Abstract:
In Asia, the commodification of natural resources such as water has resulted in changes
to fundamental understandings of property rights. The interplay between modernity
and customary rights to water has brought into stark focus quite different values
ascribed to property rights. All these values are nevertheless expressions of worth.
This paper describes how the increasing commodification of the Asian commons,
specifically water, has raised issues of regulation and property rights. These issues must
be addressed if such natural resources are to be both conserved and sustainably
exploited. At a fundamental level the increasing recognition of neophyte property
rights in natural resources such as water has led to the notion of property rights in
countries such as Thailand and elsewhere, undergoing fundamental change. The
outcome of interactions between different forms of institutions of property is only now
being dimly understood.
Groundbreaking research by the author into the conceptualisation of water property
rights underpins much of this paper, providing possible guideposts for the development
of a more appropriate and inclusive approach to such rights.
