1276
SI AM
practically no exemptions. The cost of labour is probably higher than in any other Oriental country. Chinese coolies do the chief part of both skilled and unskilled labour in the south, especially in the mills and in mining ; while in the north forest work is confined almost entirely to Laos, Burmese, Karens, and Khamus.
To the north of Bangkok, large tracts of land, formerly lying waste, have been opened up by an Irrigation Company, which has connected by a canal the Menam and Bangpakong rivers, and has constructed numbers of smaller canals. The chief produce of the country is rice (3,228,983 acres in 1920-21), which forms the national food and the staple article of export. For the Siamese Year (Buddhist Era) 2462 (April 1, 1919, to March 31, 1920), the rice export amounted to 441,039 tons, valued at 10,911,586/. In Siam mostly in Bangkok, there are 66 large rice mills, of which 10 are Siamese and 56 Chinese (13 of these Chinese mills being nominally British, i.e. from Hong Kong or the Straits Settlements). Other produce is hides, sticklac, gamboge, pepper, salt, dried fish, cattle, and sesame ; while, for local consumption only, hemp, tobacco, cotton and coffee are grown. Fruits are abundant, including the durian, mangosteen, and mango, and a large selection of different varieties of oranges.
According to Siamese official statistics the number of all domestic animals in the Kingdom on April 1, 1919, was 4,593,156, including 2,108,072 buffaloes. The live stock in January, 1916, consisted of 5,333 elephants, 105,078 horses and ponies, 2,336,936 cows, oxen, and calves, and 2,120,180 buffaloes.
Much of Upper Siam is dense forest, and the cutting of teak is an important industry, almost entirely in British hands. Siam teak wood is mainly produced in the north of Siam, the dry logs being floated by river to Bangkok during the rainy months of the year. In 1919-20 the exports amounted to 70,202 tons, valued at 1,189,801/. The forests are under the control of a British conservator, aided by several British officers. The export of rubber is now negligible, but planting of rubber trees is proceed- ing in the Malay Peninsula.
The mineral resources of Siam are extensive and varied, including tin, tungsten, wolfram, coal and iron, zinc, manganese, antimony, probably quicksilver. Tin mining on a considerable scale is pursued on the island of Puket (or Junk Ceylon) and also in the northern portion of the province of Puket at Kenong on the mainland, and the ore is found in ever-increasing quantities in other parts of the Siamese portion of the Malay Peninsula. where also wolfram is now being extracted in considerable quantity. The total output of tin in 1918-19 was 148,425 piculs (8,841 tons), in 1917 18, 153,782 piculs (9,153 tons).
Commerce.
Imports and exports for five j
ears : —
1916-16
1916-17
1917-18
1918-19
191!>-20
Imports
Export* ....
4
5,803,800 8.161,940
M 6,757,274 9,844,906
£ 7,407,510
'.>..VJU,7<H>
£ 7,980,147 12,468,956
£
12,272,967 15,718,170
Nearly the whole of the trade is in the hands of foreigners, and in recent years many Chinese have settled in the country. The foreign trade of Siam centres in Bangkok, the capital, except the mining industry in the South.
