rural roads
A New Road for the Buid
Units of the Philippine Army, aided by army engineers, have just completed a road that should benefit some of the Buid people of southern Mindoro Island. A report by a Philippine news agency on August 30 indicated that one of the primary purposes of the road is to provide access to market services for the […]
Slow Progress for a Paliyan Village
Indian officials are distributing certificates that grant the Paliyans permission to use their forests—and in the process gaining publicity in The Hindu, one of India’s premier newspapers. According to an article in the paper on April 12th, T.G. Vinay, the District Collector (a high-ranking official) for the Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu, held a special […]
Anti-Amish Ordinance Fails in Wisconsin
An anti-Amish ordinance failed to pass in Wisconsin last Tuesday, in large part due to the vociferous, pro-Amish objections raised by local voters. The daily newspaper for the town of Wisconsin Rapids explained the controversial proposal several days before it was due to be brought up for a vote by the Wood County Board of […]
Highway Accidents with Amish Vehicles
Almost every week a familiar story pops up while searching for news about peaceful societies: an Amish buggy was hit by a motor vehicle and several people were injured—or worse. On Wednesday last week, a motorist in Wayne County, Ohio, hit a buggy, seriously injured a child and, the unique aspect of that story, quickly […]
Amish Safety on Public Roads
Some Ohio Swartzentrubers, probably the most conservative of the Amish groups, have decided to make changes in their buggies to improve their safety on the public roads. The Akron Beacon Journal last week published an interesting report on how the Swartzentrubers (also sometimes spelled Schwartzentrubers) in three northeastern Ohio counties are trying to lessen the […]
Changes in Rural Northeast Thailand [journal article review]
The northeast section of Thailand has changed from a traditional, isolated peasant society into a region of sophisticated rural dwellers. A recent journal article by Somchai Phatharathananunth describes the social, economic, and political transformations over the past several decades in rural Northeast Thailand, which is usually referred to as “Isan” or “Isaan.” The author, an […]
Excellent Roads Foster Pride in Rural Thailand [journal article review]
Until the 1970s, rural Thailand’s Suphanburi Province, located only 100 km north of Bangkok, was extremely isolated from the rest of the country. The province was the butt of jokes by other Thai people because their roads were either nonexistent or in such bad condition as to be virtually impassable. A fable told at the […]
