Normal view MARC view ISBD view

Brummelhuis, H. ten

King of the Waters : Homan van der Heide and the Origin of Modern Irrigation in Siam / Homan van der Heide and the Origin of Modern Irrigation in Siam H. ten Brummelhuis. - 1 online resource. - Brill Book Archive Part 1, ISBN: 9789004472495 Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde ; 226 . - Brill Book Archive Part 1, ISBN: 9789004472495. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde ; 226. .

Includes bibliographical references and index.

King of the waters describes how a brilliant Dutch engineer ultimately failed to implement his plans for modern irrigation in Siam. Homan van der Heide’s identification with the interests of the rice farmers caused ambivalent reactions from his Siamese environment. Interwoven with the detailed description of the actions of the Dutch engineer, King Chulalongkorn and some of his ministers is the ambiguous performance of the Siamese state towards agriculture in the first decade of the twentieth century. The book shows the weight of many contingencies in state affairs, especially through the problematical interactions between the engineer Homan van der Heide and the minister of Agriculture, chao phraya Thewet — they seemed to form a kind of jolie à deux . King of the waters sketches a dramatic picture of clashing cultures, comparable to many encounters in contemporary development cooperation. The study is based on archival material in the National Archives in Bangkok and documents available in the Netherlands.

ISBN: 9789004454323 9789067182379

Standard No.: 10.1163/9789004454323 DOI

LCCN:

Subjects--Personal Names:
Heide, Homan van der.

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Irrigation (water management)
irrigation engineers.
Irrigation--Thailand.
Tropics (geography)
Water management.
Irrigation engineers.
Irrigation--Thailand.
Irrigatie (waterhuishouding)
Overheidsbeleid.
Tropen (geografie)
Waterhuishouding.

LC Class. No.: TC928.2.H45

Dewey Class. No.: 627.52