The politics of PVC: Technology and institutions in upland water management in northern Thailand

An article exploring the politics, technology and institutions involved in northern Thailand’s upland water management. Conflict over water has grown in the mountainous areas of Thailand since the replacement of opium with alternative crops. PVC‐sprinkler irrigation has enabled dry‐season expansion of these cash crops on sloping lands, intensifying demand for water when it is most scarce. Common conceptions of upstream – downstream conflict, pitting Thai against ethnic minorities in a struggle for resources, dominate the discourse of watersheds in Thailand. Understanding how upland communities create local systems of resource governance through dry‐season irrigation is highly relevant for governance at higher levels, such as in the efforts to establish watershed networks and river basin organisations.