Finding ways of working together to make a baht, cooperatively, is community development in the best tradition of the Asian marketplace

Asian cities have always been, above all else, market places. Up an down the economic ladder, Asia’s urbanites are energetically buying or selling something. At one end are the poor, doing something at rock-bottom wages or making something at rock-bottom rates which somebody else profits from. Then come the broad spectrum of middle men, contractors, agents, exporters, investors - who despite their distance from the actual making and doing, are the ones who really clean up.

Self-employment is one way out of these inequitable equations, and judging by the scale and vitality of Asia’s informal sector, the urban poor’s preferred ticket to better livelihoods. But without capitol, stock, space or the bargaining power of scale, tiny businesses run by individual poor people are seldom able to tap the larger markets and supply systems, where the real money is.

Here we look at several groups around Thailand that are joining together and using the power of numbers to run enterprises which challenge these inequities and lead to other benefits

COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE

FEWER MIDDLEMEN

ECONOMIES OF SCALE

MORE JOBS 

STRONGER MORE ENTERPRISING COMMUNITIES 

MORE EFFICIENCY
Cooperative enterprises make more efficient use of overheads when members can share space, tools, machines, buy in bulk and form networks that can negotiate on behalf of members.

Bangkok Community Handicrafts Promotion Centre (BCHPC)

You may not know it, but the thing you use every day - the fork spoon etc, maybe made by an artisan who lives and works in a slum.  When the Thai Sporting Goods company received a concession to produce and sell souvenirs for the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister proposed bringing artisans from poor communities into the project. As the country’s first community craft cooperative, the Bangkok Community Handicraft Promotion Centre subsequently won a large contract to produce bonzeware souvenirs for the games.

The BCHPC was set up by five communities of bronzeware artisans in Praditakoran. Khun Sankit has been making bronzeware for 40 years, and is the co-op’s chairman. 
"Middlemen deal with craftspeople individually, so the price stays low," he says. "People have no power to negotiate conditions when they work separately, can’t push up their price. We came together for clear reasons - it makes business sense."

The cooperative quickly grew and now provides a legal umbrella to groups in 22 poor communities involved in enterprises to produce handloomed silk, cotton, ready-made clothing and artificial flowers.

Plans are on to establish a similar centre in Chiang Mai, a city rich in craft skills but short on cooperative entrepreneurship. As additional centres come into operation, collaborations will be possible, strengthening negotiation position.

Item 2 - A : UCDO Promotes Community Enterprise and Cooperative businesses

Thailand’s Urban Community Development Office (UCDO) has been working to promote community business enterprises which will have a greater range and intensity of economic and development impact - stepping up loans to community cooperatives, strengthening networks which eliminate middlemen and enhance access to markets, and setting up training courses in basic business principles and legal issues. Things are just getting going, and there are plenty of hurdles, but a few kinds of enterprise have shown potential :