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Threatened peoples: Contrasts in composition and environment
The threatened peoples dealt with in this chapter include, in a broad sense, all the impoverished socio-economic groups of South-East Asia. Not by design, but in practice, these people are all marginal, both socio-economically and environmentally, to the economic development taking place in the region. Their ability to fulfil even basic needs is reduced or threatened, because of changes taking place around them over which they have little control and in which they are unable to participate. Many of them are characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, high infant mortality and low life expectancy to a degree below any reasonable definition of human decency. They are the people most likely to be without, or only have limited access to, adequate medical facilities in time of sickness and disability, without adequate schools to raise their level of literacy, and without hope for better employment. They also suffer from the social isolation of being 'unwanted'. Some belong to socio-economically inferior classes, forced into such a situation by custom, prejudice and political development, and required to accept the lowest paid and menial tasks, and be physically segregated. Who are these people?
In South-East Asia, they comprise numerous named socio-economic groups but, for convenience of discussion, they are broadly categorized here as the urban poor, smallholder and subsistence farmers and ethnic minorities. Although the last two categories have wide areas of overlap, ethnic minorities in the region deserve to be considered as a separate group because, beside other variables, their small population size, geographical distribution and location are significant factors in their underdevelopment.
As in most developing countries, the capitals and major cities of South-East Asia are not only the administrative and political centres but are also the heartlands and cores of economic development taking place within each country. They are regions where opportunities are relatively more abundant. A result is the movement of population from the rural areas into the cities in search of an alternative form of livelihood. But armed with nothing more than hope and sheer determination, and frequently without 'root' in the cities, the majority of newcomers head for the shanty towns which now fringe the outskirts of all South-East Asian cities; there they live in houses made from corrugated iron, plastic sheets and packing cases, without safe drinking water or adequate sanitation. With high-unemployment problems, the urban poor are trapped in a vicious circle. Those lucky enough to have a job suffer long hours, low wages and exposure to chemicals, dust, excessive noise and dangerous machinery.
In most cases. the squatter areas of these cities were left out of the rapid economic growth that these urban areas had enjoyed in recent decades. Many are unlikely to enjoy wide-ranging reforms in the future.
In short, they have remained, at best, economically and environmentally stagnated, like the Klong Toey community in the metropolitan district of Kraeng Thep Maha Nakhon, Bangkok. The Klong Toey community consists of 30,000 people squatting in houses often so crowded as to have 4 adults per room in dwellings built over a swamp. Only 3 in 100 have direct access to water supply; most people draw water from the filthy river. In addition, the lack of sewage and rubbish disposal is a constant threat to health. One-third of school-age children cannot attend school.
The same situations characterize many other major cities in South-East Asia such as the Tondo area of Metro Manila in the Philippines. However, even the meagre salary earned by these urban squatters, which in the case of those in the Tondo area amount to P10,000 per household per annum, is significantly higher than the national average of P5,800. As Myers (1985) has noted, the Klong Toey community is relatively we