather in those of local companies that subcontrac for
theml activists, ho'*'ever. point oul that multlnationals have

trernendous influence over their local subcontracfors.

Some Southeast Asian leaders object to the entire debae.
accusing Westerners of wanting to prevent Southeast Asian
618

lssues of Social Development

As might be expected, several key indicatcrrs of social development in Southeast Asia correlate lvell u,ith levels o[
economic development. Singapore thus ranks among the
world leaders rn regard to health and education, as does
the small, yet oil-rich country of Brunei. East Timor, Laos,
and Cambodia, not surprisingl come out near the bottom for these measures. Note, horvever, that the people of
Vretnam are healthier and better educated than might be
expected on the basis o[ their country's overall economic
rrerformance. Burma (Myanmar), on the other hand, has

Chapti'13

Poipe

t and SoLttheast

5oLrtf <'as

Ari

619

Asia's Other

"5in Citics"
A

numlter

0r

SoJtheast Asian

crirs have prospered

by

provid no socia lv ollerlorrablc services to an nternati0nal

cl en[clc Forcmosl rnorq lftc5r s the resOrf city of Pat:aya,

the Gu f of Tlra lano 102 m les i'ttj5 ki ometers)

of Banqkok Altl-0ugh nanv of the approxinrate y 5
m | 0r torf isLs who annualy vis t this srn city fpopr,latron
locatcd

s0Lr.hcasl

100000)
.l

gg

corc ,r

11 lr,,for the beaches and the shopo nq,

t r d rav,; rs . he hu

nd reds

of "90-go

ba rs '

tlat

selve as tronts

for prost trtion Althouqh technrca lv i legal, Thar prostttut on is

a b g bus ness, Tetr ng some $i4 3 bi llon annua lr,t

Pattya s not the 0n y small Southeast

n

As an crt_v

to tind

che n thr goba prostituton usiness Before 1992, .hc

Cily n the Ph ipp ncs rias based on the

nearbv [] S A r Force base of C ark Fic d. When lhe A'nrr can
nlrtary fo"ces pui ed out Angccs City facril n un(er:a n
economlc fu:Lrre A tho.rq'r the Phi ppinc qovcr"lmrnl crealed
ecOnomy of Ange es

econon c zone to a llow busincsscs to ta(e advaaLagr

of the base s extensive tac lit es, dr.vr opmcrt has bce,r slow.
Anoeles Crtys n gltc ub drstrct, ho\.r.vcr, has ..xpererrted a
successfu expans0n. Bul t nrtaly lo cale: lo Amencan
servicerne, the proslitutrof-0.ielcd bars {rumbe"ing wel
a special

over l0Ol noii focus on an lrrnliorral clientele.

The explortat on

of

prosL

Phil pp nes mav bc scvcre,

lulrs in

Thai

and an0

fhe

bul rluch

conditions are
';crrsr
cncountcrcO r thr comparalvey unregu ated brothels or
Laos, Canrlod a, and Burma l|tllynmar) In 2004, lJe rv York
i;rncs lor,rnals: N chrlas Kr stof brought int,"rnat onal
ett.rticfr lc thr nr)"r [ic s tuat 0n faced 0y child prostitutes
r thc Canrtodi'r ciLy of Popet. Krsiof \^rent so far as t0
p u rc r asc ifo r $ I 50 a n d $ 203, 'espective y) a n d then f re e t r,vo
prosllute savc g rs. Thc sa e of i eqa drugs, especia ly
fltiharnphelanrnr, is a so rrvidespread rn th s tav,;dry
C- Uu| Jr lr r.ne. ov.. rig ,re I t 6 t
Tre boominq city of Poipet hor,veve oires ts ntost rcccnt
gro\ i th t0 cas r0 gambl ng Prope ling the rise o' :hrs city as .hc
"Las Vegas of Southeast Asia" s the fact thal cas no qa m bling is
extremey popular, athoLrgh ileoa, in nciqhbornq Thaiand
,,vh,"re Thais reported y spend up io $tl bi ion arrla ly on

sccrr a cleclillc in soll- c social incllcirtors. lts per caprta

hcelth buclgct is onc trf thc lo\\'est in the r.vorld. whilc its
militarr btrclgct. als il percclttrqc of its overall economic
oLrtpLlt. is Lhc fourth hrghest.

Figure I3.38 Indr:nesran Srvratshop

\4uch of Southeast Asia's recent econorric gro',vth has bern
der ved from manufacturing jobs lhat pay ow lvages and demand
rigid abor d scip inc The products produced in factories such as
thc onr shown in this photoqraph arr mostly exported to !vealthy
cou ntr es. (Reuters/Suprt/Lonclov LLC)

Figure I3.6.1 Puipct, Cambodia

The Holiday Palacc cas no is one of seven high end gamblinq facilities

rcccntly constructed in th Cmbodan border city ot Poipet. lRedux

Pictures)

legal gamb ng activitres In response Carbodian euthorltes

I Po pct d rrcl y oI
:he Tnai borde the first casino open nq n 1999. Tour sts lrir
Thai and can enter the casrno disinct urithoui passirg lhrough
Cambod an irnr qrat on, anc the gambl ng hals prrfrr Tha
al or,led the creatton of a gamb ing e nclavc

ratrer than

Cambod an currcncy. Although 90 pcrcenl of

pet's tourists are trom Thai and incresinq nunbers ;re
arrr.,ng frcnr lvlalaysia, China, a.rd Vetnant A nunrLrer of
Po pet's casino manqers moTcovcr hail konr Norlh Ame.ica,
ald nlany casrno workcrs arc from tl'e Ph lipc nes. Overal , the
venture s such an cconcm c success that sim lar qamb ing
reserves a[e bernq pla.rncd [or several Laolian bcirdcr iowns
Although Poipet has earned huqe sums of money for
Po

Invcstors

af0 mangt15, ls t.rroade r soc al efrects

are disastrous

0anqer0us city with inadequate infrastructure that

urcs in tltspefaleiy poor people, nrany of ',vhom are forced

Poipet is

nto work as prosti[uies or drug dealers. Bur cons dering the

poverty and c0rruptl0n found in Cambodia, t s not surpr silrq
Lhal lhe rise of Po pet has nret litile nationa res stance

\a''=1r

620

Chaoter

13

So.rtheast Asra

Wrth the exception of Laos, Cambodia,

Burma

(Myanmar), and East Timor. Southeast Asia has achieved

relatively high levels of social welfare. ln Laos. however,
life expectancy at birth hovers around a miserable 55
;-ears (as compared to Thailand's

7l

years), and female il-

literacy rates remain above '10 percent. But even the

poorest countries o[ the region have made some improvements rn mortality under the age of 5, as is evident
from the figures in Table 13,2. Note, however, that
progress has been more pronounced in prosperous counLries such as Malaysra and Singapore, rvhereas war-torn

Cambodia has made relatively small gains. Thailand, on

the other hand, has recently begun to provide a universal
social safety net for its citizens, hoping to raise its level

of social

development

to that found in the

world's

wealthier countries.
Most of the governments of Southeast Asia have placed
a high prioritv on basrc education. Literacy rates are relatively high in r.nost countries o[ the region. Much less success, however, has been reahzed in untversity and technical
education- As Southeast Asian economies continue to grow.
this educational gap is beginning to have negative consequences. forcing many students to stud,v abroad. High levels of basic education. along with general economic and
social development, also have led to reduced birthrates
through much of Southeast Asia. With population grou'ing
much more slowly now than before, economic gains are
more easily translated into improved living standards.

Summary
r

regional identit,v as expressed Lhrough ASEAN, the Association oI Southeast Asian Nations

o[ the most serious probletrs created by globalization

Southeasr Asia are environmcntal Civen the eurlhasis
placed b,v global trade on wood producs, il is perhaps undersandablc that Southeast Asia has sacrificed so many oI its
forcsts to supporL e conomic dcvelopment. But in most of the
region, loresls are now seriously depletcd. As the Chinese
economy expands, market demand for Southeast Asian forest products is increasing rapidly

Some

in

The relative success of ASEAN.

how-ever, has

bv

ntr

means solved all of Southeast Asia's political tensions

Nlany of its counties still argue about geographlcal. political, and economic issues, while global tcrrorism has
generated n'njor problems in Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Thailand. Several of the region's countries, most notablv
Camhorlia. Laos, and especially Burma (Myanmar), have
also bern hcld back by rcprcssive and corrupt governnrents.

Deforcsttion in Southeast Asia is also linked to domestic

population growth and changes in settlement patterns. As
people move frorn densely populated, fertile lowland areas
into rmote uplands, bolh cnvironmeutal damagc and cul
tural conflicts ofren follow Population movcments irl
Southeast Asia also have a global dimension This is parLicularly true in regard to the Philippines, rvhich has senl some
8 million workers to more prosperous parts of the *'orld.

Although ASEAN has played an cconontic as well as poLitical

role. its economic successes havc been limiLcd. Most o[ the
region's trade is still directed outrvard towarl the Lraditional
centers o[ the global economy North Amertca, Europc, and
East Asia. This orientation is not surprising. considering the
export-focuscrl policics o[ most Southeast Asian countries.
A significant question lbr Southeast Asials futuc is wherher

Southast Asia is characterized loday bv tretneudous cultural

diversity,. In recent 1'ears, conflicts ovcr language ald reli-

the region rvill develop an integrated regional cconorny.

A r.nore inportant issue is whether social and economjc dc-

gion have seriously weakenecl several Southeast

Asian
countries, including lndonesia, East Timor, and Burma
(Myanmar). Horvcvcr, the region has found a nerv sense o[

vt'loprnent will be able to lift the entire region out oI poverty

instead ol benefitingjust thc more fortunate areas.

Key Terms
animism (pagc 599)
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) (page 579)
Bumiputra (pa4e 615)
copra (page 59i)
crony capitalism (ta4e 61j)
domino theory (pagt 607)

entrept (page J 4)

Snnda Shel[ (pagt: 585)

Triangle (.pagc 590)

Khmer Rouge (pag 607)
Irngua franca (page 600)
primate cities (page 594)
Ramayana (pagc 598)
shifted cultivators (page 593)

sr"'idden (page 590)

Gof derr

transmigration (pge 592)

tsunanis (,page 587)
typhcrons (page 587)

Ouestions for Review

l Whv

are river deltas so important

of Souheast Asia?

in the settlement pattern

Explain how and why the monsoon climates of Southeast

Asia differ between mainland and islands.

3. What do rve mean when we refcr to the "globalization of

world forestr,v"?

4. Explain why

smoke and air pollution are so pronounced in

Southeast Asra.

Cnapter

5.

Compare and contrast thc three urajo tvpes o[ agriculture

in thc region-swidden, plantation, and rice cultivation.

. How might "transrnigration" solve and also aggravaLe

8.

13

Southeast tu

621

Why is there ambivalence about the English language in

some Southcast Asian countries?

country\ popr.rlation problems?

7. What rnajor religions

are found in Southrast Asia? Dscribe

the historical and contemporary parrerns for each religion.

9. What are the ethnic tensions facing Indonesia? Locate rh

different problem areas on a map
10.

What are the goals o[ ASEAN, and how have those goals
changed in the last several decades?

Thinking Geographically
l.

Discuss the ramilications oI state-sponsored migration in

lndonesia from areas of high popularion densiry ro areas of
low population density in both the "sending" antl the "re-

ceivlng" areas.

2.

Wl.ry should-or should not-citizens of the United States

be concerned abour deforestation in Southeast Asia? lf they
should be. what would be rhe proper *'ays they might show
such concern?

3. What mrghr the

fate of animism be in the new millennium?

Consider whether it uright be doomed to exrinction before
the forces oI modern economics and national integration, or
whether it may persst as tribal peoples struggle to retain
therr cnltural identirres.

4. What should

be the position of the English language in the

educational systems of Southeast Asia? What should be the
position of each country's national language? Whar about
local languages?

Re gional

(Myanmar) and lndonesia be reduced? Does Indonesia have

claim ro such areas as IrianJaya?
6. What oles might ASEAN play in the coning years? Should
a reasonable

it concentrate on economic or political

issues?

7. How could

Malaysia successfully inregrare irs economy into

the global system and at the same time regulate rhe flow of
global (or Western) cuhure? Evaluate whether Singapore
can continue to expenence economic growth while severely
limrting basic freedoms,

8. ls the Sourheasr

Asran economic path of integration into the

global economli which is marked by an openness ro mukinational corporations. going to prove \r.ise in the long run,
or do its potential hazards outweigh rts benefits?

Novels and Films

Novels

Films

Anthony Burgess, The LongDay

Norton)
Joseph Conrad, Vicorl

(l9l.

Wane.s:

A Malaysian Trilogy ( 1965.

Mochtar Lubis, A

RoaLl

The Bet Colbctor (2006, Philippines)

The Big Duriun (2003, Malaysia)

Doubleday)

Eliana, Eliana (2002, Indonesia)

Gaham Greene, The Quiet Americdn (195, Viking Press)

Ninfong Ho, Rice rvilhout Rain ( 1990, HarperCollins)
a Somerset

5. How might ethnic tensions in counrries such as Burma

with No End (1982, Graham Bush)

Maugham. BonLeo Stories ( 1976, Heinemann)

Paul Theroux, The Consul\ Fire (1977, Lloughton Mifflin)

Hmvn

and Earth (1993, U.S.)

Indochint' ( 1992, France)

King oJ the Garbage Dump (2002, Vietnam)

Midnight, M1 Low (2005, Thailand)

Plaoon

1987, U.5.)

The Sctnt of
5rrset d

Grun Popaya (1993. Vietnam)

Chaopraya (1996, Thailand)

Bibliography
Acl.rarya, AnritaY 2001 . Constructing o Securit] Community oJ
.Souhed-s Asia; ASEAN and the Problem of Reglonal Order.
Neu. York: Routledge,
Broad. Robin, and Cavanagh, John. 1993 Plundering Paradise:
Tht' Sl"ruggk Jor the Environment in the Philippines. Berkeley:
Universir,v of California Press.
Broek, Jan

O. lS44. "Diversity and Unit,v in

C eo graphi c al Revie

Maurizio

2007 . Thailand: The Worldly Kingdom. London:

Reaktion Uooks
Steinberg, DavidJoel. 2001. Burma: The State oJ MyatLnr. Washrngton, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Taylor, Jean G. 2004 Indonesia: Peoples and Hisories. New

Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Lhe World Economl' A RegionCambndge Universry Press.

Ulck, Richard, and Pauer, G1ula. 1989, Atlas ol Southea.st Asia..

Neu.York: Macmillan.

Dixorr, Chns 1991. South Fast Asia in

UK

Peleggi,

Southeast Asia."

w 34, I 75-1 95.

al Ctttgraphy Cambridge,

Herring, George. 1995, Americal Longest War: TheU.S. and Vitnam 195Q-1975. New lbrk: IvlcGraw-Hill.

Hefner, Robert Vv: 2001. The Politics o[ Multiculturalism: Pluralism and CitiTenship in lvlulaysta, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Honolulu University of Hawaii

Press

Additional bibliographic rsources are at the Divrsit Amid GIobaliation Website: http:,4wwwprenhall.com,/rowntree.