The state and its agencies in coastal resources management: The political ecology of fisheries management in Pattani, southern Thailand

Various stakeholders contribute to the current state of resource management in the inshore fisheries of Pattani, southern Thailand. Taking the state, empowered by national legislation, as the main agent of enforcement, this paper uses an actor-oriented approach derived from political ecology to evaluate how key agents in state agencies at provincial and district levels translate Thai political and legal systems at the local level; more specifically, how cross-scalar institutional linkages and translations affect coastal resources management and the access of village-based, small-scale fishermen to coastal resources. The paper shows that trans-scalar interpretations have created a space of contestation and negotiation in resource governance at the local level that reveals intrastate tensions. Based on extensive fieldwork, the paper demonstrates that access to environmental resources at the local level is highly influenced or regulated by the unequal power relations between different actors at various levels.