- 期刊
從異域到茶鄉 泰國北部山林的茶葉生產與臺泰農業計畫的領域效應
Battlefield to Tea Place Tea Production and the Territory Effect at North Thai Borderlands
摘要
交界於泰國、緬甸與寮國的金三角地區從1920 年代以來，便是世界主要的鴉片生產基地。至今，緬甸仍是僅次於阿富汗外最大的鴉片生產國。然而，同屬於金三角區域的泰國北部地區，其鴉片生產地景已全然改變。當今泰北邊境─特別是鄰接緬甸的清邁府與清萊府的高地─已轉型成多樣的經濟作品種植，如蔬菜、水果、咖啡、橡膠與本文所關注的臺灣茶。從毒品罌粟種植至合法的經濟作物栽種，如此明顯的農業地景轉變動力來自於泰王山地計畫的施行，而臺灣正是該計畫的主要參與國之一，成功地將高山農業技術與物作引入泰北山林。臺泰合作的農業計畫不僅牽涉泰國山林原住民，還納入了該地區的雲南華人。該社群原為國民黨軍隊，在國共內戰失利後輾轉遷移到泰北山林。在臺泰農業計畫中，他們從戮力作戰的軍人，轉換成農夫，甚至發展成資本家。在計畫裡眾多作物中，本文選擇「臺灣茶」作為視角，追隨農業技術從臺灣轉移至泰北山林的時空軌跡，說明農業技術轉移不僅是「經濟上」抹除抹除鴉片生產的國際合作計畫，亦為「政治上」讓泰北山林得以控管的地緣政治計畫，更是帶動泰北山林現代化，發展休閒與國際茶產業的重要動力。為解釋農業計畫對泰北山林地景與居民生活的劇烈改變，本文將農業計畫視為「不僅人為的政治技術」，而農業計畫中種種技術網絡的移動與實踐，正好體現泰北山林政治領域化與經濟去領域化過程。
並列摘要
The ＂Golden Triangle＂, a mountainous area overlapping Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, has been an opium-producing region since the 1920s. Today, Myanmar has still been the second largest producer of opium in the world, after Afghanistan. However, the extensive landscape of opium production has significantly changed in the northern Thai border area of Golden Triangle. Rather than plantations of poppy seeds, north Thai border areas now farm different cash crop plantations, including vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee and rubber. The significant landscape transformation from opium poppy fields to other cash crops plantations results from the international agricultural transfer of the Thai Royal Project. The Thai government recognizes Taiwan as the country that has most successfully transferred its crops and agricultural techniques to the north Thai border area. Nevertheless, Taiwan's participation in the transfer of crops and agricultural techniques was not been for the Royal Project per se, as it was intended to help a specific group of Yunnanese Chinese that fought the Communist Party for the Kuomintang (KMT) during the civil war in China. Restated, many of these Yunnanese Chinese came to north Thai border areas as soldiers of the military troops of Taiwan. Therefore, this essay traces the historical processes of agricultural transfer from Taiwan to the northern Thai borderlands. This essay draws on the historical trajectory to elucidate how the agricultural transfer was not just a mission to erase opium production, but also a geopolitical project to turn the KMT soldiers of Yunnanese Chinese into farmers of Thai citizens. Theoretically, territory is regarded as a more-than-human technology. Therefore, this work uses tea to illustrate the relationship between the international agricultural transfer and the enhancement of the Thai government's control over its north border areas. Additionally, we argue that this political territorialization process also involves an economic deterritorialization, which is realized by turning the former KMT soldiers into modern tea farmers.