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Southeast Asia

Tuesday, May 25 GEOG 1982

Lecture Outline

•  Lecture themes: Division •  Burma & Thailand •  Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, & The Mekong River •  Island & Peninsular Southeast Asia

– Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei •  Indonesia •  The Philippines •  Green Revolution

Burma (Myanmar) •  Military regime, rural, poor

population –  100,000 Burmese living in

refugee camps in Thailand & Bangladesh

– Multi-ethnic – Largely Buddhist

Shwezigon Pagoda

Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon

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Thailand •  “Little Tiger” of 1990s

– TNCs •  King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bangkok, Thailand: Protests – Military coup Sep 2006 ousted Thaksin Shinawatra –  2008 Abhisit Vejjajiva –  2010 United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship

(anti-government) want Thaksin back in office (‘red shirts’)

–  ‘Yellow shirt’ Democrats oppose reinstating Thaksin

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

•  Mekong River •  “French Indochina” •  Communist + free

market •  Conflict, violent

independence •  Economic trouble in

1990s •  Economic growth

has resumed

Mekong River (pp.432-3)

•  Managed by the Mekong River Commission (est. 1957); coordinates flood control plans & dam projects

•  Funding from Asian Development Bank & World Bank

Vietnam

•  Annam Mountains •  Vietnam War (aka “American

War”) 1950s-1973; Cold War – Resistance leaders in northern

Vietnam – U.S. operated from the south –  4.5 million people died (including

58,000 from U.S.) •  U.S. sanctions on Vietnam after

the war

Vietnam •  Socialist Republic of Vietnam •  Pop 81 million (Cambodia 12.6

million, Laos 5.6 million) •  High population density

– Hanoi & Red River delta in the north and

– Ho Chi Minh City & the Mekong delta in the south

– Most of the coast •  85% Buddhist

Population Density

Hanoi

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Cambodia •  Spillover from Vietnam War (secret war

carried out by H. Kissinger) •  Mid-1970s – Khmer Rouge seized control

– Led by Pol Pot – 4 year reign of terror – Subscribed to communist ideals, violent – Wanted to destroy evidence of European influence;

persecuted educated people (labor camps, execution)

•  1979 Vietnam invaded & ran government until 1989, followed by a civil war

•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZpKFBTutW8 •  http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/cambodia/

•  Angkor – seat of the Khmer empire; built over 1000 temples; stretched over 1000 square km

•  Modern tourism in Angkor controlled by Korean companies

•  Modern music scene 1960s-70s; American rock (from GIs) took on a life of its own

•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXPuITCyyg

Angkor Wat

Malaysia, Brunei •  Economically successful •  Malaysia - capital: Kuala Lumpur

– Malay (Muslim), Chinese (Buddhist) – Violent independence (1969) – Bumiputra – Wealth disparity

•  Malaysia, Brunei & Indonesia have oil reserves

Indonesia •  17,000 islands; Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, West

Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste •  High population (4th most populous country in the world) •  Dutch colony, Sukarno (1945-68), Suharto (1968-98) •  Deforestation (international logging companies) (pp. 438-9)

Strengthening Indonesian Democracy http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=FEEDROOM197164

Singapore (pp. 463-4)

•  Economically successful; wealthy •  Highly planned •  State control •  75% Chinese

Philippines •  Roman Catholic,

Spanish speaking •  Mount Pinatubo

(1991) •  Ferdinand Marcos

dictator 1965-1986 •  Wealthy Chinese-

Filipino minority

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Green Revolution (p. 463)

•  Scientifically developed high yield seeds – Wheat, rice, corn

•  Most effective with use of fertilizers, pesticides, & farm machinery

•  Dramatic increase in crop yields •  Reorganized agriculture

Review

Terms: ASEAN, domino theory, tsunami, Wallace’s Line, Spratly Islands (429-30),