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Acknowledgments As is always the case with a project of these dimensions, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to many people. While I won’t succeed in acknowledging everyone who has given me encouragement or help along the way, the following people deserve special mention. In Chiang Mai, Chaiyan Rajchagool has been a constant, valued interlocutor , and a good friend, as has Voravidh Charoenloet. Chaiyan Vaddhanaphuti helped me get this project started, and other faculty members at Chiang Mai University’s Regional Center for Sustainable Development (RCSD)—particularly Anan Ganjanapan and Chusak Wittayapak—have given me valuable feedback at different points along the way. Members of the Southeast Asia Rivers Network (SEARIN), especially Chainarong Sretthachau and Pianporn Deetes, provided me with tremendous insight regarding issues of river basin development. I would also like to thank Alain Mounier for his insights on labor processes in Thailand, and Johanna Son for keeping me apprised of insightful journalistic coverage of the Mekong region. Members of both the Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai Chambers of Commerce were tremendously giving of their time and helped me to appreciate their own considerable efforts in promoting regional integration. They are acknowledged in the chapters that follow, but I would be remiss if I did not give special thanks to Anan Laothammatas, who met with me on numerous occasions and helped arrange meetings with other Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai business leaders. Some of these business leaders may disagree with my characterization of the GMS development process, but I am both deeply respectful of their energy in promoting it and grateful for their openness in sharing their experiences with me. In Kunming, I owe a debt of gratitude to Shaoying He of the Yunnan Nationalities University for arranging my stay. I would also like to thank my research assistants and translators, Yu Yin, Long Lin, and “Clark.” I also appreciate very much the insights into Yunnan’s development issues that were provided to me by Zhu Zhenming, Zhang Guangping, Tang Jialin, Yu Xiaogang, and John Dore. I am especially indebted to my friend Guang Lei, who managed to make it all the way from San Diego State University to provide me with expert local research assistance and interpretation, not only in Yunnan but in Beijing as well. x AckNowlEDGMENTS Baoling Wang helped me considerably during a brief trip to Beijing, as did the organizers of the Second Global Economic Geography Conference, especially Mary Ma and Weidong Liu. In Vientiane, Kate Lazarus gave generously of her time to help me understand Laos’ position in regional energy and water development projects. I would also like to thank Mr. Boun and Mr. Vang Phommasack for help obtaining data on Laos. Over the years during which this research was conducted, I have had numerous fruitful conversations and intellectual exchanges with scholars and practitioners who have helped me, in ways both large and small, to better comprehend the processes I examine in this book. No list of such contributors can really be complete, but—along with the people mentioned above—at least the following deserve notice: Dennis Arnold, Trevor Barnes, Peter Bell, Bill Burgess, Carolyn Cartier, Sharad Chari, Young-Jin Choi, Steve Cohn, Altha Cravey, Arif Dirlik, David Edgington, Abi Ghmire, Vinay Gidwani, Derek Gregory, Tyrell Haberkorn, Gillian Hart, Kevin Hewison, Dan Hiebert, You-tien Hsing, Jinn-yuh Hsu, Kanishka Jayasuriya, Charles Keyes, Sook-Jin Kim, Phil Kelly, Abidin Kusno, Sai Latt, Michael Leaf, Peter Limqueco, Geoff Mann, Terry McGee, Richa Nagar, Bae-Gyoon Park, Jessie Poon, Geraldine Pratt, Julie de los Reyes, Joe Rickson, Garry Rodan, Eric Sheppard, Chris Sneddon, Janet Sturgeon, Surijit Sunanta, Benji Tolosa, Giles Ungpakorn, Larry van der Est, Peter Vandergeest, Joel Wainwright, Andrew Walker, Richard Walker, Thongchai Winichakul, Teresa Wong, Cindy Yang, Henry Yeung, and Yu Zhou. My graduate students, Jamie Doucette, Patrick Oabel, Bjoern Surborg, and Junjia Ye, along with Lawrence Santiago, have also helped me in numerous ways, including with research assistance and the intellectual challenges they consistently pose for me. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to present some of the research for this book in different forums. In particular, I would like to thank the following people and institutions: Chaiyan Vaddhanaphutti and RCSD for inviting me to present some of this material for a colloquium at Maha Sarakham University during July 2006, as well as on a panel at the conference “Critical Transitions in the Mekong,” held in Chiang Mai during January 2007; Kevin Hewison and the Carolina Asia Center for...

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