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Der Entstehungsprozess von Zivilgesellschaften in Nordost Thailand: Eine empirische Fallstudie für zwei Dörfer«. Using a process-oriented methodology, this paper examines the ongoing interdependent processes of both macro and micro civil society using a case-study undertaken in two villages in Northern Thailand. Two forms of civil society are theoretically defined and examined in this paper. The first form, 'grass-roots' civil society, was formed in Thoongpong of the villager's own initiative. The second form, 'top-down' civil society, was created in the village of Phandon through government initiative. Survey data collected shows that following the government instability and subsequent lack of continuous support for village civil society groups and projects, the politically autonomous and independently formed 'grass-roots' civil society of Thoongpong has continued to thrive in contrast to the 'top-down' civil society of Phandon, which has dried up without continued government support. While further research into this subject is necessary, it is the author's opinion that given the current Thai political climate, 'grass-roots' civil society is more sustainable in rural Thailand and should thus be promoted more than 'topdown' civil society projects at present.

Using a process-oriented methodology, this paper examines the ongoing interdependent processes of both macro and micro civil society using a case-study undertaken in two villages in Northern Thailand. Two forms of civil society are theoretically defined and examined in this paper. The first form, 'grass-roots' civil society, was formed in Thoongpong of the villager's own initiative. The second form, 'top-down' civil society, was created in the village of Phandon through government initiative. Survey data collected shows that following the government instability and subsequent lack of continuous support for village civil society groups and projects, the politically autonomous and independently formed 'grass-roots' civil society of Thoongpong has continued to thrive in contrast to the 'top-down' civil society of Phandon, which has dried up without continued government support. While further research into this subject is necessary, it is the author's opinion that given the current Thai political climate, 'grass-roots' civil society is more sustainable in rural Thailand and should thus be promoted more than 'top-down' civil society projects at present.

Using a process-oriented methodology, this paper examines the ongoing interdependent processes of both macro and micro civil society using a case-study undertaken in two villages in Northern Thailand. Two forms of civil society are theoretically defined and examined in this paper. The first form, 'grass-roots' civil society, was formed in Thoongpong of the villager's own initiative. The second form, 'top-down' civil society, was created in the village of Phandon through government initiative. Survey data collected shows that following the government instability and subsequent lack of continuous support for village civil society groups and projects, the politically autonomous and independently formed 'grass-roots' civil society of Thoongpong has continued to thrive in contrast to the 'top-down' civil society of Phandon, which has dried up without continued government support. While further research into this subject is necessary, it is the author's opinion that given the current Thai political climate, 'grass-roots' civil society is more sustainable in rural Thailand and should thus be promoted more than 'top-down' civil society projects at present.

AbstractThe demand for the autonomous adaptive control of manufacturing lines has been growing to realize productivity improvement and carbon neutrality. We propose a methodology to realize the autonomous control of product quality under the existence of effects from non-measurable parameters. By local linear regression modeling with temporal neighborhood data, a single manufacturing parameter is selected by the obtained regression coefficients. Simulation results demonstrated that the straightforward multiple regression modeling often resulted in unstable control behavior with vibrations in product quality. We tested three approaches (scaling the amount of control, introduction of control interval, and semiparametric regression modeling for regression) to cope with the unstable behavior. The semiparametric regression model exhibited the best performance in realizing the stable control by correctly selecting the control target parameter with the additional non-linear term, that compensates the time-dependent non-measurable parameters.

(...) Part I: Social Scientific Papers Ito, Chiaki ; Chunjitkaruna, Phannee: Overview of Thai migrant workers in Japan Suzuki, Noriyuki: Recruitment and problems of Thai trainees in Japan Tsay Ching-lung: Working and living conditions of Thai contract workers in Taiwan Laodumroungchai, Samarn: Undocumented Thai migrant workers in Taiwan Muhamed, Khadija ; Chantavanich, Supang: Thai migrant workers in Malaysia Atipas, Porntipa: The regional economic crisis and the migration of Thai workers to Singapore Hong Woon Young: Analytical report of expert interviews on issues of Thai labor migrants in Singapore Part II: Legal papers Kondo, Atsushi: Immigration law and foreign workers in Japan Tsay Ching-lung ; Tseng Pi-yuan: Labor code on the employment and management of foreign nationals in Taiwan Tsay Ching-lung: Evolution of Taiwan's foreign labor policy and management Ahmad, Sharifah Suhanah Syed: Foreign labor in Malaysia Ewing-Chow, Michael: Singapore: legal issues relating to Thai migrant workers Prachason, Sajin: Conclusion Appendix: Abstracts of papers in Thai (...)

Many countries and regional political unions have regulatory and policy frameworks for managing chemicals and waste associated with human activities to minimize harms to human health and the environment. These frameworks are complemented and expanded by joint international action, particularly related to pollutants that undergo long-range transport via air, water, and biota; move across national borders through international trade of resources, products, and waste; or are present in many countries (1). Some progress has been made, but the Global Chemicals Outlook (GCO-II) from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (1) has called for "strengthen[ing] the science-policy interface and the use of science in monitoring progress, priority-setting, and policy-making throughout the life cycle of chemicals and waste." With the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) soon meeting to discuss how to strengthen the science-policy interface on chemicals and waste (2), we analyze the landscape and outline recommendations for establishing an overarching body on chemicals and waste. The world has seen a tremendous increase in the amount and variety of chemicals in use, with continuous growth expected; global chemical sales reached over US$5.6 trillion in 2017 and are projected to almost double by 2030 (1). Similar trends are also true for waste generation; for example, global plastic waste entering the ocean is estimated to increase from 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes in 2010 to some 100 to 250 million tonnes by 2025 (1). When chemicals and waste are poorly managed, not only are valuable resources lost, but chemical pollution can cause a wide range of adverse effects on human and ecosystem health at local, regional, and global levels. The latest Global Burden of Disease study estimated that exposure to lead and occupational exposure to 12 chemicals or groups of chemicals (a tiny fraction of the more than 100,000 chemicals in use) contributed to over 1.3 million premature human deaths in 2017 (3). Chemical pollution has also caused stratospheric ozone depletion, and it plays an important role in climate change (e.g., synthetic halogenated gases contributed over 10% of the global radiative forcing in 2011) (4) and ecosystem degradation (e.g., through the application of hazardous pesticides) (1). ; Peer reviewed

Rockström et al. (2009a, 2009b) have warned that humanity must reduce anthropogenic impacts defined by nine planetary boundaries if "unacceptable global change" is to be avoided. Chemical pollution was identified as one of those boundaries for which continued impacts could erode the resilience of ecosystems and humanity. The central concept of the planetary boundary (or boundaries) for chemical pollution (PBCP or PBCPs) is that the Earth has a finite assimilative capacity for chemical pollution, which includes persistent, as well as readily degradable chemicals released at local to regional scales, which in aggregate threaten ecosystem and human viability. The PBCP allows humanity to explicitly address the increasingly global aspects of chemical pollution throughout a chemical's life cycle and the need for a global response of internationally coordinated control measures. We submit that sufficient evidence shows stresses on ecosystem and human health at local to global scales, suggesting that conditions are transgressing the safe operating space delimited by a PBCP. As such, current local to global pollution control measures are insufficient. However, while the PBCP is an important conceptual step forward, at this point single or multiple PBCPs are challenging to operationalize due to the extremely large number of commercial chemicals or mixtures of chemicals that cause myriad adverse effects to innumerable species and ecosystems, and the complex linkages between emissions, environmental concentrations, exposures and adverse effects. As well, the normative nature of a PBCP presents challenges of negotiating pollution limits amongst societal groups with differing viewpoints. Thus, a combination of approaches is recommended as follows: develop indicators of chemical pollution, for both control and response variables, that will aid in quantifying a PBCP(s) and gauging progress towards reducing chemical pollution; develop new technologies and technical and social approaches to mitigate global chemical pollution that emphasize a preventative approach; coordinate pollution control and sustainability efforts; and facilitate implementation of multiple (and potentially decentralized) control efforts involving scientists, civil society, government, non-governmental organizations and international bodies.

The Stockholm Convention is key to addressing the global threats of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to humanity and the environment. It has been successful in identifying new POPs, but its national implementation remains challenging, particularly by low- and middle-income Parties. Concerted action is needed to assist Parties in implementing the Convention's obligations. This analysis aims to identify and recommend research and scientific support needed for timely implementation of the Convention. We aim this analysis at scientists and experts from a variety of natural and social sciences and from all sectors (academia, civil society, industry, and government institutions), as well as research funding agencies. Further, we provide practical guidance to scientists and experts to promote the visibility and accessibility of their work for the Convention's implementation, followed by recommendations for sustaining scientific support to the Convention. This study is the first of a series on analyzing policy needs for scientific evidence under global governance on chemicals and waste. ; ISSN:0013-936X ; ISSN:1520-5851