Atlas of Thailand
Atlas of Thailand
This atlas portrays Thailand’s spatial structures and presents the country’s
social and economic development in a territorial context. The Kingdom
of Thailand has undergone many changes throughout its long history, and
Spatial structures
most recently during its vigorous growth from the middle of the 1980s.
and development
Atlas of Thailand
The maps and text give a comprehensive interpretation of Thailand’s
internal dynamics as well as its regional and global integration.
This is the first atlas of its kind for Thailand. It includes a wide range of
spatial information and maps using various computer-assisted techniques.
Seventy plates of maps, accompanied with commentary, cover significant
topics such as: Thailand’s relation to the world-system, its place in Eastern
Asia, and its population, infrastructure, urban network, production,
income, education, intra-regional dynamics.
Doryane Kermel-Torrès
Cover design‑: David Lee Fong
Silkworm Books
104/5 Chiang Mai-Hot Road, M. 7, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.silkwormbooks.info
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Atlas of Thailand
Spatial structures
and development
Authors
Jean BAFFIE, sociologist
(CNRS, and University of Provence, Research Institute on South-East Asia; Marseille)
Collaborators
Charles-Antoine ARNAUD, Synthesis statistical analysis
(CNRS, REGARDS; Bordeaux)
Maintaining religious and family ties (photos) ...............37 Chapter 5 - Industry ..................................................107
Plate 10 - Main ethno-linguistic groups .........................39 Doryane Kermel-Torrès
Plate 11 - Religions .......................................................41
Plate 12 - Islam and Christianity . ..................................43 Contrasts in the industrial structure (photos) . .............109
Plate 13 - Population distribution and growth ................45 Plate 40 - Industrial product ........................................ 111
Plate 14 - Demographic characteristics . .......................47 Plate 41 - Size of establishments ................................ 113
Plate 15 - Rural and urban population . .........................49 Plate 42 - Employment in establishments ................... 115
Plate 16 - Municipalities ................................................51 Plate 43 - Enterprises under the Board
Plate 17 - Inter-regional migrations ...............................53 of Investment ......................................................... 117
Plate 18 - Importance of migrations Plate 44 - Agro-based industries ................................. 119
in the provinces . ......................................................55 Plate 45 - Textiles and wearing apparel ......................121
Plate 19 - Population distribution Plate 46 - Electrical and non-electrical
and demographic features .......................................57 machinery...............................................................123
Plate 47 - Chemistry and plastic . ................................125
Plate 48 - Other industries . .........................................127
Chapter 3 - The state Plate 49 - Industrial specialization ...............................129
and the construction of the territory .........................59
Doryane Kermel-Torrès, Antoine Lauginie,
Michel Bruneau, Steve Déry Chapter 6 - Tertiary sector ........................................131
Doryane Kermel-Torrès, Jean-Paul Hubert,
Elements of territorial administration (photos) ...............61 Manuelle Franck
Plate 20 - Changes in boundaries and frontiers
(18th-20th century) .....................................................63 The range of services to the population (photos) ........133
Plate 21 - Formation of the nation-state Plate 50 - Product of tertiary sector .............................135
territory . ...................................................................65 Plate 51 - Employment in four tertiary
Plate 22 - Territorial administration ................................67 sub-sectors ............................................................137
Plate 23 - Deforestation . ...............................................69 Plate 52 - Hotel trade ..................................................139
Plate 24 - Transportation networks . ..............................71 Plate 53 - Main tourist destinations .............................141
Plate 25 - Energy infrastructure and networks ..............73 Plate 54 - Passenger traffic .........................................143
Plate 26 - Investment promotion incentives ..................75 Plate 55 - Commodities traffic .....................................145
Plate 56 - Inter-regional trade . ....................................147 and South ..............................................................171
Plate 57 - Tertiary sector facilities Plate 65 - Industry in North-East
and activities ..........................................................149 and South ..............................................................173
Acknowledgements
A
work such as this could not see the light of National Economic and Social Development Board
day without the participation of a large number (NESDB), the Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD),
of people. The task that the authors were set the Petroleum Institute of Thailand (PTIT), the Elec-
of producing maps and commentaries was a very tricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the
difficult one indeed as they had constantly to bow to Royal Thai Irrigation Department (RTID); many indi-
the intractable requirements of legibility and format. viduals, department heads and employees, all had the
However, their suggestions and comments on the dif- kindness and patience to listen, to provide available
ferent parts of the atlas have undoubtedly contributed information and data, to share their experience and
to improving its content and quality, especially those knowledge. I would like to thank them here and assure
from Manuelle Franck and Michel Bruneau. Contribu- them that every effort has been made to produce an
tions from specialists were also vital: Aimée Lafitte atlas that will be a relevant and useful working tool.
for the graphic design and for drawing the maps, As this long-term project reaches its conclusion, my
Hilary Koziol for the English translation, Marie-Berna- thanks also go to Teerapong Rodprasert of the MOTC
dette Darignac for the text composition and lay-out, and Duangjai Asawachintachit of the BOI for their
Charles-Antoine Arnaud for the synthesis statistical encouragement and the wealth of invaluable help
analyses, Alain Vergnes for the photo processing. they provided.
My thanks go to my colleagues at REGARDS The CNRS and the IRD provided considerable
under the French National Center of Scientific material and financial support. I would also like to
Research (CNRS) and the French Institute of Re- thank the Laboratory of Applied Cartography (IRD),
search for Development (IRD). Anahit Santana and under the leadership of Pierre Peltre, and the Depart-
Jean-Etienne Bidou devoted themselves to reading ment of Information and Communication (IRD), espe-
the final proofs and scrutinizing the maps for any cially Pierre Rondeau and Thomas Mourier, whose
incoherencies and errors. Marie-José Claverie and support was primordial in having the atlas translated
Carlos Jénart brought their skills as librarians to into English and published.
the service of the atlas and devoted much time and
energy to finding bibliographic references and surf-
ing the net. Olivier Pissoat shared his knowledge of Doryane Kermel-Torrès
statistical mapping.
Introduction
W
ith this Atlas of Thailand. Spatial Structures namics of two peripheral regions (the North-East and
and Development our intention is to pre- the South) at the level of a watershed, a province or
sent an image of Thailand which incorpo- in the finer mesh of the districts. This process was
rates both the internal dynamics of the country and also adopted for the analysis of some themes in the
its integration into globalization. We include a range Bangkok metropolitan region via several spatial per-
of spatial information and maps using a variety of spectives (region, city and some districts).
computer-assisted techniques. This is the first atlas
of its kind to be produced for Thailand although simi- Maps were prepared on different scales. The
lar ones are already available for other countries on main base map, showing international frontiers
the Indo-Chinese peninsula (Vietnam by Christian (islands included) and province boundaries, was
Taillard, 1993, Laos by Bounthavy Sisouphanthong created from maps produced by official agencies,
and Christian Taillard, 2000). Previously, only a more the Royal Thai Survey Department (Administrative
traditional style of atlas was available, aimed at an Division 1990) and the National Statistical Office
academic readership in Thailand (Thai atlas, Sawat (NSO) (Phaenthi sadaeng khet amphoe tambon
Senanarong and Nom Ngamnisai, 1986) and another thetsaban lae khomun phunthan khong changwat
work which, although not given the title “atlas”, never- ph.s. 2538. [Maps of amphoe, tambon, thetsaban and
theless included a rich selection of maps (Thailand: basic provincial data 1995]). National and provincial
the environment of modernization, Sterstein, Larry, contours were simplified to avoid the visual confusion
1975). that an accumulation of too many details can create:
the procedure consisted of eliminating some points
Our aim is to portray Thailand’s spatial struc- while still respecting the overall shape of the spatial
tures and to situate the country’s social and economic units. This generalization, and the fact that some islets
dynamics into a territorial context. The country has may be absent, must not be interpreted as a state-
undergone many changes throughout its long his- ment on Thailand’s boundaries: it is justified by our
tory as the Kingdom of Siam became the Kingdom concern to produce a map that is a clear cartographic
of Thailand, and also in the shorter time span of representation within a set format. The distortion of
the dynamics generated by the vigorous growth the contours on some maps was used to highlight
the country has experienced from the middle of the certain phenomena and processes.
1980s. We therefore hope that this atlas will bring a
new contribution to current views on the analysis of We decided to present spatial structures as
Thailand’s spatial configuration. they existed before the Asian crisis that hit Thailand
in July 1997. We hoped to understand and describe
In producing any atlas a number of choices spatial configurations that are the product both of
must be made: choice of scales, choice of levels and the country’s long history and of the more recent
periods, choice of topics and data (statistical and processes of vigorous growth. Combined together,
qualitative), choice of analysis, data processing and these time scales have shaped the outstanding fea-
representation methods. tures of contemporary Thailand: hyper-concentra-tion
of population and wealth at the center of the country,
regional imbalance. As they diverged, they allowed
Spatial, temporal and statistical references the emergence of new areas under pressure from
a world-system that selects its territories and which
In the context of our double objective of analyz- is supported by the governing classes and entre-
ing national spatial forms and examining their integra- preneurs. Given the time-honored “memory” of the
tion into the world-system, we have considered data at territories - with their different degrees of resistance
several levels according to the degree of interest they and evolution - the lapse of time between the 1997
bring to the analysis. External relations are shown at crisis - with the recession of the national economy
world level, with a change of perspective allowing us and its social consequences - and these first years
to situate Thailand in the context of Eastern Asia. At of the 21st century - with movements of recovery - is
national level, we have favored an approach based probably not long enough for the relative positions of
mainly, though not exclusively, on a subdivision into the areas to have been modified to any considerable
provinces, or into other variously delimited regions. degree. And even had this been the case, it is still
By zooming in, we are able to study the internal dy- too soon to assess the changes in all their complex-
Introduction
ity and globality, especially given the time needed This co-vers information at national level, combining
for the statistical information required in an atlas the pro-vinces together in some cases and some-
- homogeneous in time and space - to be gene-rated times keeping them separate, at regional level, from
and analyzed. In due time, the state of know-ledge combi-nations of provinces which varied according to
presented in the Atlas of Thailand will be a useful the different bodies, and at district level. Data from
reference tool with which to appreciate the spatial inter-national bodies were also incorporated. All this
effects of those possible upheavals. statistical information (the qualitative data also) then
underwent critical analysis after statistical and carto-
Most of the statistical maps show the situation graphic processing, as a result of which any data not
in 1996, or in 1995 (rarely before) if the data were thought sufficiently reliable was rejected. Other data
not available, or in 1997 when the nature of the data is commented on in the relevant thematic chapters.
required it (changes in the standards applied by
inter-national agencies for constructing statistics,
data from surveys carried out between two dates). Methodology basis
Given the approach described earlier, but also the
time required to produce an atlas and the time lag Several types of maps have been produced,
in updating statistics by the producer bodies, it was using different techniques. Here we mention only
decided that we should maintain, as far as possible, the broad outline of the methodology: for a more
a homogeneity in the dates of observation in order detailed description, see the Methodology appendix.
to provide a rele-vant basis from which to compare Refe-rence maps (relief and hydrographical system,
maps, i.e. compa-ring different but complementary trans-port networks, historical maps) were prepared
phenomena taking place in identical spaces. These using computer-assisted mapping techniques. The
constraints also explain the fact that results from the majority of maps are statistical mapping and were
2000 population and housing census have been used produced by computer processing. These are analyti-
in part (see Methodology appendix). Reference maps cal maps when they show the spatial distribution of
show the situation in 2000 (transport and energy net- one or two variables, structure maps when they define
works, investment incentive zones,…) while stating simple spatial groupings, synthesis maps when they
the situation in 1996. Other maps, from the work of combine a large number of variables. Graphs have
other authors, are in variable time frames. been added to represent the insertion of Thailand
into global markets, national sector evolutions, or to
The diachronic approach imposed by the ana- show some regional characteristics for which a map
lysis of spatial dynamics required a reasoned choice would not be appropriate.
of reference date according to the theme treated, al-
though still dependent on the availability and compa- The maps were produced from a variety of
rability over time of the statistics. The years selected, different sources. Each one makes a concise refer-
which vary from chapter to chapter, show the spatial ence to the source used, which is expanded in the
evolutions resulting from population dyna-mics (since bibliography. This is organized into three parts: car-
1970 and before for certain phenomena), the role of tographic, statistical, bibliographical. Some reference
the state in the construction of the territory (according maps are taken, either in part or in their entirety, often
to important periods and dates in the country’s his- with modifications, from maps prepared by other
tory or politics), changes in land use and agricultural authors using different techniques (remote sensing,
production (1976 and 1978), and in indus-trial growth aerial photographs, topographical surveys). As well
and diversification (1986). as the statistical sources already mentioned, we also
used bibliographical sources, to produce an inven-
The Atlas of Thailand exploits a variety of tory, for example. The statistical and bibliogra-phical
sources, first and foremost of which are statistics from sources listed at the end of the atlas also refer to the
public bodies in Thailand. We have used demogra- commentaries that accompany each plate and the
phic variables from housing and population censuses; chapter introductions.
also social and economic data produced by different
ministries and public agencies, some published and For the English spelling of Thai place names
some not, which we obtained either directly from we used the official transcription taken from the
these bodies or from the National Statistical Office. Romanization Guide for Thai Script (Royal Institute,
10
Introduction
Bangkok, 1982). For names that were not included, imbalances are indicated by income, consumption
the transcription used by other authors or specialist and education levels. The spatial organization of the
bodies was adopted (e.g. Donner, Wolf for the relief; country, revealed in its complexity by all the maps in
Royal Thai Irrigation Department for the hydro-graphi- the atlas, is presented using two different forms of
cal network and irrigation). “Tai” was reserved for the graphic expression, thus demon-strating territorial
ethno-linguistic groups. See the comments adjacent structures, their relations one with another and their
to plate 9 Provinces and their centers for the geo- internal compositions.
graphical terms used.
The aim of the Atlas of Thailand is to offer a
reasoned and critical overview of our present knowl-
The themes edge; it does not seek to be an exhaustive study. We
decided to avoid a multiplicity of maps, with an even
The volume brings together authors who are greater quantity of information, which would only have
experts in the different methods and themes covered. reaffirmed what the thematic selection shows already.
It is the fruit of prior collaboration between Thai and We set about uncovering what the dynamics of these
French researchers, a sociologist, a remote sensing last two or three decades have brought about in the
expert, an urbanist and, for the most part, geogra- way of changes or stability to territories which result
phers, so it draws on a broad range of experience from a long history. While the Atlas hopes to be a
in field studies, in analyses and in methods devel- tool for a better knowledge of Thailand, and of the
oped during earlier research projects on a variety spatial expression of economic and social develop-
of themes. ment strategies, useful for understanding changes
and preparing diagnoses for the future, it will also be
Several themes are covered here, organized whatever its readers, teachers or students, planners
into nine chapters. The vitality inherent in the coun- or entrepreneurs, want it to be. Their critical eye will
try’s opening up to the outside world is shown by its examine the information it contains but will also seize
relations with the world-system, its place in the vast on what it does not contain, and the reasons for these
area of Eastern Asia and its unique features in com- omissions: apart from the reliability and availability
parison with other countries that make up this region. of information, not all data is pertinent for mapping.
The major outlines of the physical and administra- We have no doubt that this atlas will give rise to dis-
tive organization and the main axes and nodes that cussion, to new questions, themes will need to be
structure the country lead on to an appreciation of broadened and data will have to be updated: it is with
population and productive activities distribution. The the aim of inviting others to continue the analysis of
population is shown in its ethno-linguistic, religious spatial changes that it has been produced. The Atlas
and demographic dimensions with the accent on lo- of Thailand is a beginning and not a conclusion.
calization between rural and urban areas, and spatial
mobility. The role of the state in the construction of
the territory and its partnership with the private sec-
tor are analyzed through a variety of key areas, from
the formation of the nation-state to the constitution
of infrastructure and networks.
11
chapter 1
A
t the beginning of the 21st century, the Kingdom integration is also based on investments made by the
of Thailand, formerly the Kingdom of Siam until giants of Eastern Asia in Thailand and by Sino-Thai
1939, a constitutional monarchy since 1932, entrepreneurs in the less developed Asian countries
had a population of 60 million inhabitants across an (especially bordering countries) and in China, thanks
area of 513,000 km2. The country began to take on its to an early “normalization” of diplomatic relations
present shape in the 19th century when the Kingdom (1975) and the reactivation of social links. Travel into
accelerated the opening of its economy (commercial and out of Thailand emphasizes the growing role of
treaties with European powers) and ceded some Eastern Asia, even its pre-eminence, despite the im-
land on the fringes, while still retaining its political portance of the American and European poles (plate
sover-eignty. Buffer state between the French and 2 Foreign and Thai travelers). Income from interna-
British empires, Thailand was the only country in the tional tourism and migrant workers’ remittances are so
region to avoid colonization (see plate 20 Changes important, especially in coping with the trade balance
in boun-daries and frontiers (18th-20 th century)). deficit, that in the 1980s these items were taken into
The march towards development and growth, the account in the planning process and were the subject
country’s strengthened integration in the world then of government promotions. Like the other flows, labor
took an unusual route, very different from that of the migration helped strengthen the interdependence
other South-East Asian countries, from Myanmar to of the countries of Eastern Asia; this mobility also
Viet-nam, from the Philippines to Malaysia. Between reflects the contrasts in their levels of development;
1950 and 1990, Thailand symbolized stability and at an intermediate level Thailand is both an importer
peace in a continental South-East Asia that was prey and an exporter of work force whose migrations are
to ethnic wars (Burma became Myanmar in 1989) within Asia (plate 3 International out-migrations
and wars in the Indo-Chinese peninsula. The country and flights). Lastly, international air traffic shows
was a bas-tion of capitalism, and with help from the a domination that extends beyond the neighboring
United States, to whom it was allied in the fight against countries, with Bangkok vying with Singapore for the
communism from 1949 to 1975, devoted resources to role of South-East Asian passenger traffic hub.
economic growth and development. The end of the
cold war, with a shake-up of the regional environment There is such a diversity of social, economic
at the end of the 1980s, offered renewed economic and political (or cultural and ethno-linguistic) situa-
and political perspectives which reinforced Thailand’s tions throughout Eastern Asia that the countries are
ambition to play a vital role in continental South-East all at very different stages in development trajectories
Asia, if not in the entire South-East Asian region. (plate 4 Population and human development in
Eastern Asia). Most of the indicators analyzed show
Thailand’s relations with the world-system oc- Thailand’s considerable progress in the social area,
cur on several scale levels: the world, or at least an others, however, show how much ground is still left
area from Europe and the Middle East to the United to cover; education in particular is a major issue for
States; Eastern Asia, a vast geographical unit with a country pursued by competition from other Asian
a growing interdependence; South-East Asia, a countries. With a much higher level of development
geographical area to which the expansion of the As- than its neighbors, Thailand is able to exercise its
sociation of South-East Nations (ASEAN) from five domination (market penetration, investments, techni-
to ten nation-states has given new relevance, and cal aid and assistance) over an area that corresponds
the Indo-Chinese peninsula, especially bordering more or less to the territories that formerly owed it
countries. tribute: Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
also. The transnational economic cooperation zones
The share of foreign trade in the country’s (especially the Greater Mekong Subregion) offer Thai-
economy, which increased from 50% of the Gross land further opportunities to strengthen its regional
Domestic Product in 1980-1990 to 70% in 1990- pre-eminence in the peninsula, to which it claims to
1996, indicates the extent of Thailand’s integration be the inevitable gateway, espe-cially for services
into globalization, greater than other countries in the (plate 5 Eastern Asian regional integration and
region (except Singapore and Malaysia); this increase production). Thailand was a very early member of in-
shows the effects of vigorous industrialization and the ternational bodies such as the United Nations (1946)
country’s integration into Asian intra-firm exchanges and its technical body ESCAP (Economic and Social
(plate 1 Economic relations and integration). The Commission for Asia and the Pacific, which is based
13
in Bangkok), the International Monetary Fund and countries remaining the principal outlet for finished
the World Bank (1949), the World Trade Organization products.
(whose general director for a three-year term since
2002 is Thai). It is also a member of the ADB (Asian This exploitation of economic complementari-
Development Bank, created in 1966), and was one ties has used the networks of the Chinese “diaspora”
of the five founder members of ASEAN (1967) and and has taken root in specific locations (some of the
the main instigator of its enlargement to include the transnational cooperation zones commonly called
countries of Indo-China (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam) “growth triangles”), with the result that Asia’s coastal
and Myanmar from the middle of the 1990s. areas are nodes in the network of metropolitan po-
larization (plate 6 Networks in Eastern Asia). The
ASEAN is the only regional organization in power wielded by some of these centers is based on
an Eastern Asia that is developing a high degree of links between finance, trade, industry and service
interdependence with no institutional basis. Flexible activities: added to this, Bangkok also has one of
and with few constraints, this particular form of region- the strongest rates of urban primacy. Recently, land
alization is distinct from other regional models; there net-works have been reactivated and, as has long
are no institutional mechanisms to exercise coercion been the case with Mekong, borders are opening up
on the member states and the common space can be thus offering Thailand the possibility of exploiting to
used as a shield and as a springboard into negotia- the full its central position in continental South-East
tions with the major external partners. Asia. While separated from Myanmar by a barrier
of mountains, Thailand is for the most part open to
The 1997 crisis revealed institutional weak- Indo-China and this continues far to the south, link-
nesses, the ambiguity of the founding principles ing its south peninsula with Malaysia and articulating
(such as the non-interference in the domestic affairs continental spaces with maritime spaces (plate 7
of member states, which Thailand and the Philippines Relief and hydrographical system). Active land
tried unsuccessfully to raise in 1998) and the very clearance has made Thailand one of the countries of
limited success in the area of economic coopera- South-East Asia that devotes the largest proportion
tion, given that ASEAN was built on implicitly political of its territory to agriculture (plate 8 Environment
objectives. Among the possible initiatives that were and natural resources). An intense exploitation of
discussed to relaunch cooperation, bringing forward natural resources, on which economic growth was
the date for the implementation of the ASEAN Free based, has meant that some of these are now scarce
Trade Area (AFTA) is a political signal for the exter- (wood, minerals, including precious stones, produce
nal partners: intra-ASEAN trade represents 24% of from the sea), and Thailand has moved on to exploit
the member countries’ foreign trade (but only 15 % those of its immediate neighbors. If the administra-
for Thailand). The difficulty of the project lies in the tive division of the country into provinces has little
definition of a regional preference and competition physiographic or historical basis (plate 9 Provinces
which, generally speaking, handicaps cooperation and their centers), the population distribution of their
between member states. administrative centers serves to highlight the excess-
ive size of the capital onto which converge the major
ASEAN is seeking a partnership with North- axes of land communication.
East Asia which may be upset by Sino-Japanese
rivalry. For even if China benefits from a promising
potential which may draw in its neighbors, Japan still
remains the driving force behind economic activity.
It was from here, in the 1980s, that the “flying wild
geese” set off, a process to spread industrial growth
between Asian countries, organizing a hierarchy of
productive systems (the “Dragons” then the “Tigers”),
a regional division of labor and the path to upgrading
manufac-turing activities and trade goods. Intra-Asian
trade (raw materials, semi-finished products) today
represents a little over 50% of the foreign trade of
Eastern Asian countries, with the western developed ATLAS of THAILAND
14
CHANGES in ALTITUDES and LANDSCAPES
A vast depression filled with alluvium from the Chao Phraya and its tributaries, this densely populated area is well
suited to intensive, diversified agriculture (rice-growing, horticulture, sugar cane). Infrastructure is well developed
(roads, irrigation and drainage canals). Its proximity to Bangkok has encouraged industrialization and urbanization,
especially along the road axes.
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
These areas have been fairly recently cleared, to the detriment of the mixed forest. The lowlands are under rice
cultivation (glutinous rice during the rainy season) or field crops (groundnut, maize, mungbean, soybean). The systems
on the higher lands, occupied by ethnic minorities, have undergone major changes (market economy, development
programs).
1 - Situations of the territory
T
he opening up of the Thai economy has not Investments tripled in 1988, headed by Japan (sup-
only proved to be a stimulus for economic planting the USA) with major contributions from Hong
growth but has also been a consequence of this Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Thailand is seen as
growth. Exports diversified from the 1970s onwards an attractive platform for production and exports,
into more manufactured products, while at the same as much for reasons of cost as for the political and
time the USA market weakened and those of Japan economic environment that prevails. Countries of the
and Western Europe developed. Between 1986 and European Union (United Kingdom, Germany, France)
1996, there was a 7-fold increase in the value of ex- have invested much less. Investments focus mainly
ports, manufactured products became established, on the manufacturing industries, and to a lesser extent
the trade deficit widened and markets became more on real estate or the commercial sector. Although they
diversified. The growth in exports slowed in 1996 as slowed between 1993 and 1996, they have now taken
a result of competition from other countries and it off once again and are increasingly put to reinvest-
has since developed at a very uneven rate. Like the ments in existing enterprises.
other most developed ASEAN countries, Thailand
has recently reduced import protection through the More than 90% of the Thai investments abroad
ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement. approved by foreign countries are in other Asian
countries, above all those which are less developed
During the period 1986-1996, trade with North- and which do not invest, or invest very little, in
East Asia developed, though there was a great deficit, Thailand. Initial investments in 1979 went to China,
with Japan getting far ahead of Taiwan and Hong which received the largest amounts, then extended
Kong. The growth of trade with the countries of South- to other Asian countries. Committed to responding
East Asia, which today form ASEAN, was conside- to the needs of the emerging markets (China, Viet-
rable, to the benefit of Thailand, with Singapore and nam, India, Myanmar), investments concentrated
Malaysia heading the group. At practically the same mainly on the agro-food industry and also on certain
level in terms of value, exchanges with the European consumer goods (electrical products, transport equip-
Union and with North America have different charac- ment) some of which have been redirected towards
teristics: whereas more than 90% of trade with North the world market (produce from breeding and aqua-
America involves the USA, and generates a surplus, culture with the Charoen Phokphand group). At the
there is a considerable deficit with the chief European beginning of the 1990s, investments were extended
partners, headed by Germany. Although trade with to the service sector (telecommunications in China,
the Middle East has increased (imports of petroleum India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Indo-China; hotels
products), trade with other regions (Russia-Eastern in the USA and Europe), real estate and the estab-
Europe, South Asia) is still on a small scale. lishment of industrial parks (Myanmar), construction
(Philippines).
Despite a drop in their relative value, agricul-
tural and fishing exports remain high largely due to The trend to localize industrial units in countries
their diversity and their integration into the industrial that are close geographically and where labor costs
transformation sector. The relative value of exports are lower accelerated in 1995-1996: this concerns
of manufactured goods has increased considerably: mainly the textiles and confection industries in Viet-
electronic and electrical goods and transport equip- nam, Cambodia and Laos which offer advanta-geous
ment have supplanted textiles and confection. Imports trade agreements with the European Union. In Laos,
of intermediary products and components have Thailand has a large stake in electrical or transport in-
increased, especially from Japan and Taiwan, Hong frastructure, putting it at the head of foreign investors.
Kong and Singapore. These countries, in addition to In Myanmar, where it is in 3rd place, it has invested
the USA and the European Union, import more and heavily in aquaculture and urban amenities. Since
more assembled products, especially in intra-firm 1998, the economic crisis has slowed the flow of Thai
exchanges (see chapter 5 Industry). investments abroad.
16
ECONOMIC RELATIONS and INTEGRATION 1
North America
North-East Asia
29,142
European Union
Switzerland 1979-1998
Bermuda
1995-97
Hong Kong
Myanmar Taiwan
1988-98
1991-96
Laos Vietnam
1988-99
Cambodia
1994-97
Singapur
I
nternational tourism for business and pleasure ment of international communication, the opening up
plays a vital part in the Thai economy. With 7.2 of certain countries and improvements in standards
million foreign visitors in 1996, Thailand is the 18th of living. Although the proportion of Europeans and
most popular world tourist destination and the 3rd north Americans decreased slightly in the 1990s, the
destination in Asia. Since 1985, tourism has been the higher income Asian countries (Japan, Hong Kong,
main source of foreign currency and in 2002, tourist Singapore, South Korea) became significant tourist
income reached 7.7 billion US$ or 6% of the Gross markets for Thailand. China, which has provided
Domestic Product. It is also considered to have a the greatest increase in tourist numbers, is particu-
major impact on employment, though estimates of larly promising and Malaysia, due to its geographical
the number of jobs associated directly and indirectly proximity and higher purchasing power, remains in
with this sector tend to vary. the lead, though the overall proportion of Malaysian
tourists has decreased. The position of Eastern Asia
The international tourist industry began to ex- has strengthened: with about 4.5 million tourists, it
pand in the mid-1950s, due mainly to the American accounts for more than 60% of international tourist
presence, with major growth in the country’s transport movement.
infrastructure (especially the development of the Don
Muang international airport in Bangkok) and hotels. Thais travel to foreign destinations for both
In 1960, the number of tourists was barely above leisure and business, also to study and work abroad
80,000, but this increased 14-fold by 1975, making on a legal basis. The growth in numbers of travelers,
income from tourism the 5th highest foreign currency with an almost 10-fold increase between 1975 and
earner. Less than 10 years later, tourism had risen to 1996, correlates with the insertion of Thailand into
2nd place, exceeded only by rice exports. The industry the world economy and from 1987 with the increased
continued to grow, apart from slight falls in 1991 due influence of a middle class. The sudden increase seen
to the Gulf War and in 1992 as a result of internal at the end of the 1970s was due to official worker
political violence, confirming the importance of this emigration whose importance is more apparent for
sector which, since the end of the 1970s has been Middle Eastern countries and Asian destinations
a major factor in economic growth. The promotion such as Brunei and Taiwan (see plate 3 International
of tourism has also been an important component out-migrations and flights). The sharp contrast in the
in the country’s economic policy and is included in number of Thais traveling to Eastern and South Asia,
the five-year plans, with publicity campaigns run 80% and less than 2% of total movement respectively,
throughout the world. The latest, “Amazing Thailand”, confirms the strength of Thailand’s relations with the
was launched by the Tourism Authority of Thailand former. Pulling ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore,
immediately after the onset of the financial crisis of until now the two preferred destinations of well-off
July 1997, proof of how important the government Thais for shopping trips, tourist traffic across the
considers tourist income in offsetting unfavorable border into Malaysia is now considerable (and prob-
economic effects: in 2002, the number of foreign ably the movement of non-registered workers too),
tourists was almost 11 million. similarly for Laos, though on a much smaller scale.
Professional and private trips, as well as family vis-
Given the competition from neighboring coun- its by the Chinese-Thai population, account for the
tries, Malaysia and Singapore in particular, and a movement of Thais into China, mainly into the south
changing image as a tourist destination due to the of the country. The effects of the economic slowdown
effects of industrialization and poorly planned urban- on the purchasing power of the middle classes and
ization, Thailand is now attempting to segment and on the number of jobs offered abroad have led since
diversify its geographical markets by opening up new 1995 to a reduction in the rates of growth of visits by
and varied sites and services, thus becoming the Thais abroad, and in fact in 1997 and 1998 these
inevitable gateway into neighboring countries whose figures were negative.
tourist services are still in their early stages: in this
the country has been greatly helped by the fact that
Bangkok is the hub of air travel for the region (see
also chapter 6 Tertiary sector). New trends have
emerged since 1988 and the geographical origin of
foreign tourists is more varied now with the develop- ATLAS of THAILAND
18
FOREIGN and THAI TRAVELERS 2
Japan
South
Israel Korea
33.3%
Hong Kong
Taiwan
18.5
7.4
Philippinen
Singapore Malaysia
Indonesien
Variation in tourist
numbers (1988-1996) Number of tourists (1996)
percentage 1,457,383
>500
[ 100 - 220 ]
[ 25 - 100 [
[ -9 - 25 [
129,762
[ -87 - -9 [
South
Korea Japan
Israel
Taiwan
Hongkong
Philippinen
Malaysia
Singapur
Indonesien
Number of persons
383,985
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
62,571
681
I
nternational labor migration is the result of wage workers. Since the end of the 1980s, high growth
disparities between countries for the same work and a shortage of cheap labor have stimulated em-
and level of qualification. Thailand sends work- ploy-ment in factories, the service sector (hotels,
ers to richer countries (Middle East, North-East and construc-tion), agriculture and the fishing industry.
South-East Asia) and receives workers from its less Almost 80% of the million workers concerned are
developed neighbors (Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, illegal im-migrants, and immigration is made easier
and recently Bangladesh). From 1978 onwards, the as a result of the extension and permeability of the
government offered its own placement services and land borders, and collusion between the placement
promoted work abroad, given the importance to the networks and local authorities and businessmen. To
economy of migrant workers’ remittances in foreign limit the influx of unqualified workers, and despite
currencies (in 2001, about 2 billion US$ per year and pressure from groups of entrepreneurs, the govern-
one third of the current account-balance). During the ment combines a series of measures involving the
1990s, 1.5 million Thais emigrated legally, to take expulsion of illegal immigrants, amnesty for those who
up poorly qualified jobs: factories and construction legalize their situation (including the payment of taxes
sites; different types of services involving mainly normally recovered from employers) and opening up
women (Japan and Hong Kong), agriculture (Malay- some jobs and provinces to immigrants.
sia, Israel).
Thailand (Bangkok and four other international
At the end of the 1970s, emigration was pri- airports, see plate 54 Passenger traffic) is linked to
marily directed towards the oil-fields in the Middle two of the richest regions in the world (Europe, and
East which, in 1985, took almost 90% of Thailand’s Japan-South Korea) and to two of the largest airports
registered out-migrants. However, the Gulf crisis and in Eastern Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore) via four
a further diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia saw re- air routes used by more than 2 million passengers.
cruitment plummet and the total out-migration move- Almost 60% of the traffic occurs within a radius of
ment from Thailand did not return to its 1989 level 2,500 km, with less than 10% between Thailand and
until 1993 (140,000 out-migrants) with the speeding South Asia. Agreements restricting the movement of
up of new flows opening into Eastern Asia from the national aircraft fleets account for the very low level
middle of the 1980s. This geographical shift was first of regular flights to North America, thus forcing pas-
towards some of the ASEAN countries (about 40% in sengers to transit via other Asian airports.
1992, and 25% since 1994, to Brunei and Singapore
especially) then to countries of North-East Asia (over Leisure and business trips by Asian nationals
60% since 1994, especially to Taiwan). between these airports and Bangkok add to the traffic
while the major tourist movements justify the scale of
The 1997 crisis has hit migrations with same traffic with Europe and, in part, with North-East Asia
intensity as it has hit the economy, affecting Asian (see plate 2 Foreign and Thai travelers). The open-
countries both as exporters and importers of workers. ing up of the countries of Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos,
After a downturn, the movement of Thais (more than Cambodia) and Myanmar has reinforced Bangkok’s
200,000 registered out-migrants in 1999) increased role as the hub of the region and has allowed the intro-
by 10%, in particular to Taiwan, Singapore and espe- duction of direct flights to northern Thailand (Chiang
cially Malaysia, and this despite a considerable drop Mai, Chiang Rai) which have also been stimu-lated
in numbers to Japan and Brunei. Illegal emigration by the renewed economic and social relations with
(about 110,000 out-migrants in 1996) into Japan southern China. Faced with the near saturation of
and especially Malaysia has probably increased as Bangkok airport and in order to maintain Thailand’s
a result of the dual effect of immigration restriction regional and worldwide position, construction of a
measures taken at the height of the 1997 crisis and new international airport was begun in 2002 in Samut
the large number of placement agencies that have Prakan province.
sprung up.
20
INTERNATIONAL OUT-MIGRATIONS and FLIGHTS 3
Japan
Israel
Hongkong
Taiwan
Other
Middle East
Other
Malaysia ASEAN
Brunei
Singapore
Australia &
Variation in Western countries
out-migrant workers Number of out-migrant workers (1996)
percentage 96,097
> 200
[ 100 - 200 ]
[ -65 - -10 ]
Europe Europe
17
36
2,6
South-West north
North America
America
China
South China
198
2 South America
83 2
2, 16
14
4
13
2
274
Middle East
1 ,2
865
00
km
Africa
265
2, 5
00 km
67
3
Number of passengers (in thousands)
Oceana
Oceania
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
T
he total population of Eastern Asia is almost 2 is emerging as a result of rapid urbanization. Income
billion inhabitants in 1997. Mainland China distribution in Thailand is one of the most inequitable
accounts for the largest proportion with 63% of (see plate 66 Income and consumption indicators).
the total and an area 44% greater than all the other
countries combined. South-East Asia, which corre- The Human Development Index (HDI), which
sponds to the ASEAN, has 25% of the total population is constructed from three main indicators (life ex-
and covers only slightly more that 25% of the area: pectancy at birth, educational attainment, real GDP
Indonesia predominates with 200 million inhabitants per capita in PPP), reveals certain features of social
over a territory larger than Mongolia but scattered development in Thailand. There are some major diffe-
across many islands. Vietnam and the Philippines rences between the HDI rankings at regional level
have similar populations and areas. Thailand ranks compared with certain hierarchies established solely
6th for population and 5th for area. In a region where on the basis of the GDP. In the same class as Japan,
the demographic transition is neither uniform (rates of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brunei are in the lead and
annual demographic growth range from 2.5% in Ma- joined by South Korea (higher value for educa-tion).
laysia to 0.6% in Japan), nor yet complete, Thailand’s Among the less developed countries, Myanmar and
rate is among the lowest at 1.7%, similar to that of Mongolia have a higher HDI than Laos and Cambo-
Singapore and Hong Kong. Among the small states dia thanks to their life expectancy and educa-tional
and the special administrative region (Hong Kong), attainment. For the same reasons, Vietnam is in the
Singapore is the smallest, and the sultanate of Brunei same category as China and Indonesia.
has the smallest population.
With an intermediate HDI (0.753: “medium hu-
Thanks to its oil resources, Brunei also has man development”), Thailand ranks 67th in the world,
the highest real Gross Domestic Product per capita in the same category as the Philippines and Malaysia.
(GDP) measured in terms of Purchasing power parity Compared with the Philippines, Thailand’s real GDP
(PPP-estimated by comparing the prices of similar per inhabitant is almost double, level of life expectan-
goods and services between countries): it is ahead, cy is similar and the educational attainment indicator
very far ahead in some instances, of the “Newly In- is much lower. Compared with Malaysia, only educa-
dustrializing Economies” or “Dragons” (Taiwan, Sin- tion is better, life expectancy remains lower despite
gapore, South Korea, Hong Kong), and even Japan. the improvement in some aspects of living conditions
Nevertheless, these countries remain the economic (provision of electricity, water, health services in rural
poles of Eastern Asia. Thailand and Malaysia are areas…). The three-year difference in life expectancy
notable in the group of “Tigers” (Brunei excepted) is the result of infant mortality and maternal mortality
with a GDP per capita of twice that, or more (Malay- rates that are three times higher. Although the adult
sia), of Indonesia and the Philippines and they are literacy rate (almost 95%, the best in South-East Asia,
also ahead of China. Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and along with the Philippines) gives Thailand a higher
Mongolia appear as the least developed with a GDP educational attainment indicator than Malaysia, the
per capita of less than 1,400 US$: Vietnam is only a gross enrolment ratio, on the other hand, is one of
little above this threshold. the lowest in the region (scarcely higher than Laos,
Myanmar and Mongolia) and reflects the low levels
Development levels in Eastern Asia are char- of enrolment in secondary education (see plate 67
acterized by major intra-regional differentiations. Education at primary and secondary levels). This fac-
Economic achievements and social progress were tor is a major stumbling block to the country’s ability
considerable after the 1960s in South-East Asian to draw on a better qualified labor force.
countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand; they
were begun much more recently in the Philippines
and Vietnam, and are inadequate in Laos, Cambodia
(recipients of the largest amounts of aid per inhabit-
ant) and Myanmar (excluded by the international
community). Poverty has receded in all countries but
within a single country there are still wide disparities in
incomes between urban and rural areas and between
regions (centers and peripheries), while urban poverty ATLAS of THAILAND
22
POPULATION and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT in EASTERN ASIA 4
Russland
Population (millions)
Mongolia 1,227
North
Korea
Japan
South
China Korea 200
33.3%
46
Taiwan
13.3
26.7
3
Myanmar Laos
Philippines
Cambodia Real GDP per capita
(Purchasing power parity) US $
Vietnam
Thailand Brunei [ 24,000 - 29,800 ]
Darussalam
14,000
Malaysia Malaysia [ 6,700 - 8,200 ]
Indonesia
Singapore [ 3,100 - 3,600 ]
Indonesia [ 1,200 - 1,700 ]
no data
Indonesien
20
13.3
33.3%
[ 0.852 - 0.924 ]
[ 0.740 - 0.768 ]
[ 0.664 - 0.701 ]
[ 0.580 - 0.618 ]
[ 0.491 - 0.514 ]
no data
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
A
s well as belonging to multilateral bodies, of economic corridors (see also plate 6 Networks in
Thailand is a member of APEC (1989), a Eastern Asia). For the five southernmost provinces,
consultation forum initiated by Australia (with Thailand participates in IMT-GT (1993). This project
USA support) and devoted to promoting free ex- is based on the exploitation of spatial and economic
change around the Pacific and negotiating commer- complementarities (reproduction of IMS-GT, 1989)
cial disputes. In 1967, the country was one of the five and for Thailand and also for Indonesia, it is supposed
founder members of the only regional organization in to readjust the spatial balance of growth. Coopera-
Eastern Asia, ASEAN, with headquarters in Jakarta, tion, which for the moment is bilateral with Penang,
which was later joined by Brunei (1984), Vietnam concerns interconnection of infrastructure (electricity,
(1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), Cambodia (1999). transport), although the creation of a transnational
At the end of the cold war ASEAN served as a plat- industrial zone is still under conside-ration.
form for the launch of new arenas for exchanges
of views including the Asian Regional Forum (ARF, Singapore and Hong Kong have successfully
1994) on questions of security in Eastern Asia (with used the principle of zones such as these to delo-
the European Union, the USA, Russia) or Asian-Eu- calize their manufacturing industry into adjoining
rope Meeting (ASEM, 1996). areas, while retaining high technology production
or higher value added end-product transformation;
The turbulences that the region has undergone Japan (1980s) and the four “Newly Industrializing
(monetary devaluations and the financial crisis at the Economies” (1990s, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea,
end of the 1990s, internal difficulties in Indonesia, Hong Kong) have also exploited complementarities
problems of forest fires, piracy) demonstrate the of this kind, but based on a network operation. The
limits of an “à la carte” regionalism and the weakness Japanese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1997
inherent in economic integration between member was five times greater than that of China, which is
countries. ASEAN is therefore attempting to reacti- the rising power of Eastern Asia, while still retaining
vate cooperation: establishment of a free-trade area a large agricultural sector, like the Philippines or In-
(AFTA), starting in 2002 for the first six members, donesia, two countries where mining or oil-production
between 2006 and 2010 for the last four; relaunch of is developed. Agri-culture also appears vital for those
the AIA (investment area) and AICO (industrial coop- countries consi-dered to be the least developed but
eration); beginnings of currency-swap arrange-ments. where there are major sectors other than services:
ASEAN is also turning towards China, South Korea Laos (manufac-turing and hydroelectricity), Mongolia
and Japan but although ASEAN+3 has ex-pressed a (coal), Myanmar (gas); or for Vietnam (manufactur-
desire for cooperation (industry, trade, investment), ing).
negotiations to establish a free-trade area seem to
be further advanced with China, with whom Thailand The structure of production in Thailand is quite
and other ASEAN countries already have bilateral similar to that in Malaysia (for a GDP that is almost
trade agreements. double) but, unlike the agricultural and industrial sec-
tors, the value added of services is much greater in
Thailand belongs firmly to some of the conti- Thailand, thus strengthening its ambition to be leader
nental and insular transnational cooperation zones of continental South-East Asia, or even of the region.
that began to multiply in the 1990s in South-East Singapore remains the center of South-East Asia due
Asia, whereas in North-East Asia, with the exception to the concentration of advanced services, headquar-
of TREDA (1995) and the Southern China Growth ters of multinationals and the coordination of shipping;
Triangle (beginning of the 1980s), there is a dearth its economic development is comparable to that of
of such cooperation zones. Thailand is a member Hong Kong, command center lying at the junction
of the Commission of Mekong (reactivated in 1995) between South-East Asia and North-East Asia.
which since 2001 has concentrated on the manage-
ment of water resources. As part of the Greater Me-
kong Subregion (1992), Thailand is also engaged in
intergovernmental cooperation, whose strategic aim
is continental transnational integration; this initiative
is supported by the Asian Development Bank and
based on sectoral forums and proposes the creation ATLAS of THAILAND
24
EASTERN ASIAN REGIONAL INTEGRATION and PRODUCTION 5
Russland
Primorie
Jilin Main institutions:
Mongolia North Hamgyong Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
North members
Korea
Japan cooperation partners
Commission of Mekong
Taiwan members
Yunnan
Hong Kong observers
Myanmar Laos Transnational economic cooperation zones :
Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)
Thailand Philippines
Vietnam Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)
Cambodia
Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT)
Davao
Brunei Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East
Darussalam ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)
Songkhla
Southern China Growth Triangle
Aceh Penang Malaysia Tumen River Economic Development Area (TREDA)
Malaysia
Indonesia
Riau
Indonesia Singapore Sulawesi
Irian Jaya
Indonesien
442,000 to 825,000
157,000 to 215,000
83,000 to 98,000
25,000 to 30,000
South Korea
860 to 3,100
no data
Hongkong
Agriculture
Services
Industry Malaysia
manufacturing Singapore
I
n a context where nation-states are tending to 19th century by the colonial powers in preference to
weaken as economic players, very large cities like the land routes, the maritime routes were used almost
Bangkok form an integral part of the world met- exclusively in the 20th century. The recent economic
ropolitan network that has been created from the interaction between rapid growth countries in the
emergence and affirmation of innovation, command region has encouraged the development of contain-
and control centers in the global economy. The Thai erization. The regional poles for the collection and
capital is located on the Pacific side of Asia, one of redistribution of containers remain Hong Kong and
the three globalization arenas (the others are North Singapore; Singapore in particular polarizes the flow
America and Western Europe) of the hierarchical ur- of traffic and organizes the secondary servicing into
ban spatial organization: it contains the largest cities the Thai ports of Bangkok and Laem Chabang (since
in the world (those with over 2 million inhabitants) to 1998, the largest port in Thailand).
which are added here the state capitals that fall below
this threshold. There are more major cities here than The free movement of container ships and oil
in any other region of the world (37 or 43 if capitals tankers is threatened by piracy, which is rife in the
below the threshold are included). very busy straits of Malacca and Luzon. The scale
of the phenomenon has prompted the Thai govern-
This representation of the network of major ment to dust off the ambitious Isthmus of Kra project,
metropoles is combined with another showing the this time in the form of a canal (and not a pipeline)
organization in Eastern Asia of the “world cities net- which would enable shipping to avoid the detour by
work”, according to a ranking into categories labelled the Malacca straits and Singapore. The undertaking
“alpha, beta and gamma”: this inventory is based on may be supported by aid from Japan, most of whose
the cities’ level of advanced producer services to petroleum supplies are transported via this maritime
enterprises (accountancy, advertising, banking, legal route, and from China, interested in the prospect of
services). The “alpha” cities are interactive organizers access to the Indian Ocean.
of the global network, the “beta” cities are both relay
cities that link the global to the national economies The logic of cooperation within the context of
and organizers of the regional level where the “gam- the ASEAN or the Greater Mekong Subregion (see
ma” cities are the major nodes, like Bangkok. plate 5 Eastern Asian regional integration and pro-
duction), and also the end to conflicts and tension
The map shows a double differentiation of between the peninsula states, have reawakened
the network between the north-eastern and south- political interest in land networks. Trade (in either a
eastern sub-groups. The Japanese megalopolis is formal or informal context) between the countries of
the cornerstone of the first sub-group (Japan, South the peninsula (including Yunnan) is being stepped
Korea, Taiwan and northern China), with Tokyo, larg- up and although Thailand as a whole appears to be
est city in the world (and one of the four truly global at the center of the system, it is northern and north-
cities), associated with Seoul, third largest city in eastern Thailand that are at the focal points of several
the world; but there is also the important Chinese axes: the major north-south axis Kunming-Bangkok
continental urban network. Around the South China (and its possible extension as far as Singapore), the
Sea, the second sub-group brings together major transverse Hue-Mawlamyine axis. Priority has been
port metropoles, most of them state capitals and given to the reconstitution or the building of major
generally with a very high rate of primacy (calculated road routes, as rail connections are confronted with
according to the population of cities of more than one technical problems inherited from colonial times (the
million inhabitants), such as Bangkok or Manila. Hong Thai rail network is compatible only with the Malay
Kong and Singapore are here the major nodes of the network). Inter-state agreements also cover the
global metropolitan network, for North-East Asia and development of traffic and, regarding the east-west
South-East Asia respectively, with Hong Kong playing axis, the creation of an economic corridor favoring
an interface role between on the one hand the two cooperation in investment, industrial production and
sub-groups and on the other mainland China. tourism.
26
NETWORKS in EASTERN ASIA 6
10 - 25
< 10
Shanghai
Population of cities
Taipei in millions of inhabitants
Guangzhou 30,850
Jakarta
Lang
Ruili Simao Son
Mandalay
Keng Boten
Tung Xam Haiphong
Capitals and major cities Nua
Chiang
Rai South
Emerging land networks
Road axes Tak Hue
Phitsanulok Mukdahan
Road and railways axes Khon Pakse
Nakhon Kaen
Nodes Sawan Nakhon
Mawlamyine Ratchasima
Sa China
Kaeo
Battambang
Main maritime routes
Laem
Project Chabang
Isthmus of Kra
Container ports (traffic in 1,000,000 TEU)
Songkhla / Sea
17 and more Hat Yai
2 to 4
1 to 1.9 Penang
St
0.15 to 0.9 Ma rait Port Klang
lac
ca Johore
of
Singapore
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
In the heart of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, a country open to the South China Sea
T
hailand covers an area of 513,000 km2 in the Banthat Range.
heart of the Indo-Chinese peninsula (2.2 million In the north, the relief of the country’s highest
km 2), a continental promontory jutting out mountain region (Doi Inthanon, 2565 m) is very com-
between the Indian and Chinese worlds, and fac- partmentalized as it is an extension of the southern
ing the archipelagos of the Malaysian world. In this area of Yunnan. It is structured in a series of parallel
physical region of Indo-China, consolidated since the strips running north-south, where Paleozoic ranges,
Mesozoic era into the Sunda pseudo-platform where often rising to above 1500 m with dense forest cover
plains and plateaus predominate, the relief is fairly (Chai Range to the west, Luang Prabang Range to
gentle and for the most part not very high. The penin- the east), alternate with long valleys (Ping, Wang,
sula is open to the most southern part of the South Yom and Nan) where there is a succession of nar-
China Sea which here covers the largest continental row gorges and Mesozoic rift basins. These (Chiang
platform in the world with only about ten meters Mai, Lampang, Nan, and Chiang Rai to the north)
of water. The main features of Thailand’s physical rise between 200 and 500 m and they are centers of
struc-ture, as throughout the peninsula as a whole, irrigated agriculture, which have also fixed the main
are, on the one hand the generally low altitudes (half local urban centers.
the country at an altitude of less than 200 m) and on
the other hand the dominant north-south direction The north-east of Thailand corresponds to
of the major structures. Thus there are large groups the Khorat plateau, a vast structural unit extend-
like the system of the Western Highland Spine (Chai ing for 170,000 km2 and formed of sub-horizontal
Range, Tenasserim Range), where the continuous Mesozoic sandstone, sloping generally from north-
mountain ranges and dense forest cover (see plate 8 west to south-east. This area is very clearly defined
Environ-ment and natural resources) form an almost by the arc of the Mekong valley (border with Laos)
blind border region with Myanmar (apart from a few to the north-east, and by jutting scarp lines in the
passes such as the Three Pagodas and Singkhon); west (Dongpraya, Phetchabun Range), the south
the central mountainous axis (Luang Prabang Range, (Khao Khieo) and the south-east, where the Dangrek
Petchabun Range) or the Malay peninsula with its Range marks the border with Cambodia. Across this
short longitu-dinal ridges. We also find this orienta- wide, gently undulating depression dotted with low
tion in the water courses in the Menam Chao Phraya hills run the wide alluvial valleys of the Mun and Chi
basin and its tributaries, and in the mid part of the basins (135,000 km2) and other small tributaries of
Mekong river. the Mekong.
In the heart of the country stretches a vast The south of the country (71,000 km2) draws
rectangular north-south depression of about 90,000 some of its unity from the fact that it is part of the
km2, which extends into the Bay of Bangkok: this is Malay peninsula, and therefore has extensive sea
the geographical cradle of the Kingdom of Siam (see borders. To the north of the Isthmus of Kra (24 km
plate 21 Formation of the nation-state territory) and wide, altitude under 70 m), the Tenasserim Range, an
the heartland of Thai rice cultivation (see plate 33 extension of the Western Highland Spine, dominates
Rice). It contains the great central alluvial plain, a a narrow coastal plain. In the south, mountain ridges
low-lying area at an altitude of less than 100 m dotted at an altitude of over 1000 m (Phuket Range, Nakhon
with isolated hills, drained by the Chao Phraya river Si Thammarat Range, Taluban Range) alternate with
system which is navigable in all seasons from Bang- relatively broad alluvial plains (Tapi basin, Thale Sap
kok to Nakhon Sawan, and with a basin covering an coastal plain, Pattani valley). The eastern and western
area of 170,000 km2 in all. The Central Plain is sub- shores are in complete contrast: on the South China
divided into two main regions. In the north, upstream Sea the coast is low lying and regular; the Anda-
from Chainat, are the plains and hills of the piedmont man Sea coast is rocky and indented, bordered by
where the rivers Ping and Nan converge. In the south, a multitude of islands and islets (limestone stack at
downstream from Chainat, is the delta system of the
Chao Phraya (plain of Bangkok) associated with the
adjacent peripheral lowlands: the low-lying valley of
the Pasak in the north-east, the valleys and deltas of
the Meklong in the west, and the Prachin in the east,
and the coastal plain in the south-east, at the foot of ATLAS of THAILAND
28
RELIEF and HYDROGRAPHICAL SYSTEM 7
Rge
Phayao
g n
Wan g
Doi Inthanon
Yo m
n g Praba
O
2565
Lamphun
R g e
Lampang
Pin g
Nan
Son
Phrae
Kh
g
18 0N ra
m
C h a i
ua
S
Sirikit
Nong Khai
L
Nakhon
Bhumibol
Uttaradit Loei
Phanom
Udon Thani Sakon Nakhon
Phu Luang Nong Bua Phu
1571 Lam Phu Ph
Sukhothai an
Y
Rge
g
g
Phitsanulok 1316 Ubol
e
o
Rattana
Khon Kaen
Phetchabun Mukdahan
h
abun
Phichit Kalasin
T
Kamphaeng Phet
Maha
M
A
Pas a k
ko n
etch
Khao Kha Kaeng
e
2152
Sarakham Roi Et
g
16 0N Yasothon Amnat
Chaiyaphum
a n o n
Ph
Charoen
K h o r a t
Nakhon Sawan Ch
Mun i Ubon Ratchathani
Uthai Thani
N
T h
Si Sa Ket
Chai Nat
C e n t r a l Nakhon Ratchasima Buri Ram P l a t e a u
Khao Sing Buri Surin Sirindhorn
Laem Lop Buri
Ch a
Kw Ang Thong
o Ph
Si Nakarinda
Rge
ray
Dangrek
M
Khao Khieo
oi
Ayutthaya 1351
P l a i n Nakhon Nayok
Kanchanaburi Pathum Thani
14 0N Prachin Buri
M e Nakhon Pathom Nonthaburi
P rachin
e
kl
Bangkok Sa Kaeo
Rg
on g
Samut Prakan
Samut Songkhram Chon Buri
Ba
m
n
th
Phetchaburi
asseri
at
Khao Soi Dao Tai
1670
Rg
R
Rayong Chanthaburi
e
ANDAMAN
Ten
Trat
Ko Chang
C A M B O D I A
12 0N
Prachuap
Khiri Khan
SEA
Ko Kut
GULF OF THAILAND
Chumphon
Isthmus
of Kra
Ranong
0
10 N
Rge
Surat Thani
Prapha
1000 m
Ta p i
200 m
Rge
0
Krabi
8 N 0
1835 Peak (in meters)
Phuket
Province centers
Trang Phatthalung
Si
Thale Sap
on
Songkhla A
kh
SE
Na
Pattani
INA
Ko Tarutao Satun
Yala H CH
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Narathiwat SOUT
t tan i
Pa
Bang
Lang
e 0 100 200 km
6 0N Rg
M
an
ub 0 60 120 miles
I A
Ta l
A L
Sources : Donner W., 1978
A Y S
98 0E RTSD, 1976 , 1990 100 0E 104 0E
C
1 - Situations of the territory
T
he climate of Thailand is determined by the The mangrove has also been affected by deforesta-
country’s position in tropical latitudes between tion (cutting of timber, implantation of infrastructure,
two ocean masses, and its exposure to the including tourist facilities, mining and salt production,
monsoon winds: it is characterized by high tempera- aquaculture) which between 1975 and 1990 has
tures and heavy rains with high levels of regional reduced the total area of cover by half (less than 2
variability. Marked rainfall seasonality and interannual million km2 today). Since 1980, aquaculture has been
variation represent the main constraint for agricultural the main reason for the conversion of mangroves
activity, as they affect the timing of work, the acre- and has affected the entire coastline of the country,
age planted, yields and production levels. Amount of because of the gradual delocalization of this activity
rainfall depends on exposure to one or another of the towards the east and south: the coast of the Bay of
two monsoons, or even both, then on the local length Bangkok has suffered most destruction, and that of
and timing of the monsoon. The south-west monsoon, the Andaman Sea has been most recently affected.
from April-May until October, brings with it heavy rains
that represent a minimum of 75% of annual precipita- The phenomenon of deforestation has domi-
tion, even 90% on the reliefs, with marked differences nated the debate on the environment, a fairly recent
between places. The north-east monsoon then brings debate in Thailand, and has mobilized government
in cool, dry continental air: the dry season can vary and university institutions, Non-Governmental Organi-
from 5 to 10 months with only the eastern coast of the zations and rural communities. To conserve plant and
peninsula receiving abundant rainfall. The south of animal resources, the government brought out laws at
the country and the south-east of the Bay of Bangkok the beginning of the 1960s creating national parks and
receive heavy rainfall (from 2 to 4 meters), and they wildlife sanctuaries (an area officially covering almost
have a dry season of about 2 months, whereas the 15% of the country), before setting up the principle
center and part of the Khorat plateau (leeward effect) of “forest reserves”, to be managed commercially.
receive much less (about 1 m) with a dry season of 6 Since the survival of populations settled in these
to 8 months. These extended dry seasons and major areas long before the reserves were created is com-
annual variations make agriculture without irrigation promised, the application of these measures raises
a hazardous activity. strong opposition from farmers, indignant be-cause
of the concessions made to industry (replanting with
Thailand has the largest proportion of land eucalyptus or bamboo for the paper pulp factories)
given over to agriculture of all the countries of South- or tourism (installations within the perimeter of the
East Asia: from 20 to 25 million hectares according parks) and anxious about the repercussions of the
to sources, or 40 to 50% of the country’s total area. major infrastructure planned (dams). Current disputes
The large-scale land clearing, which was begun in concern land, water resources, the forest or mangrove
the middle of the 20th century in the central basin and involve many protagonists (see plate 62 Land use
of the Chao Phraya to extend rice-growing areas, in the South: Pak Phanang watershed). The increas-
has reached the low and middle terraces where ing number of disputes is an indication of the extent
cash crops have been planted on the slopes (cas- of the social and ecological imbalances created by
sava, maize, sugar cane): between 1950 and 1980 an economic growth which although impressive has
agricultural land was increased 5-fold by this type of been poorly managed regarding natural resources.
conversion. The peninsula, because of the specific To deforestation, erosion, land-slides and flooding,
features of the rainfall, has its own type of land cover: are added acute local problems of soil salinity, water
rubber tree plantations (and oil palms) and tree crops pollution caused by uncontrolled industrialization and
predominate over paddy fields and upland crops (see an irrational use of chemical inputs in certain areas of
also plate 31 Land utilization). agriculture, aquaculture and livestock breeding.
30
ENVIRONMENT and NATURAL RESOURCES 8
Sri Lanna
Lum Nam Pai
Doi Luang Forests and mangroves
Yo m
Cultivated uplands
Pin g
Nan
Son
Paddy fields
Kh
g
ra
m
Om Koi
Mae Ping Sirikit
M
Pas a k
ko n
e
g
Umphang
Ch
Huai Kha Khaeng Mun
i
Kw
Si Nakarinda
en
ray
oi
Khao Yai
a
Thap Lan
P rachin
Me
k lo
BANGKOK
ng
Kaeng Krachan
Ko Chang
Climate
Ko Kut
Ko Samui
Ratcha
Khlong Saeng Prapha
Ta p i
Bang
Low rainfall, moderate-lasting and
Lang
cool dry season
Low rainfalll and
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
T
hailand is divided into 76 provinces (changwat). The same is true for the Eastern Seaboard, an “urban
This territorial administration system was industrial region” set up in the 1980s by the state in
established over a long period of time, starting tandem with the exploitation of the oil reserves in the
at the end of the 19th century (see plate 21 Forma- Gulf of Thailand (see chapter 3 The state and the
tion of the nation-state territory), and the established construction of the territory).
meshwork of provinces changed little between 1933
and 1992: seven new provinces were created by divi- The provincial centers have the same name
sion (especially in the North-East) and there has been as the provinces of which they are the administrative
one fusion. Historically, the amphoe is the subdivision and political center. All have the status of municipal-
of the province, but reforms are afoot to increase the ity which allows them to claim financial support from
representativity and autonomy of local governments the state and to be provided with particular facilities
at the even lower level of the tambon (see plate 22 (health, education,…). However, some cities are
Territorial administration). larger than the provincial centers (see plate 16 Munici-
pali-ties). The primacy of Bangkok is overwhelming
Planning is organized at province level. There with over 5.5 million inhabitants (20 times more than
were some attempts to draw up regional plans in the Nonthaburi, in the neighboring province; 30 times
1960s and 1970s covering the regions qualified as more than Nakhon Ratchasima, the country’s third
peripheral: the North, the North-East and the South; city and the first city in the peripheral regions). The
in official documents, these three units are still communication routes, of which only the major axes
designated in this way for statistical purposes, and have been represented here, structure the urban
generally with the same delimitation. Several admi- net-work in an axial pattern. Bangkok, along with
nis-trative agencies and also the National Statistical Nontha-buri and Pathum Thani, are the crossroads
Office (NSO) defined a fourth spatial unit, the Center, of a road network with a radial configuration (see
which included Bangkok province. Again for statisti- plate 24 Trans-portation networks). Further north,
cal purposes and to take into account the differential Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan are important nodes
effects of growth in population and economic activity, in the network, as are Phitsanulok and Chiang Mai
the Center can in turn be broken down into four areas: in the North, Nakhon Ratchasima and Khon Kaen in
West, Center (or Upper Center), East, Bangkok Met- the North-East and, to a lesser extent, Surat Thani
ropolitan Region (or Bangkok and Periphery, or even in the South. The emergence of land networks at the
Bangkok and Vicinity) (see plate 56 Inter-regional level of continental South-East Asia should strengthen
trade). In the context of this last subdivision, Bang- the position of some of these centers, such as Phit-
kok and Samut Prakan, historic poles of growth, can sanulok and Khon Kaen (see plate 6 Networks in
be considered separately (see plate 43 Enterprises Eastern Asia).
under the Board of Investment). In this atlas we refer
to the four major regions thus: North (17 provinces), Cartographic analysis of Thailand as a whole
North-East (19 provinces), South (14 provinces) and is on several scales. The smallest (when there is a
Center (26 provinces), and directional references are single map per plate) is 1: 6 250 00. Two intermedi-
expressed as north, north-east, south and center. ate scales, 1: 7 400 000 and 1: 10 000 000, are used
for the largest maps on plates with 2 or 3 maps (or 2
Similar distinctions have been made in relation maps and a graph or table, like the one shown here).
to the metropolitan area of the capital. The Bangkok The largest scale used is 1: 15 400 000 on plates
Metropolitan Region (BMR) referred to by planners with 4 maps (or 3 maps and a graph). The maps that
is clearly defined, Bangkok and the five adjoining have been deliberately distorted have no scale, as
provinces (Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi,
Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon), but cartographic
analyses refer to a metropolitan region that is not
limited by province boundaries and which can dif-
fer in size and shape according to the phenomena
or the processes observed. However, the Bangkok
Metropolitan Region (BMR) has neither independent
administration nor representatives (see also plate 58
Urban and industrial development around Bangkok). ATLAS of THAILAND
32
PROVINCES and their CENTERS 9
Regional divisions
NORTH
47
54
51 53
46
50 49
58 38 NORTH-EAST
62
32 40 35
37 44
59
57
Province centers 60
31 30 34
48
56 55
29 33 39 45 27
52
Chiang Rai 43
61
59 36 42
24 28 41
1 23
8 25 2
10 15
Mae Hong Son Chiang Mai Phayao
11 13
Nan 3 19
17 21 20 4
22 7
Lampang 12
14 18 6
Lamphun
Phrae Nong Khai 26
16 CENTER
Uttaradit Udon Thani
Loei
Nakhon
Sukhothai Phanom
Nong Bua
Phitsanulok Lam Phu Sakon Nakhon 63
Tak
Khon Kaen Kalasin
Mukdahan 71 Regional divisions most-commonly used
Phetchabun
Kamphaeng Phet Phichit Roi Et Bangkok Metropolitan Region boundaries (BMR)
Chaiyaphum Maha Yasothon Amnat
Sarakham Charoen 74 Eastern Seaboard boundaries
Nakhon Sawan
Uthai Thani Nakhon 68 State frontiers
Ratchasima 65
Chai Nat Buri Ram 70 64
Lop Buri Province boundaries
Sing Buri Si Sa Ket Ubon 75 69
Ang Thong Saraburi Ratchathani
Surin
Suphan Buri Nakhon
Kanchanaburi Ayutthaya Nayok SOUTH 72 73 67
Nakhon Pathum Prachin Buri
Pathom 76
Thani Sa Kaeo 66
Nonthaburi 100 km
Ratchaburi Chachoengsao
Samut
Songkhram Samut Samut Chon Buri
SakhonPrakan
Phetchaburi Rayong
Chanthaburi
Trat 76 provinces
Bangkok North-East:
Prachuap Amnat Charoen 27
Khiri Khan
Buri Ram 28
Chaiyaphum 29
Kalasin 30
Center: Khon Kaen 31
Province centers Loei 32
Chumphon Ang Thong 1
Ayutthaya 2 Maha Sarakham 33
Main roads Bangkok 3 Mukdahan 34
Ranong
Province boundaries Chachoengsao 4 Nakhon Phanom 35
Chai Nat 5 Nakhon Ratchasima 36
Surat Thani State frontiers Chanthaburi 6 Nong Bua Lam Phu 37 South:
Chon Buri 7 Nong Khai 38 Chumphon 63
Kanchanaburi 8 Roi Et 39 Krabi 64
Nakhon Si Lop Buri 9 Sakon Nakhon 40 Nakhon Si Thammarat 65
Phangnga Thammarat Nakhon Nayok 10 Si Sa Ket 41 Narathiwat 66
Krabi Nakhon Pathom 11 Surin 42 Pattani 67
Phatthalung Nonthaburi 12 Ubon Ratchathani 43 Phangnga 68
Phuket Pathum Thani 13 Udon Thani 44 Phatthalung 69
Phetchaburi 14 Yasothon 45 Phuket 70
Trang Songkhla Prachin Buri 15 Ranong 71
Pattani Prachuap Khiri Khan 16 North: Satun 72
Ratchaburi 17 Chiang Mai 46 Songkhla 73
Rayong 18 Chiang Rai 47 Surat Thani 74
Satun Narathiwat
Sa Kaeo 19 Kamphaeng Phet 48 Trang 75
Yala
Samut Prakan 20 Lampang 49 Yala 76
100 km Samut Sakhon 21 Lamphun 50
Samut Songkhram 22 Mae Hong Son 51
Saraburi 23 Nakhon Sawan 52
Sing Buri 24 Nan 53
Municipal population of province centers (1999) Suphan Buri 25 Phayao 54
Bangkok = 5,655,570 inhabitants Trat 26 Phetchabun 55
270,450
Phichit 56
Phitsanulok 57
83,022 Phrae 58
Sukhothai 59
7,587
Tak 60
Uthai Thani 61
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Uttaradit 62
Population
T
hailand is not occupied solely by Thais, who In the first half of the 19th century, Thailand was
probably originated in the Changjiang [Yang Tse an under-populated country. The population of 1 to
Kiang] basin, though they do indeed make up 3 millions was gathered around the political centers,
a very large part of the population. The country is along the waterways and the Mekong in the valleys
certainly an ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious and basins in the north and north-east, and in the
mosaic, despite the imposition, from the time of King Chao Phraya delta. It spread from these settlement
Chulalongkorn (1868-1910), of a unifying language cores as the cultivated area was extended into the
and culture with the aim of creating national unity Chao Phraya delta using new hydraulic improvements
(plate 10 Main ethno-linguistic groups). Thailand and the land was cleared upstream from the river delta
is known as one of the last of the Theravada Buddhist towards the north and north-east. With the advance
monarchies (along with King Sihanouk’s Cambodia of the agricultural frontier right up until the 1980s the
since 1993) whose ideologies are based on the nation population was able to spread throughout the country
(chat), religion (satsana) and monarchy (phramaha- and this helped slow the rate of urbanization. Whereas
kasat). For many centuries Buddhism, the national in South-East Asia, there are sometimes extremes of
religion, has had the support of the King, who is population distribution, between the uplands and the
required by the Constitution to be of the Buddhist lowlands, the coastal areas and the interior, these
religion, even though he is considered to be the differences are less marked in Thailand where the
protector of all religions practised by the population. average population density is 110 inhabitants per km²
Reformist and progressive movements that have (plate 13 Population distribution and growth).
emerged since the 1960s, to confront the challenges
of the modern world, and also the various scandals After the compulsory settling of prisoners of
involving popular abbots and bonzes have weakened war from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam at the very
the authority of the Supreme Patriarch (somdet beginning of the 19th century, the populating of Siam
phra sangkharat) and the Council of the Elders was later based on immigration from China, which
(mahatherasamakhom). Although there are indeed probably accounted for half the population increase
a religious code, clergy and temples, there are no in the 19th century. In 1949, the Immigration Act
rituals as such for being accepted into this religion, closed the borders and from the 1960s authorized the
and the fact that some do not practise religion and entry of only 2,000 Chinese annually. The massive
that there are other beliefs, especially in spirits and population increase after the Second World War (at
supernatural forces, is fairly well accepted. least 3% per year until the 1970s) is due to natural
increase, reinforced by a decrease in the mortality rate
Beliefs specific to the Chinese, whether thanks to the eradication of malaria and a nationalistic
associated with Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, policy supporting a rising birth rate. Although justified
Confucianism or the cult of the spirits, have until during the war, with the expansionist aims of Phibun
now fed syncretic movements, often inspired by Songkhram (1938-1944) (see plate 20 Changes
Buddhism, but they do seem to be the subject of in boundaries and frontiers (18th-20th century)), the
renewed interest, contributing to a movement of natalistic policy was maintained after this to guard
sinisation that is becoming more and more evident against the threat of communism. A birth control policy
in a kingdom renowned for its great spirit of religious was instigated in 1970, resulting in a rapid decrease
tolerance (plate 11 Religions). Nor should the in the birth rate, then in an ageing population (plate
dynamism of Islam be underestimated, even though 14 Demographic characteristics). Demographic
it affects only a few provinces, and the influence of growth decreased to 2.7% per year between 1970
Christianity too bears no relation to the small number and 1980, before dropping to slightly less than 2%
of practising Christians, with Thailand the least between 1980 and 1990 and to 1.06% between 1990
Christianised country of South-East Asia (plate 12 and 2000. The rising trend for the active population
Islam and Christianity). The Hindus are very much dropped off at the end of the 1990s, thus putting at
in the minority (21,500 in 1990) although the divinities, risk the country’s model of economic growth which
the Indian classical languages and other symbols of is highly dependent on manpower, especially in the
Hinduism are very much in evidence in Thai culture. industrial sector, where there is already an erosion of
Together with the Sikhs, however, they do make up competitivity in relation to neighboring countries. The
a powerful economic group (finance, textile industry, over-sixties will probably constitute more than 10% of
real estate). the population in 2010 and some thought will have to
35
be given to how to cope with this ageing population, increased from 10.5% in 1970 to 18.4% in 1990,
as life expectancy has now reached 70 years for men giving rise to a corresponding increase in returning
and 75 years for women. movement (5.4% in 1970 compared with 12.6% in
1990). However, the population census is not an
Thailand ended the century with one of the exhaustive tool for the study of migrations. Only the
lowest rates of urbanization in Eastern Asia, at five previous years are considered, using a person’s
only just 19% according to the 1990 census and usual place of residence, which does not take into
31% according to the 2000 census (plate 15 Rural account their actual place of residence. It also masks
and urban population). The urban population has the majority of temporary migrations, which represent
in fact long been underestimated due to a purely an essential part of rural family strategy and which
administrative definition of urban areas. Under the have increased considerably since the 1970s. The
heading of urban residents are included populations census basically gives information on permanent or
living within the municipalities (thetsaban), though the semi-permanent migrations, which in fact apply to
boundaries of these units are often too restricted, given only 8% of the population aged 5 and over between
the physical extension of the city. All the provincial 1985 and 1990 and this brings out only a selective
centers and some other towns were promoted to profile of migrants, young, unmarried people with a
municipalities by government decision after the higher than average level of education.
Royal Decree of 1953 (plate 16 Municipa-lities).
Until recently, the government, which was very highly The complex nature of migratory movements is
centralized, was reluctant to agree to the devolution such that they probably modify population distribution
of power inherent in municipality status: municipalities less, in fact, than their scale would suggest (plate
numbered 117 in 1947, and this figure had increased 18 Importance of migration in the provin-ces).
to only 139 by 1996. The inclusion in the 1980 and Whereas before, seasonal migration predomina-ted
1990 census definition of urban popula-tion of the because of the importance of agricultural work, this
inhabitants of the sanitary districts (sukhaphiban), is now tending to decline in favor of longer stays.
areas provided with sanitary amenities, with over Migration towards the pioneer fronts and areas of
5,000 inhabitants, was intended to provide a more intensive agriculture as well as absorption by the
accurate picture of urbanization, but there were not agricultural sector of the excess active population
yet sufficient of these defined areas to properly reflect tended to slow down the urbanization process until
the rate of urbanization. It was only in 1999, with the the 1980s. In 1990, 66.3% of the active population
enforcement of the decentralization process, that the still worked in the agricultural sector, according
number of municipalities, through the Sanitary District to the census which, although overestimating
to Municipality Conversion Act, was significantly this percentage as it counted main employment
increased to 1,131 through the classification of only, nevertheless indicated the degree to which
981 sanitary districts. The purpose of this reform is the agricultural sector still absorbs the working
administrative and political (see chapter 3 The state population.
and the construction of the territory), and although
it allows a better understanding of urbanization, the The demographic profile of the provinces
definition of urban areas is still not based on functional clearly reflects the spatial dynamics of the country
and socio-economic criteria. (plate 19 Population distribution and demogra-
phic features). The extension of agriculture and then
Migrations between rural areas, which still urbanization have resulted in a population distribution
predominated at the end of the 1980s, have decreased, that forms a pattern of concentric circles around
mainly because land clearing for agriculture began to Bangkok with clearly defined major peripheral areas
wind down in the 1960s (41% of migrations in 1990, in the north, north-east and extreme-south.
compared with 63% in 1970) (plate 17 Inter-regional
migrations). Such migrations today are simply short
distance moves, whereas migrations into the cities
cover much greater distances, from one region to
another; by far the majority of these are into the
central provinces, currently undergoing urbanization.
Movement from the rural areas to the cities has ATLAS of THAILAND
36
MAINTAINING RELIGIOUS and FAMILY TIES
Migrants welcomed by their village in the North-East for the Buddhist new year (songkran)
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Urban centers, especially in the Bangkok metropolitan region, attract workers from rural areas, the majority from the
North-East and the North. Ties with family and village remain strong, even for the youngest who return home for
religious events and festivals and who take refuge there if ever they suffer job losses or illness. Income from migration
contributes in return to support some farms.
2 - Population
C
ompared with its neighbors, Thailand is a fairly the land in the basins and valleys, the Tais from the
homogeneous state in terms of its ethno- north (or Khon Muang) are tending to move back up
cultural mix. More than 95% of the population onto the hill slopes. There are three distinct levels,
are declared Buddhists (Theravada Buddhism) and the Khon Muang in the lowlands, the Karen and Mon-
more than 90% have a Thai language as their mother Khmer ethnic groups in the valleys, and up to a height
tongue. Primary school education is for the most part of 1,200 meters the Tibetan-Burmese, or Hmong-Yao,
in central Thai (Siamese language), with the exception grow opium on the uplands. These distinctions are
of a few mountain populations close to the borders tending to become blurred, with improved accessibility
with Myanmar or Laos. There are regional differences, and the intensification of mountain agriculture, giving
of course, (Tai Yuan in the north, Lao or Khmer in rise to migrations between altitude areas.
the north-east), but the only populations still to resist
assimilation into the Thai nation are the Muslims of The Phak Isan (or North-East), which forms
Malaysian origin in the five southern provinces close part of the Mekong basin, is inhabited for the most
to Malaysia and a few mountain groups in the north, part by Lao who migrated there from Laos in the
who settled less than 50 years ago on Thai territory 18th and 19th centuries. On the southern edge, in the
and grow opium poppies. Nakhon Ratchasima region, Khmers and Khorat Tais
(descended from the Siamese) have settled since the
All cultural differences are seen by the 14th century. When the Lao Isan became aware of
bureaucracy as threats to the integrity of the nation, their individuality after being educated in the Siamese
founded on the three pillars of the Buddhist religion, language (after 1921) and migrating on a large-scale
the monarchy and the Thai language (central Thai). to the capital, a form of regionalism was born. The
The idea of autonomy, even in a uniquely cultural North-East has elected representatives from the
sense, is quite foreign to this centralist state where left-wing opposition on a regular basis, especially
an overwhelming majority of the population speak since after the Second World War, the relative under-
the Thai language and are Buddhists. Ethno- development of this region compared with the rest of
linguistic differences emerge even among the Tai the country became more apparent.
who make up the largest ethno-cultural group. Their
importance must not be exaggerated, however, as In the South, the Islamic religion and the
they are much less than in neighboring countries language barrier (Jawi, a local variant of Malay, is
like Myanmar or Laos. Unity greatly predominates better understood and written than Thai) have delayed
over diversity, largely due to the power of the state, integration of the four mainly Muslim provinces of
vector of modernity. The boundaries between units Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and Satun. Autonomists
are fairly relative and imprecise, as can be seen from and then separatists have occasionally carried out
their outline on the map. The colors indicate only the guerrilla action with varying degrees of force since
relative predomi-nance of the ethno-linguistic group the 1948 revolt. The north-south split through the
represented. Thai peninsula is clearly due to a large predominance
of Thai Buddhists in the north, whereas in the
The mountain regions to the north and west provinces adjoining the border with Malaya, the
are the southern fringe of this vast, divided polyethnic result of an Anglo-Siamese treaty of 1909, Muslim
area, the “uplands of the north Indo-China range”, Thais of Malaysian origin make up almost 80% of
stretching from Assam to Guanxi and including parts the population. The Moken, pearl divers and shell
of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The same ethnic gatherers, move about between the Malaysian and
groups can be found on both sides of recently drawn, Myanmar islands, but they have also established two
arbitrary boundaries. They are mobile and from a villages on the island of Phuket. Their dialects are
culture that is very different from that of the Tais, related to Malay, with many Burmese and Mon-Khmer
especially the Tibetan-Burmese, the Hmong and the words, and they are animists.
Yao, who traditionally practise the cult of the spirits.
The internal instability of neighboring regions, Laos
and in particular Myanmar, maintains the mobility of
these groups and a relative insecurity, strengthened
by the existence of the Golden Triangle of drugs.
Because the pressure of numbers limits access to ATLAS of THAILAND
38
MAIN ETHNO-LINGUISTIC GROUPS 10
Me k o n g
Chiang Rai
Chiang Kham
Mae Hong Son
L
A
Chiang Mai Nan
Yo m
O
PHAK
n
g
Pi
Lampang
NUA
M
S
Loei
Udon Thani
Nan
Sakon Nakhon
Sukhothai
Y
PHAK
Tak Phitsanulok
Wa
n g
Me
A
ko n
Pas a k g
ISAN
Nakhon Sawan
Ch
i
PHAK
Mun Ubon Ratchathani
N
Uthai Thani
Nakhon Ratchasima
C
ha
o
Ph
r ay
a
KLANG
M
Ayutthaya
Kanchanaburi Nakhon Prachin Buri
Pathom
C A M B O D I A
Me
Aranyaprathet
kl
on g
Bangkok
A
ANDAMAN
Trat Tai Kadai group
Siamese
Prachuap Tai Khorat
SEA Khiri Khan
Lao
Northern Tai (Khon Muang)
GULF OF THAILAND
Shan
Southern Tai
Tai Lu
Mon-Khmer group
Khmer
Mon
PHAK TAI
Tibeto-Burman group
Tapi
Lisu-Lahu
Nakhon Si
Thammarat Miao-Yao group
Hmong (Meo)-Yao
Phuket
Karen group
Karen
0 100 200 km
A tolerant Kingdom
B
uddhism is the declared religion of 95% of The Chinese population comes mainly from
Thais and its followers represent by far the the three coastal provinces of south-east China
majority in almost all the provinces. In the (Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi) and the island
12th and 13th centuries the Mons brought Theravada of Hainan. For historical reasons, the Teochiu
Buddhism to the Thais, the only school of Hinayana outnumber the Hakka, the Hainanese, the Hokkien
(“Lesser Vehicle”) Buddhism still in existence. The and the Cantonese. The Chinese have come in large
sacred language is Pali, in which the scriptures, the numbers since the end of the 19th century to work
Tipitaka, are written. Buddhism is generally practised in the tin mines and rubber plantations in the south,
in monasteries (wat), which house the community of in the paddy fields and the railroad yards and they
monks (sangha). The monk (bhikku) is the central gradually took over most of the trade. They then
figure in Buddhism. diversified their business activities, investing in such
sectors as banking and manufacturing industries; they
To Thai people touring their country generally entered the professions, and were able to penetrate
consists of visiting famous pagodas and Buddhist the administration sector. From 1987 onwards, they
pilgrimage places: the sacred places of the central were the first to profit from the economy’s glorious
region have been well served since the late 19th decade which, being of their making, is the product
century by waterways, roads and railways. Sunni Islam of a certain Chinese culture.
is the second religion, even though the proportion of
Muslims in the country is contested between the There has never been much anti-Chinese
administration and the Muslim institutions (between sentiment in Thailand, even if some avenues of work
4% and 10%). Representing the foremost religious were closed to them for a long time. Both nationalist
minority (almost 2,240,000 in 1990), the percentage and conservative governments, Phibun Songkhram
of Muslims varies considerably across more than (1938-1944 then 1948-1957) and Thanin Kraivichien
half the country, but they are in the majority in the (1976-1977), took measures to promote forced
southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala assimilation (thaisation of names, closing of Chinese
and Satun. In 1990, Christians represented barely schools, limiting time that the Chinese language was
0.5% of the population, about 290,000 people, mainly taught). With the re-establishment in 1975 of diploma-
Catholics. They are the principal minority in the north tic relations with China, then the dissociation of China
and the north-east, and account for almost 14% of from the Thai Communist Party and its rural guerrilla
the population in Mae Hong Son. campaign, and the strong economic relations between
the countries from 1987, the “Chinese problem” was
The beliefs of the Chinese are very eclectic, eliminated completely. The coming to power in 1988
almost as if they did not represent a well-defined of Chatichai Choonhavan resulted in a renaissance
category of “religion”. However, the supernatural is of Chinese schools and even the opening of the Hua
omnipresent: when a place of worship is required to Chiew Chalerm Prakiat university in Bangkok.
protect a district or a market area, a small shrine is
sufficient. The distribution of san chao shows that Chinese businessmen began to be involved
there are few Chinese in the most heavily populated in politics, financing political parties and standing
regions in the north and especially the north-east, for parliament. Of 22 Prime Ministers since 1932,
even though there are communities in all the at least 14 have been of Chinese origin. Because
provincial cities and in many rural areas. The Chinese there has been a subtle movement towards sinisation
are present in almost all the districts of Bangkok, since the 1970s, the successful assimilation of the
where half the country’s entire Chinese population Chinese, through schools and mixed marriages, is
lives. Among all the countries of South-East Asia, it a model rejected by some analysts. The situation
is in Thailand that the Chinese have most influence. is right for the creation of a new Sino-Thai identity.
Their power derives less from their numerical strength This should be all the more easy to achieve as the
than from their dynamism and their forms of solidarity, Chinese have already had a tremendous influence
which can be seen through their associations and now on Thai culture.
in their wealth. Estimated at 14% of the population,
they probably control more than 80% of the capital,
or as much as the Chinese in Singapore, where they
represent about 78% of the population. ATLAS of THAILAND
40
RELIGIONS 11
T
he distribution of Muslims throughout the Chiang Rai, a fraction of the Yunnan Chinese or Ho
country shows that Islam is not limited to just Chinese minority is Muslim. Other Muslims originate
the few provinces adjoining Malaysia. Though from Java and Sumatra, Arabia or Persia. The main
they are much in evidence in the sparsely populated trend is of a great mixture of origins, to which are
provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and Satun, they added Thai spouses converted from Buddhism, and
are also an undeniable presence in other southern this has happened to such an extent that in Bangkok
provinces: Songkhla has more Muslims than Yala and in particular mutsalim (Muslim) tends to be presented
Satun though slightly fewer than Bangkok. These five as the sole category of identity, the ethnic origin being
southern provinces (containing more than 60% of Thai silently passed over.
Muslims) represent the heart of the native or long-
established populations who have been converted, Christianity reached Siam in 1555 with
throughout the course of history, an entire province Portuguese Dominican friars. They were followed
at a time. at the beginning of the 19th century by Protestant
missionaries from the American Presbyterian Society,
The Malay Muslims, Jawi speakers, for a but this religion has never successfully implanted
long time nurtured a separatist movement, incited itself among the Theravada Buddhists. The Christian
by the ultra-nationalist policies of Thai governments missionaries instead tried to convert the mountain-
between 1930 and the 1950s, and supported by the dwelling minorities in the north (Karen) and the
neighboring state of Kelantan in Malaysia and, since Chinese in the center and the south of the country. In
the 1970s, by a few Arab countries. For a long time the south-east, especially in Chanthaburi, Catholicism
this state of insecurity was endemic, despite a more involves Vietnamese and Chinese communities
conciliatory type of politics since the 1980s which who originally arrived as 18th century immigrants.
has calmed tempers and reintroduced debate into Many villagers of Vietnamese origin in north-east
the electoral and government arena: the south has Thailand are Catholics and Sakon Nakhon has as
benefited from the coming to power of two Prime many Catholics as Bangkok. Catholics are fairly well
Ministers from this region (though not Muslims), represented among teachers, doctors, intellectuals,
General Prem Tinsulanonda (1980-1988) and Chuan politicians of Chinese and Vietnamese origin.
Leekpai (1992-1994 and 1998-2001). The “incidents” Missionaries have played a vital part in introducing
that have occurred from time to time are a reminder medicine and modern education into Siam: the
that some Muslims are still not satisfied with the Bangkok Nursing Home run by Protestants and the
thaisation process, even though between the 1970s Saint Louis Hospital by Catholics are merely the best
and the 1990s a quota system dispensed Muslim known of their kind. It is certainly in the education
students from taking an entrance exam into many sector that their influence is most strongly felt: a large
higher educational establishments. proportion of the country’s elite have passed through
one of their schools (Mater Dei, Saint John) or their
In those provinces where the Buddhist religion universities (Assumption Commercial College), which
predominates, Muslims tend to belong to families who the less well-off Christians can no longer afford to
are or have been migrants, refugees or deportees, attend. Christianity may still be trying to convert
depending on the time of their arrival. Many in the mountain populations, said to be animists, and
the Minburi and Nong Chok districts of north-east compete with the Buddhist monks, but its main task
Bangkok are descended from prisoners of war, is trying to adapt to the inevitable urbanization of
deported from Pattani in the 19th century. In the central part of its faithful, while still preserving its influence,
provinces of Chachoengsao and Ayutthaya, there are especially in the field of education.
many villages of Muslims of Malay origin. Muslims
originating from the Indian sub-continent (Tamils,
Bengalis, Pakistanis) settled in towns bordering
Myanmar, where they have taken up cattle trading,
and in Bangkok around the Harun mosque. The
Chams, originally from Cambodia for the most part,
number only a few thousand and have settled in Trat
province and especially in Ban Khrua in the heart of
the capital. In the northern provinces of Chiang Mai, ATLAS of THAILAND
42
ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY 12
Muslims (1990)
78.4%
Christians (1990)
3.5 2.7
[11 - 19.6 ]
[ 4.5 - 11 [
[ 1 - 4.5 [
[ 0.01 - 1 [
432,655
230,182
23
45,278 2.7
10,792
[ 4.5 - 11 [
[ 1 - 4.5 [
[ 0.01 - 1 [
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
T
he population of Thailand in 2000 was just over being grouped together around power centers
60 million inhabitants, 60,606,947 according to located in the plains, in the valleys and along the
the preliminary results of the 2000 population waterways. Exploitation of the land was sustained in
census. In contrast to neighboring countries, the the 19th century by policies of agricultural expansion
inhabitants of Thailand are distributed fairly evenly, and the digging of irrigation and drainage canals.
due mainly to the fact that agriculture is widespread The agricultural frontier continued to extend to
throughout the entire country. There is a concentration peripheral areas until the 1980s (see plate 31 Land
of population, however, around the capital, in the utilization). This accounts for the high population
North-East and in the provinces which include the growth until 1990 around the edge of the Central
major secondary cities (Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Plain (Kanchanaburi, Uthai Thani, Kamphaeng
Mai and the Songkhla/Hat Yai conurbation). Phet) and then further towards the east, the south-
east (Chanthaburi, Trat), the north-east (Nong Khai,
Population densities that are truly urban, Loei) and in some southern provinces. There, the
greater than 1,000 inhabitants per km2, are to be movement of populations arriving from the east coast
found in Bangkok, or slightly lower levels in the in order to establish rubber plantations accounts
neighboring provinces of Samut Sakhon, Samut for the high population growth in the interior and in
Prakan and Nonthaburi, which are incorporated the western part of the peninsula, which continued
into the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). A throughout the 1990s.
less dense form of urbanization has spread along
the main communi-cation routes as far as Sing Buri The pull of Bangkok accounts for the increase
province to the north. In the rest of the country only in the city’s population (see plate 18 Importance of
the province of Phuket has such high densities, due to migrations in the provinces), and also explains the
major in-migrations because of tourist development. rise in the 1990s of the populations of the adjoining
Beyond Sing Buri, population densities in the Central provinces and the nearest provinces to the east
Plain, which remains the country’s most important and west as the growth rate of the municipality itself
agricultural area, drop to less than 200 inhabitants tended to decline. This dynamic has been recognized
per km2, though this is still higher than the national by planners who, by “extended metropolitan region”,
average of 110 per km2. mean the region, vaster than the BMR, which
includes adjoining provinces such as Chon Buri,
Population densities of 100 to 200 inhabitants Ayutthaya and Ratchaburi. Developments along the
per km2 can be found in provinces of the North-East Eastern Seaboard, built with the intention of relieving
and the South (see also plate 63 Population in North- congestion in the port and city of Bangkok, have
East and South). The high densities in the North-East, already attracted a large population to Chachoengsao,
still a largely agricultural area, despite a difficult Chon Buri and Rayong.
environment, are an important feature of Thailand’s
spatial organization. In the South, high densities are In the provinces of the North and the rest
found in the provinces with the longest established of the Central Plain, on the other hand, population
populations on the east coast. In the north and west growth is slow. The decrease in fertility, observed in
of the country, population density is low. In the north, Thailand since the middle of the 1970s, has been
the mountains of the north Indo-Chinese range and particularly rapid here and is combined with high rates
the central chain isolate the heavily populated flood of emigration. The population of these provinces as a
plains, which are separated one from the other by proportion of the national total has decreased since
less densely occupied uplands. In the west, most 1970. In the North-East, fertility rates remain high,
of the population is concentrated in small valleys, thus compensating for a high regional emigration rate
leaving vast areas that were formerly covered by and enabling the region to maintain its superiority in
forest under-populated. numbers in relation to the population of the country
as a whole. Fertility rates are also high in the South,
The country’s population dynamics are especially in the Muslim provinces in the far south,
linked with two main factors: the advance of the and population redistribution occurs mainly within
agricultural frontier and the attraction of Bangkok.
Like its neighbors, Thailand has developed for many
years in a context of under-population, with people ATLAS of THAILAND
44
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION and GROWTH 13
Population in 1990
and population growth (1970-1990)
45.2%
8.2
1.4
[ 1,000 - 3,759 ]
[ 350 - 1,000 [
[ 265 - 350 [
[ 100 - 265 [
[ 12.5 - 100 [
35.6%
30
Population in 2000
2.7 and population growth (1990-2000)
[ 3.5 - 4.3 ]
[ 2.5 - 3.5 [
[ 1.9 - 2.5 [
[ 0.8 - 1.9 [
36.8%
21
13.2
[0.03 - 0.6 [
1,040,054
116,913 Inhabitants in 2000
6,320,170
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
603,860
160,960
T
hailand has experienced a real demographic have an effect on the average number of children per
revolution since the 1970s. The country is wit- woman would tend to favor a continued decline in the
nessing the largest decrease in fertility rates of fertility rate. However, strong social trends idealizing
all the developing countries as can be seen from the the two-child family will probably slow the process.
rapid and continuing decline in the rate of population The aging of the population, and the subsequent
growth. The receptive mentality of the people, the level increase in the number of deaths, means that a
of literacy, the efficiency of the national information noticeable drop in the death rate (6‰) is not likely.
network, the rapid development of communications, Bangkok, where capital was invested at an early
these are among the main factors which account for date in modern sanitary infrastructure, was the first
women’s rapid adoption of contraception, made avai- to be affected, since the 1960s, by the drop in both
lable through family planning clinics. 15% of married the death rate and the infant mortality rate. The level
women of child-bearing age used contraceptives in of infant mortality (less than one year), which affects
1970, 68.4% in 1990, according to the census figures. boys more than girls, was still at 26.1‰ in 1995-
The decline in the fertility rate has been so rapid that 1996, 31.4‰ if we count deaths of those under five
Thailand entered the 1990s with a fertility level lower years, and this remains a worrying statistic, even in
than the universal replacement threshold (2.1 children the cities (where it stands at 15.2‰) and particularly
per woman). There is a time-lag between different in the peripheral regions where rural poverty is still
regions and between rural and urban areas, as can be endemic. For the minorities living on the mountain
seen from demographic surveys regularly carried out slopes in the north and the west, fertility rates and
by the National Statistical Office (NSO): in 1996 the infant mortality rates are, as far as one can tell given
fertility rate of women living in the municipalities was the difficulties of registering births, very much higher
1.3 children per woman (a figure largely influenced by than average, because of poverty and the difficulty
the situation in Bangkok, where the fertility rate among of access to health services.
immigrants is low), compared with 2.3 children in rural
areas. However, the decline can be seen everywhere, The decline in fertility has consequences for
being more rapid since the beginning of the 1990s in the national and regional age pyramids, which are
rural areas, which are now tending to catch up with being reduced at the base, except in the North-East
the urban areas. Mortality rates, which are still higher and the South where fertility rates remain high, and
in rural areas (6.5‰) than in urban areas (4.1‰), are broadening at the top. The map showing age groups,
also evening out. like the age pyramids by region, reveals the very
specific profile of Bangkok and neighboring provinces:
The decline in fertility and birth rates is general, in Bangkok there is a deficit in the youngest age
but the north-eastern and southern regions are slightly groups and an over-representation of young adults,
behind, maintaining a high degree of demographic who have come to the capital for training or to study
pressure on the cultivated land and favoring migration or work. This is especially true for young women,
towards the pioneer agricultural fronts. Poverty and whose migration to urban areas has become a striking
the low level of development in the North-East do not feature of migration patterns. Beyond Bangkok and
sufficiently account for this trend, as they apply also the neighboring provinces the older populations are in
to the North: the diversity of local situations seems general better represented, because of the departure
to influence the rates calculated at regional level. In of the young adults to the capital and the return from
the South, the presence of a larger Muslim population Bangkok of migrants who have reached the end of
accounts for the differences from the Thai average. their working life. Young children, on the other hand,
However, the high birth rate cannot be attributed to are over-represented in almost all the provinces of
religious practices as birth limitation policies have the North-East and the South.
been extremely successful in the neighboring Muslim
countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. This behavior,
associated also with a lesser level of development,
is rather an expression of their difference in relation
to other Thais.
46
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS 14
60 & +
40-59 Thailand
15-39
years
0-14
60 & +
40-59
15-39
0-14
60 & +
40-59
15-39
0-14
45
Total fertility rate North 50-54
number of children per woman aged 15-45 40-44
40 7
30-34
20-24
35
6 10-14
30 0-4
5 % 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 %
25
4 80 & +
20
70-74
15 3
60-64
10 2 North-East 50-54
40-44
5 1 30-34
20-24
0 0
10-14
1964/65 1974/75 1985/86 1996 1964/65 1974/75 1985/86 1996 0-4
% 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 %
80 & +
70-74
Infant mortality rate 60-64
Crude death rate per 1,000 live births Center 50-54
per 1,000 population 40-44
100 30-34
14 90 20-24
12 80 10-14
10 70 0-4
60 % 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 %
8 50 80 & +
6 40 70-74
4 30 60-64
20 Bangkok 50-54
2 10 40-44
0 0 30-34
1964/65 1974/75 1985/86 1996 1964/65 1974/75 1985/86 1996 20-24
10-14
0-4
% 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 %
North 80 & +
70-74
North-East 60-64
South 50-54
Center 40-44
30-34
Bangkok 20-24
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
10-14
South 0-4
% 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 %
T
hailand is a country where the majority of the and Rayong has doubled, reaching 760,500 in 2000,
population still lives in rural areas. With more up from 378,300 in 1980.
than 40% of the land being used for agriculture, The growth in urban population between 1980
it is one of the countries of South-East Asia with and 2000 (2.4%) was double that of the rural population
the most extensive area of agricultural land and (1.2%) and much higher than that of the population
where the population, grouped together in villages, as a whole (1.5%). This assessment of the urban
is consequently spread most widely throughout the dynamic is however somewhat skewed by a definition
country. The advance of the agricultural frontier on a of “urban” which is too administrative in character
national scale and the development of lands at local and changes from census to census. Although the
level have, at first, made it possible to absorb the 1970 census considered as urban dwellers only
popu-lation growth that has occurred in rural areas. the population of the municipalities (all the province
Migra-tion to Bangkok then took over, but since centers and some other large towns), the 1980 and
the 1990s, urban mobility has been coupled with a 1990 censuses introduced the popu-lation of some
diversification by rural dwellers into fields of activity sanitary districts and the 2000 census incorporated
other than agriculture and this has been possible by the population of all the sanitary districts which have
the trickle-down of growth as far as villages in the been given municipality status. For comparison, the
peripheral regions; this process of diversification of population of the sanitary districts in 1980 has been
employment in the rural areas has checked physical included in the map showing the growth in urban
urbanization. population for the period 1980-2000.
The north-eastern provinces contain the The growth rate of the rural population is rapid
largest rural population and also comprise the most in those provinces where the birth rate remains high,
densely populated rural areas. The provinces in in the North-East and the South. It is also rapid in
the extreme north and the eastern provinces of the provinces that were originally sparsely populated and
peninsula, former population centers associated which received a lot of migrants who came to clear
historically with rice cultivation, still have a very large the land. These include Nong Khai, Kamphaeng Phet,
rural population. Phetchabun, Kanchanaburi and more recently Mae
Hong Son and Tak or the provinces of the south-east
The map of the urban population, compared along the Gulf of Thailand and the western part of
with that of the rural population, shows the axes the peninsula, pioneer areas for developing cash
of urbanization that are in the process of being crops, like rubber trees, sugar cane or oil palm.
structured, and which can be more clearly identified The urbaniza-tion process is nevertheless well
in the plate 16 on municipalities: the Bangkok-Udon under way since, in almost all provinces, the urban
Thani axis is more clearly defined than the Bangkok- population is increasing at a faster rate than the rural
Chiang Mai axis and the Surat Thani-Songkhla axis, population, especially in those provinces that are
whereas around Bangkok the structure seems more so far little urbanized, those in the urbanization axis
one of concentric rings, with the most urbanized in the northeast of the country and in the provinces
provinces being situated in immediate proximity to the around Bangkok which benefit from the dynamics
capital. The urban area therefore follows the commu- of periurbanization: in 2000 the urban dwellers of
nication routes out of Bangkok in a star-shaped the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, with just over 8
pattern: it is dense to the west towards Ratchaburi, million inhabitants, represented 45% of the country’s
to the north towards Ayutthaya, and to the south-east entire urban population. The urbaniza-tion process is
where the infrastructure of the Eastern Seaboard has often only recognized after it has happened, and new
encouraged a ribbon development along the canals sanitary districts or municipalities are then created,
and the coast road linking Bangkok and Rayong especially in regions where the population has only
(see also plate 58 Urban and industrial development
around Bangkok). Urban development is virtually
continuous from Chon Buri to Pattaya, through
newly created municipalities that are sometimes
very heavily populated, like Ao Udon with more than
71,000 inhabitants. Since the implementation of the
Eastern Seaboard, the urban population of Chon Buri ATLAS of THAILAND
48
RURAL and URBAN POPULATION 15
42.5% 43.8%
28.8
19.2
2.7 2.7
[ 77.2 - 87.5 [ [ 42 - 60 [
[ 58 - 77.2 [ [ 23 - 42 [
[ 31.5 - 58 [ [ 14.5 - 23 [
[ 0 - 31.5 [ [ 4.7 - 14.5 [
Population in 1990
5,882,411
1,500,000
250,000
15,509
49.3% 33%
21
30
8.2 10.5
864,287
94,722
535,460
21,030
T
he location of Thailand’s cities and urban areas Ratchasima to Ubon Ratchathani; the southern axis,
has two main features: the primacy of Bangkok, crossing the provinces of the eastern peninsula, Surat
and its axial pattern, structured by the major Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla/Hat Yai, Yala
communication routes. The primacy of the capital and Narathiwat. The main cities along these axes
is an extreme phenomenon, with its origins in the saw rapid growth during the 1970s, which official
city’s geographical location and the country’s highly population statistics do not always take into account.
centralized style of territorial management (see The size of most of the municipalities, especially the
chapter 7 Bangkok and the Bangkok metropolitan regional capitals, is an underestimation as there is
region). This central role, which can also be seen always some delay before administrative boundaries
in the way other activities and decision-making are officially adjusted to take into account actual
are concentrated, is reflected in the demography spatial extension.
of the country, for in 1996 Bangkok and the five
neighboring provinces contained just over 50% of Public and private participants have contributed
the country’s municipal population. The primacy of to the growth of the municipalities (2.4% per year from
Bangkok province has stabilized to form an extended 1970 to 1996). The regional capitals have been given
metropolitan region which polarizes the country. public facilities in accordance with their administrative
rank. The ranking of cities by nominating growth
Excluding Bangkok, the city rank-size curve is centers was a policy started in the 1970s and
fairly regular with a concentration of provincial centers continued until the Sixth Plan (1987-1991), and this
at the top, apart from those in the sparsely populated also favored the development of the cities that were
or newly created provinces. The second-rank cities selected, even though the amount of investment
with populations of between 140,000 and 290,000 that was forthcoming did not always match up to
inhabitants, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang expectations (see also chapter 3 The state and the
Mai, Udon Thani, Hat Yai, Pak Kret (Nonthaburi pro- construction of the territory). This policy was extended
vince) stand out clearly. After this, there is no major to many cities before development efforts began to
break in the ranking of cities by size. The spatial be concentrated in the extended metropolitan area
distribution of second-rank cities is determined by around Bangkok, but did not really succeed in slowing
their distance from Bangkok: the Central Plain has the process of concentration around the capital,
no cities of this size, apart from the suburban cities of mainly because of the persistence of a political,
Nonthaburi and Pak Kret, which are functionally linked economic and administrative hyper-centralization.
with the capital, as the concentration of all functions
in Bangkok virtually prohibits the development of any Supported by the benefits from the advance
other regional centers of command. of the agricultural frontier, progress in commercial
agriculture and Thailand’s very healthy economy, cities
Beyond Bangkok, towns are more scattered. in the North-East and the South have experienced
Some are the capitals of ancient peripheral kingdoms higher growth rates than the national average since
and principalities, like Chiang Mai or Nakhon Si the 1970s. Since the end of the 1980s, growth in the
Thammarat, but most have been developed by the secondary and tertiary sectors has taken over from
centralizing will of an administration eager to control agriculture in cities such as Nakhon Ratchasima, Hat
and serve the population and the territories. Because Yai or Udon Thani. Cities near the northern and north-
of its dense administrative network, Thailand has a eastern borders are anticipating a new dynamism,
remarkably regular scattering of small urban centers. with the opening up of neighboring countries such
As part of the decentralization process, 981 sanitary as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and the
districts were transformed in 1999 into municipalities: establishment of road and air routes as cooperation
almost half have less than 5,000 inhabitants and becomes established. In the south, the institutionali-
are barely urban. The road network has very much zation of exchanges with northern Malaysia in the
structured the system of cities: the northern axis from context of an economic cooperation zone also
Bangkok to Chiang Mai via Ayutthaya and Phitsanulok; strengthens the country’s urban dynamic.
the main eastern axis, the Friendship Highway, linking
Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen and Udon
Thani and from which secondary roads branch off,
from Khon Kaen to Nakhon Phanom and from Nakhon ATLAS of THAILAND
50
MUNICIPALITIES 16
Chiang Rai
Chiang Mai
Lampang
Sakon
Nakhon
Phitsanulok Udon Thani
Population and growth rate (1970-1996)
Khon
Kaen
Nakhon Roi Et
Sawa
Chai Nat Ubon
Saraburi Ratchathani
Nakhon Ratchasima
Surin
Kanchanaburi
Chachoengsao
Ratchaburi
Chon Buri
Phetchaburi
Rayong
3rd th
Plans & 6th (1987-91)
(1972-76) 7 (1992-96)
Regional urban growth centers
Second-generation regional
urban centers
Other regional urban growth centers
Bangkok Metropolitan Region
Surat Thani
Nakhon Si
Thammarat
Phuket
Songkhla
Pattani
27.7%
8.4
14.3
Rank
Annual growth rate 2
as percentage
10
[ 3.5 - 10 ] 20
[ 2.4 - 3.5 [ 30
[ 1.5 - 2.4 [ 40
50
[ 0 - 1.5 [
60
[-1.6 - 0 [
70
municipalities created 80
after 1970
90
100
110
120
Population in 1996 130
5,584,963 140
3,500 10,000 100,000 300,000
(logarithmic scale) Population
Province centers
Other municipalities
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
180,022
3,679
I
nter-regional migration involves movement supplant other destinations, and the total number of
between regions, defined by the National Statistical migrants decreased, indicating the beginning of the
Office (NSO), over the five years preceding closing of the agricultural frontier and the stabilizing
each population census. Movement between 1985- of the rural population. The net migration into
1990 reveals the predominance of migration in three Bangkok is positive for all the regions. The capital is
main areas: the North-East, where the balance with the principal destination for migrants from the North-
all regions is negative, the Center and Bangkok. East, the largest provider of inter-regional migrants,
There is a very high level of exchange between and it appears to have been an increasingly popular
these last two, because of the urbanization which destination in the period 1975-1980. Agricultural
is reaching neighboring provinces of the capital, activity is still the reason for the Center region’s
and migration back to the Center of those who had attracting a lot of migrants, especially as the departure
migrated to Bangkok and are returning to their native of so many of the native population to Bangkok
province. The North-East, a densely populated and creates a seasonal shortage of agricultural workers
less developed region, is the greatest supplier of which has been very noticeable since the 1970s.
immigrants. Migrations towards the Center are partly Migration to the Bangkok suburbs, the neighboring
urban, partly agricultural, due to the dynamism of a provinces, then the Eastern Seaboard intensified
very diversified agricultural sector. in the following decade. The monopolization of
inter-regional migration by Bangkok and the Center
The evolution in inter-regional migration has increased still further in the 1980s.
produced an increase in migratory movements,
although with a levelling off in 1975-1980 and a In the period 1975-1980, the number of inter-
change in the nature of this movement. Migration regional migrations overtook intra-regional migration.
towards the pioneer agricultural fronts accounts The pull of Bangkok became even stronger as new
for movement towards the North (especially as the agricultural land became a rare commodity and a
northern part of the Central Plain is considered as part more diversified economy took over from agricultural
of this region), the Center and the North-East since colonization: improvements in the road network
the 1950s with a marked increase in the 1960s, as the facilitated long-distance migration to Bangkok and
development process accelerated and demographic the neighboring provinces of the Center. In the South,
pressure on the cultivated land increased. At that isolated by distances, there was a lot of migratory
time the Center appeared to be a major destination movement, but for the most part within the region
for migrations, with land unsuitable for rice production itself, especially from the east coast, which had been
being cultivated with other crops at an accelerated populated and cultivated at a much earlier date, to the
rhythm towards the edges of the plain, as far as the west. But the region does follow the general trend of
west and the south-east where the first manioc and travelling increased distances as there is migration
sugar cane plantations were developed. Until the to Bangkok. Another feature of the South, is that
1980s, most migration was towards the agricultural half of migration is into Malaysia. Although until the
edges of the central region. In the North, crops 1950s, the southern region received many migrants,
extended beyond the narrow flood plains towards since this time the region has a negative balance
the surrounding slopes. In the North-East, the settled of migrations, especially as the birth rate, which
area encroached into the forest, towards the western remained high here, accentuated the demographic
slopes of the Phetchabun and north beyond the pressure locally on the region’s resources.
Phu Phan mountains. In the South, the cultivation
of the land in the west, then in the center of the
peninsula accounts for the fact that for a long time
migrations remained intra-regional. Other factors also
contributed to limiting inter-regional migration. The
North-East, for example, benefited at the end of the
1960s from the dynamic created by the installation
of American military bases and the introduction of
development programs.
52
INTER-REGIONAL MIGRATIONS 17
NORTH
115,500
217,298
NORTH-EAST
142,891
521,803
450,131
CENTER 289,300 Inter-regional migrants
In-migrants
115,500
630,771 Out-migrants
217,298
287,724
287,325
7,508
80,053
103,221 Proportion of regional population
in total population in 1990
SOUTH
35%
19-23%
11-13%
N NE N NE N NE N NE
C B C B C B C B
50 50 50 50
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
0
0 0 0
N NE C B S N NE C B S N NE C B S N NE C B S
P
opulation movements towards the agricultural Bangkok. Whereas the provinces near Bangkok
frontier and the Bangkok metropolitan region provided the capital with its largest proportion of
represent the two major migratory movements immigrants, at least until the 1970s, the distances
since the 1950s. The map showing the proportion involved in this type of migration have tended to
of residents born in another province confirms that increase, especially since the 1980s, with immigrants
of population growth rates (see plate 13 Population from the North-East making up an ever increasing
distribution and growth). It shows the major growth proportion of migrants to the capital (see also plate
in population at the edges of the Central Plain, in the 17 Inter-regional migrations). This confirms the notion
north-east and south-west, linked with the expansion, that the distance migrants cover is closely correlated
either spontaneous or organized, of the agricultural with the poverty of the region of origin, especially as
frontier. the differences between incomes in Bangkok and in
the north-eastern provinces is not only a constant,
The large proportion of immigrants to be found but the gap is slightly widening.
in the population of Kamphaeng Phet or Phetchabun
is linked with the low population level originally and the Bangkok receives only half of urban migrants.
high population levels in the neighboring provinces of The regional capitals have now begun to draw in
Ayutthaya, Nakhon Sawan and Phichit, which were migrants, especially due to their facilities and the
settled much earlier and provided a large proportion diversification of functions and amenities (service
of their population as migrants. An example of a sector, shops, universities, etc.). We can also see an
settlement program, the Self-Help Resettlement at increase in movement across the urban hierarchy,
Thung Pho Thaley in Kamphaeng Phet, attempted to from small towns, to Bangkok itself, via medium-sized
settle populations from the Center and the North-East towns, mainly for economic reasons and for training.
beside a population that had remained until then in the Bangkok, however, does polarize migration very
immediate area bordering the Mae Ping. In the south- heavily, whether temporary or longer-term.
east, in the provinces of Prachin Buri, Chanthaburi,
Trat and Rayong there has been a diversification in The proportion of the population of Bangkok
agriculture due largely to the topographical conditions that is native to the city (64%) appears to have
and especially to a favorable climate (see plate 8 been overestimated. Many Bangkok natives have
Environment and natural resources). The west, then left the city to live in the suburbs, forced out of
the center of the peninsula have been expansion the city center by the prohibitive cost of housing,
zones for rubber tree cultivation since the beginning following the homogenization of land use in favor of
of the century and are currently the last frontier for the tertiary sector (see chapter 7 Bangkok and the
agricultural colonization. Finally, in the North-East, Bangkok metropolitan region). Industrial activity is
once the nearest areas of land had been cultivated, expanding rapidly on the outskirts of the city, following
the inhabitants of the dry and overpopulated heartland the Development Plans to various degrees, in the
of the Khorat plateau came in massive numbers to north and the south-east, thus also giving rise to a
clear the forest in the frontier province of Nong Khai, reorganization of the residential systems. The new
extending the settlement which had until then been migrants are thus more and more likely to settle in
restricted to the banks of the Mekong. the peri-urban area, which also receives populations
from the city center. Moreover, the census expresses
Migration into Bangkok and surrounding inadequately the importance of short-term migrants,
provinces are urban migrations. On the whole, urban a category which applies to a large proportion of
migrations tend to outnumber migrations into rural migrants originally from the provinces who are not
areas. There is a strong positive correlation between counted in the capital’s population statistics.
the number of migrants and the urban population of
the receiving province (correlation coefficient equals
0.89).
54
IMPORTANCE of MIGRATIONS in the PROVINCES 18
51.4%
23.6
25
[ 0.3 - 1.5 ]
[ -0.3 - 0.3 [
[ -2.5 - -0.3 [
In-migrants in 1990
34,936
9,259
306
39.7%
9.6
[ 24 - 48 ]
[ 14 - 24 [
[ 8 - 14 [
[ 2.3 - 8 [
Residents
1,936,972
40.3%
487,993
23.6
16.7
9,000
Bangkok = 64%
Contribution of regions
[ 0.7 - 1.7 ]
to Bangkok population
100% [ 0.4 - 0.7 [
80
[ 0.2 - 0.4 [
60
40 [ 0 - 0.2 [
20
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
0
rth st er ok th
No h-Ea Cent angk Sou
o rt B
N
S
ince the beginning of the last century, we have fuelled by major migratory movements and the spread
witnessed a constant expansion in the of industrial activity and residential estates. The urban
amount of usable land. From a line joining the dynamism generated by the capital does not extend
principalities in the north with the heart of the country, beyond this initial circle of influence, as the primacy
the delta plain of the Chao Phraya, and continuing of Bangkok prevents the development of any other
along the eastern coast of the peninsula, also from the major cities in this area. Beyond this circle, classes 3
center of the densely populated Khorat plateau, the and 4 consist of rural provinces lying along a north-
cultivated area has consistently expanded at the edges south axis, with little dynamism, aging communities,
in a variety of ways. The extension of rice agriculture and from where many emigrate into Bangkok. The
as a result of a better control of flooding techniques class 4 provinces in the agricultural plain of the Chao
has meant that a much larger area can be cultivated Phraya and close to the capital, however, still have
around the lowland fringes; the development of cash high levels of population density, with higher levels
crops has made it possible to exploit the slopes and of emigration into Bangkok and higher levels of non-
soils that are not particularly suitable for rice-growing. natives than the class 3 provinces, which are further
Colonization by the peasants of new agricultural lands away and where population growth is less.
is currently continuing at a slower rate in the extreme
north-west and is intensifying in the interior of the The class 5 provinces are spread around the
peninsular and the south-east. Cities have now taken rim of the Central Plain, at the boundary with Laos and
over the role of polarizing migrations. Bangkok and its in the south-east. These provinces have been actively
immediate zone of influence (neighboring provinces colonized and cultivated, especially until the 1980s.
and Eastern Seaboard) are the main beneficiaries of Urbanization is now thriving in these provinces where
this, though the urbanization process is also speeding previously it was practically non-existent, especially
up in other areas. as Rayong, which benefits from the infrastructure
along the Eastern Seaboard, is included in this class.
The spatial organization of Thailand, spreading The active agricultural colonization front represents
out in concentric rings with Bangkok as its focal point the class 6 provinces, which are very rural, with a low
and on the periphery large, clearly defined areas population density but where population growth is
(north, north-east) and some smaller areas (extreme- rapid through natural growth. The class 7 provinces
south), is reflected in the demographic profile of are rural, aging, with their populations concentrated
the provinces. The main features we observe in a in the valleys, and they appear to be less dynamic,
principal component analysis of the demographic, despite the inclusion of Chiang Mai, whose presence
migration and urbanization variables are, first of all, has not altered their overall demo-graphic features.
contrasts between rural provinces (high proportion Class 8 contains primarily the provinces on the fairly
of rural population, high birth rate, many young deprived area of the Khorat plateau to the north-
people) and urban provinces (high percentage of east, where population densities and the birth rate
urban population, large size of provincial centers, are high and which is the main region of emigration
high population densities, over-representation of to Bangkok. Some major secondary towns have
young adults). Next we note those provinces where developed here as a result of the road-building
population growth is rapid, then the role of the birth carried out in the 1960-1970 period, also the policy of
rate (number of births per woman, over-representation growth poles and internal industrial relocations. The
of under-14s), or immigration (high proportion of non- provinces in the extreme south of the country (class
native residents, over-representation of young adults) 9) differ from the other rural provinces with a high
in this demogra-phic dynamism. birth rate by their large Muslim population.
56
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION and DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES 19
Demographic features
[ 55 - 105 [
[ 35 - 55 [
[ 20 - 35 [
[ 11 - 20 [
< 11 Classes
3
Area of attraction of Bangkok 6
and Eastern Seaboard 7
9
Spread of the cultivated areas
between the 1950s and 1990 4
2
5
8
1
Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Factors
Rural characteristics --- -- = = = +++ = +++ +
Demographic growth -(1) + + + - - --- ++ ++ -- - ++
W
hether we are looking at the administrative down to the lowest level of the village through the
coverage of the Kingdom or at infrastruc- inter-penetration of two systems: the deconcentration
ture provision, a vital factor in the construc- of central administration and the various forms of local
tion of this country has been the state’s need to government (plate 22 Territorial administration).
incorporate border areas and establish the authority Although often called for, the principle of democratic
of the central power. From the end of the 19th century, decentralization has still largely not been applied,
measures were taken to modernize the Kingdom, due to opposition from the Ministry of Interior, which
to unify and control a territory whose frontiers were fears that such a measure will be inefficient and
defined only gradually and under duress. moreover will threaten national security and unity.
The 1995 reforms to increase local government
The precise demarcation of the frontiers was representativity and autonomy, the spirit of which
determined, as it was in the other countries of the was confirmed in the 1997 Constitution, derived from
Indo-Chinese peninsula, under pressure from the the civil society (prachakhon) whose members have
colonial powers at the end of the 19th and beginning different expectations. Decentralization is demanded
of the 20th centuries. However, it was as a formally by various groups in the name of democracy, it is
independent state (along with China) that Siam included in the electoral platform of some political
saw its tributary territories literally amputated by parties, and is defended for purposes of clientelism by
the British and French empires (plate 20 Changes both political and capitalist members of these bodies.
in boundaries and frontiers (18th-20th century)). The question of deforestation is another field that is
Whatever the true reasons for maintaining political involved in the democratization process (plate 23
independence (skill of the Siamese diplomats, desire Deforestation). The forest areas of Thailand have
of the French and the British to keep a territorial been the subject of growing attention from the Royal
buffer between their empires), the demarcation of Forest Depart-ment and some Non-Governmental
frontiers was in direct opposition to the conception Organizations. Measures taken in terms of forest
that the South-East Asian states had of their territorial conservation stir up protests and controversies over
sovereignty and their borders. Based in part on rights to the use of resources which are not eased
Brahmanism and mainly on Buddhism, the notion by the confusion over the actual extent of the forest
of the “agrarian states” (from Ayutthaya, which was cover and the absence of any consensus about the
constituted in the 14th century, to the Kingdom of Siam definition of the forest areas.
in the 19th century) grouped together principalities that
were defined more in terms of their center than of their Most of the country’s major infrastructure
frontiers (plate 21 Formation of the nation-state converges on Bangkok, transforming the capital and
territory). Efforts to resist the colonial threat around its region into a veritable crossroads. Nevertheless,
the periphery, and then the gradual incorporation of this physical expression of extreme political centraliza-
these peripheral regions at the end of the 19th century tion and economic concentration (radial layout of the
under exclusively Siamese sovereignty created an major axes and networks, concentration of infrastruc-
extremely centralized system which is not dissimilar ture) cannot detract from what has been achieved in
to the French and British colonial administrations. the peripheral regions. Some of these developments,
Even though Thailand today has succeeded in begun in the 1950s (new roads opened up) and
establishing territorial control and having it respected continued into the 1970s (schools, clinics, water
at the frontiers, something some of its neighbors have supply, electrification) were dictated by strategic
not achieved, there are still some fringe areas that and security considerations. The rural development
are not entirely integrated (see also plate 10 Main process was implemented by the military with
ethno-linguistic groups). American aid for checking the advance of communism
in the North and North-East and countering secess-
The imposition of a uniform system of ionist demands in the South. These achievements
administration centered around Bangkok and the improved living conditions and integrated into the
authority of the powerful Ministry of Interior (created country’s commercial network provincial centers that
in 1892) are felt at every level and in every sphere of had previously been marginalized due to a lack of rail
public office, and have produced a centralizing force services. They nevertheless helped to reinforce the
that is without parallel in continental South-East Asia. primacy of Bangkok and strengthen regional inequa-
The presence of the administration reaches right lities, even though the reduction of these inequalities
59
was an objective that had regularly figured in the with nevertheless differing degrees of intervention
planning agenda of the National Economic and depend-ing on the sectors and areas concerned.
Social Development Board (NESDB). This body The privatization of public companies, limited almost
was created in 1959, and is still a forceful tool for entirely to the service sector since the state withdrew
national develop-ment and planning.The action of from its entrepreneurial function at the end of the
public authorities has always been hampered by the 1950s, has become, since the middle of the 1980s, a
absence of any regional planning and especially by declared aim though one which is implemented only
the fear of compromising national economic growth on an irregular basis. The indebtedness of the public
by slowing the expansion of the central pole: the goal enterprises appears to be a handicap for Thailand,
of the authorities, since the 7th Plan in particular, is which hoped to strengthen its role as the hub of
to facilitate the development of the zones affected regional communications (plate 24 Transportation
by metropolization by providing infrastructure and networks), but the country’s inadequate energy
establishing subregional centers. resources and disputes over some domestic
resources (environmental concerns, conflicts over
While not penalizing the Bangkok region, the water use, etc.) have driven it to resort more and
approach adopted to reduce regional inequalities was more to the potential of neighboring countries (plate
to try and stimulate provincial growth by strengthening 25 Energy infrastructure and networks). The
the industrial and urban-based functions of the debate on the opening of the capital of the national
regional poles of growth through public investments. airline has revealed a degree of caution regarding
The strategy was introduced with the 4th Plan (1977- foreign stakeholder investment, while the budgetary
1981), but did not produce the hoped for results repercus-sions of the 1997 crisis have led the Board
even though it enabled facilities to be provided for of Investment to relax certain restrictions on foreign
some urban centers and, coupled with an industrial investments and to rethink its spatial distribution of
deconcentration policy, did facilitate their industrializa- investment promotion incentives (plate 26 Invest-
tion. At the beginning of the 1980s, “urban industrial ment promotion incentives).
regions” were defined where it was the state’s
respon-sibility to create, through infrastructure The good national provision of schools and
provision, conditions favorable to private investment health facilities, likewise the decentralization of
in industry and the service sector. The Upper South university education cannot disguise the difficulties
and Upper Central Regions were defined in this way the authorities are experiencing in coping with the
but the Eastern Seaboard (Chachoengsao, Chon rapid increase in the rate of urban growth (plate 27
Buri, Rayong) was the first such area to be created Schools and health facilities). This has given rise
and the most developed. It was conceived both as an to an imbalance in intervention on the part of the
area of economic deconcentration for Bangkok and private sector, confirmed in the telecommunications
as an industrial pole, linked with the exploitation of sector, which, since the beginning of the 1990s,
the petroleum reserves in the Gulf of Thailand, but has witnessed the establishment of a public/private
development was delayed by the economic recession partnership (plate 28 Postal and telecommunica-
and Thailand’s structural adjustment (1981-1986) tions infrastructure): the uneven provision of post
which deferred the implementation of both public and offices and telephone networks reflects, moreover,
private projects. an economic activity that varies in intensity. Although
practically the entire country has had access to
The invitation to private capital, both national electricity for over two decades, water supply
and foreign, to participate in the expansion and highlights the contrast between Bangkok and the
modernization of the country’s infrastructure, and rest of the country, and especially between the urban
the provision of services and facilities, became more and rural areas (plate 29 Water and electricity
and more urgent as the 1980s progressed. It was supply). Some of the variables that are processed
from the 6th Plan (1987-1991), and in particular to analytically in this chapter are incorporated into a
cope with budgetary inadequacies, that activities principal component analysis in chapter 6 Tertiary
considered until then as part of the public domain sector: this complements the spatial analysis of the
(energy, telecommunications) were opened up to provision of facilities (see plate 57 Tertiary sector
the private sector. It now participates in all fields that facilities and activities).
touch on infrastructure and facilities of a social nature, ATLAS of THAILAND
60
ELEMENTS of TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION
A good network of schools and compulsory education account for a literacy rate of almost 95% of the population.
Demonstrating a will to encourage linguistic homogeneity, teaching is in Thai and takes no account of regional and local
identities. Efforts are made to incorporate the ethnic minorities established in the northern mountainous areas.
Administrative center of the district (amphoe) of Nam Phong (Khon Kaen province)
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
In the administrative center of the amphoe, which groups together several sub-districts (tambon), are the most
important government departments (interior, agriculture, industry, public health, education, industry, trade) under the
control of the nai, representative of the Ministry of Interior. The government has launched reform for allowing the
tambon more autonomy.
3 - The state and the construction of the territory
T
he boundaries of the different countries of empire.
South-East Asia were not mapped and marked To determine the exact demarcation of the
out with any precision on the ground until very boundaries, a great deal of progress was needed in
recently. Traditionally, the different territorial units mapping techniques. This formed part of the moderni-
(muang) were not necessarily adjoining; empty or very zation process on which Siam had embarked since
sparsely populated forest areas sometimes came in the reign of Mongkut (1851-1868) and in particular
between. The border between two territories was not under Chulalongkorn. In 1875, a group of cartog-
continuous and was indicated along a communication raphers was created within the Royal Guard and a
route by trees or stone columns erected for this pur- School of Cartography opened in 1882. The Royal
pose, like the Three Pagodas pass or the Singkhon Survey Department was founded three years later.
pass between Siam and Burma. Local guards were Defining the limits of the national territory of Siam,
a symbol of the limit of sovereignty. The boundary in the modern sense of the term, with continuous
area was sometimes a sparsely occupied buffer zone, boundaries was now a necessity both for the court of
with no strictly defined boundaries, between two rival Bangkok and for the neighboring imperialist powers.
sovereigns and sometimes an area of free circulation The first modern map of Siam was produced under
and settlement for the local populations between two the direction of a British officer, J. McCarthy, in 1887.
friendly kingdoms, where a too strictly defined border In it, Siam appeared as a buffer zone between the
would have been considered unfriendly. These areas colonial empires of France and Britain.
on the fringes of the zone of influence of the central
powers were not seen as a vital issue, as long as the In 1943, under the regime of Field Marshall
central zone was not infiltrated or threatened. Pibun Songkhram, who forged an alliance with Japan
just before the Second World War and had pan-Thai
The fact that Siam was encircled by minor expansionist ambitions (hence the name Thailand,
states or tributary principalities was a major phenom- which replaced Siam in 1939), Thailand obtained
enon, which had to be taken into account when defin- the provinces of western Cambodia (Battambang,
ing boundaries. Although weak, these dependencies Siemreap), Sayaburi (Laos) on the right bank of
maintained their autonomy by declaring submission the Mekong, and the sultanates of northern British
to the more powerful states who could either inflict Malaysia (Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis). The
great damage or protect them. At the edges of the nationalist Luang Wichit Wathakan wanted to retake,
kingdom there were therefore areas where sover- in the name of a “Grand Thailand”, all of Siam’s 19th
eignty overlapped or was ambiguous. century tributary territories and even go further and
group together all the Tai-speaking populations in
At the end of the 19th century, Siam came the Indo-Chinese peninsula and southern China.
into competition with the British and French colonial After the Japanese defeat, however, Thailand had to
powers over the incorporation of these minor states, abandon definitively in 1946 all such territorial claims.
in defining boundaries and clearly delimiting the However, the country’s military superiority over most
bor-ders of exclusive sovereignty. This forced Siam of its neighbors (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia) and
under Chulalongkorn (1868-1910) to put in place a in particular its much higher level of development,
policy of administrative reforms in order to incorporate enabled it to exert economic and political influence
these dependent territories, with their various forms of across an area corresponding approximately to that
sta-tus, into a uniform system of provinces under the of its former tributary territories in past centuries.
juris-diction of a central state (thesaphiban system).
This rationalization was not without difficulties with
a bid for power from France in particular during the
block-ade in 1893 of the mouth of the Chao Phraya
at Pak-nam by French gunboats. At this time, Siam
lost all jurisdiction over its tributary territories on the
left bank of the Mekong. Its boundaries were defined
between 1893 and 1909 in a series of treaties with
France and Britain. These two countries wanted to
establish their economic and, to a lesser extent,
political influence on the regions bordering their own ATLAS of THAILAND
62
CHANGES in BOUNDARIES and FRONTIERS (18th- 20th century) 20
C H I N A
3
GULF of
TONKIN
INDIA L
B U
CHINA A
O
S
5
R M
VIENTIANE
4
A
MYANMAR
L
A
O RANGOON
S T H A I L A N D
VI
5
THAILAND 4
ETN
VI
ETN
BANGKOK
AM
6 CAMBODIA
CAMBODIA
AM
ANDAMAN
2
TENASSERIM PHNOM PENH
SEA Gulf
of
Thailand
ANDAMAN
GULF of SIAM
Tai SEA
Siamese
A
M
L
Current state frontiers A
Y 1 Ceded by Sultan Kedah to Britain (1785-1800)
SI
A
500 km 2 Cambodian territory under French protectorate (1867)
500 km
C H I N A
SINGAPORE
T
he area that we now know as Thailand has its series of political reforms by King Chulalongkorn,
origins in the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, which assisted by Prince Damrong from 1892, in particular
emerged in the 14th century at the Chao Phraya by the application of the system of provincial ad-
delta. The kingdom was taken for the first time by ministration thesaphiban, inspired by the structure
the Burmese in 1569, and was organized, before the of the British Empire. From 1899, the new territorial
accession of Naresuan in 1590, in the form of three organization of monthon, incorporating all the prov-
concentric rings. This formed a conglomerate of cities, inces (muang) and tributary states (muang) was set
or muang, with each one having power and protection up across the country. The aim was to ensure true
over a specific territory. The capital, Ayutthaya, larger centralization by nominating a Royal Commissioner
than the rest, held sovereignty over the others, though at the head of each of these units, responsible for co-
its influence decreased in the more distant territories. ordinating the administration of groups of provinces,
The royal domain, Van Rachathani, situated at the collecting taxes more efficiently and establishing a
center, around the capital, was divided into 33 small direct link with the Ministry of Interior, as the provincial
4th class provinces administered by civil servants governors, very firmly fixed at local level and often
directly responsible to the king. A second ring, made on a hereditary basis, were difficult to control from
up of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class provinces was governed the center. In 1915, this network of 18 monthon for
by a prince or a high-level dignitary, in the same way the first time covered all of the Kingdom in a homo-
as the capital but on a smaller scale (court, army) geneous fashion, abolishing the traditional model
and enjoyed considerable autonomy. The third outer of control through concentric rings, where central
ring included kingdoms or principalities, muang, (Lan power tended to diminish towards the edges. The
Na, Keng Tung, Sipsong Chauthai,…), tributaries of number of monthon was gradually reduced to 10,
Ayutthaya but enjoying true independence, especially and they were abolished in 1933 when the seventy
as double or triple allegiances with neighboring states provinces (changwat) were fully integrated into the
were frequently entered into. local administration system, controlled by the Ministry
of Interior.
This model was repeated in the Thon Buri
Kingdom and Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon), The territory of the Thai nation-state has thus
following the destruction of the Ayutthaya Kingdom been created over the last five centuries, based on
by the Burmese in 1767. The map of the Kingdom kingdoms whose heart was first in the upper delta
of Siam in the middle of the 19th century also shows (Ayutthaya) then the lower delta (Thon Buri and
present-day national and provincial boundaries, Bangkok) of the Chao Phraya. Each of these agrarian
although these do not match the earlier boundaries states, organized in concentric rings, had a capital
exactly as that time mapmaking was a much less which also played the role of cosmopolitan trading-
precise skill. Four basic groups of provinces can be post, providing a haven for various merchant commu-
seen. At the center, the 4th class provinces, whose nities (Chinese, Malays, Indians, Occidentals). This
governors, designated every four years, were under early participation in international trade, in the same
the direct authority of the capital. The 1st, 2nd and way as the Malay Sultanates, laid the foundations
3rd class provinces formed part of the kingdom as for the capitalist and entrepreneurial structures that
from the 15th century. The external provinces (hua enabled Thailand to open up comparatively early to
muang), situated mainly in the North-East (Phak Isan) the modern world, and to acquire a unified territorial
and added to the Kingdom in the second half of the infrastructure comparable to that of the European
18th century, enjoyed real autonomy as they were nation-states.
administered by dynasties of hereditary governors.
The outer circle was included in the second half of
the 19th century, incorporating tributary states, prin-
cipalities or small kingdoms (muang): kingdoms of
Luang Prabang and Cambodia, principalities of the
north (Chiang Mai, Lampang) and Malay Sultanates
(Trengganu, Kelantan).
64
FORMATION of the NATION-STATE TERRITORY 21
Ayutthaya Kingdom
(1460-1590)
Northern Kingdoms
Chiang Mai
Van Ratchathani
Royal domain divided into 4th class provinces (muang noi)
Sawankalok
Laotian Kingdoms 1st class provinces (phra mahanakhon)
Phitsanulok
2nd class provinces
Kamphaeng Phet under king's sons (muang luk luang)
Nakhon Ratchasima 3rd class provinces
Cambodia under king's grandsons or nephews (muang lan luang)
Ayutthaya
Capital
Tavoy
Other city
Tenasserim
External ring kingdoms (muang pradhesa raja)
Nakhon Si
Thammarat
Monthon (1915)
Malay Sultanates
500 km
Phayap
Maha Rat
Phitsanulok
LAN NA
Roi Et
LAN CHANG Nakhon
Sawan
Nakhon
Ratchasima Ubon
Ayutthaya
Uttaradit
Nakhon
Chaisi
Kamphaeng Phet Krung Prachin
Phetchabun Thep Buri
Ratchaburi
Chanthaburi
Nakhon Ratchasima
Kanchanaburi
KRUNG THEP
Chon Buri
CAMBODIA
Monthon boundaries
Current province boundaries
MALAY SULTANATES
100 km Pattani
100 km
T
he administration of Thailand is organized into while leaving the sub-districts and villages under the
5 levels: center, provinces (changwat), districts control of elected representatives. The sub-district
(amphoe in rural areas and khet in Bangkok), councils (sapha tambon) were initially reserved for
sub-districts (tambon) and villages (muban). The elected members, but over the course of the 1980s,
number of units grouped together at the upper level district officials joined these bodies, asserting the
varies according to the area covered and the popula- hold of the national bureaucracy over these local
tion as well as the willingness of the state to set up bodies. At the same time, the intervention of central
the services required by the new units. administration in planning and development tended
to obscure the role of these councils. Despite great
Whereas the merging of Bangkok and Thon reluctance on the part of the Ministry of Interior, the
Buri was justified by the need for a unified man- 1995 reform was clearly in favor of strengthening
age-ment of the problems associated with rapid popular representation in the sub-district councils, by
urbani-zation, the creation between 1933 and 1992 giving them a juristic status and creating Subdistrict
of 7 provinces duplicated local representatives (gov- Administrative Organizations (SAO) with increased
ernors, ministerial officials) and some of the facilities power and budgets: by 1999, more than 90% of the
(sanitation, education) essential to provincial status, sub-districts had achieved SAO status. Apart from
even though in some cases the administrative units their lack of experience, the difficulties encountered
are not necessarily equal. This is also the case for by these bodies reveal a deep-rooted authoritarian
the districts, the smallest formal administrative unit, institutional culture, with in particular the retention of
placed under the authority of the province, where the power by the district head and the governor. Other
head is an official of the Ministry of Interior, as is the difficulties concern the duplication of malfunctions at
governor, and responsible for maintaining the peace national and provincial levels in the electoral process
and coordinating the work of ministerial officials. and representation.
Historically, the amphoe, whose subdivisions The sanitary district (sukhaphiban), the first
are determined by the Ministry of Interior, is a crucial form of local self-government and a quasi-urban
element in controlling the territory and providing facili- unit, disappeared in 1999 and was reclassified, in the
ties. The close-knit network already in place in 1947 context of the democratization of local bodies, as a
in the delta and along the Chao Phraya as far as Chai municipality (thetsaban). For a long time this status
Nat is proof of how long the area had been settled, was the most highly developed form of local govern-
whereas the subdivision into districts in Bangkok from ment, but the number of municipalities stagnated
1980 was in response to the rapid population growth between 1946 and 1999 because of the financial
in those recently inhabited areas. The advance of commitment required from central govern-ment (see
the agricultural frontier was justification for the rapid also chapter 2 Population). The other forms of local
creation of districts during the first two periods around government are: the Bangkok Metropolitan Adminis-
the Central Plain (Kanchanaburi, Kamphaeng Phet), tration (BMA), with an elected governor since 1985;
in the peripheral areas (Chaiyaphum, Nong Khai, Sa the Provincial Administrative Organization, whose
Kaeo) and along the Burmese frontier where the size elected members benefit from greater autono-my and
of the units is typical of zones with a low population budgetary control as from 1997. These bodies suffer
density. At this time, there was also a clear reason for to differing degrees from inadequate and sometimes
creating new districts in the North-East, especially as poorly defined responsibilities, and remain subject to
the country was more closely controlled in the face of the discretionary power of the Ministry of Interior even
the communist “threat”: this region holds the record for though their autonomy has been confirmed by the
the creation of districts, a process that was vigorously government that allocated them 20% of the central
pursued after 1981 to develop the area’s amenities. budget in 2001 (BMA excluded).
In the South, the creation of units increased as from
1981, an indication of how agriculture progressed in
the interior and the west of the peninsula.
66
TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION 22
1947 to 1966
1967 to 1980
1981 to 1996
Province boundaries
District boundaries
Dynamics of provinces
(1933-1992)
Phayao
Nong Bua
Lam Phu
Mukdahan
Kalasin Amnat
Charoen
Yasothon
Sa Kaeo
Bangkok
Metropolis
C
are must be taken when using and interpreting forest lost on average between 1973 and 1995, this
statistics or maps of the forest areas, mainly figure is much higher in provinces where the pioneer
because the definition of what is considered fronts were particularly active (Nong Khai). In the
as “forest” is not clear. Forest zones defined in North, very extensive stretches have been cleared
1973 and 1995 from satellite images, as well as the of their forest cover around the valleys and in the
resulting statistical estimates, should be considered intramountaine plains (more than 1.5 million ha for
as designating the maximum area possible for forest Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Nan combined), but
cover: that includes shrub communities and different this represents only a little more than 30% of the
types of degradation. area considered as forest. In the South, the extent of
deforestation is slightly less although the forests exist
Historically, the retreat of the forests has fol- only in a residual state in several provinces (Phuket,
lowed the different stages of agricultural colonization. Songkhla, Narathiwat, Krabi).
However, between the middle of the 19th century and
the 1950s, commercial logging (mainly teak) was the In the face of the deterioration of forest
major cause of deforestation even though clearing for resources and the emotional response from public
agriculture has also had a significant impact. Rice- opinion, some tree plantation initiatives have been
growing areas extended far into the lowlands of the introduced and the principle of “forest reserves” was
Central Plain, then on the piedmonts and into the adopted in 1991. The aim of these operations, which
basins and valleys in the North and North-East. The distinguish between “natural forests”, which are for
absence of forest in 1973 at the heart of the Central conservation, and “commercial forests”, where felling
Plain, which was significant from the middle of the is authorized, seems to be difficult to put into practice
20th century, is an indication of how long-established due mainly to the malfunctioning of the administrative
a phenomenon deforestation is. structure. The area of forest reserves, overseen
by the Royal Forest Department, which has been
Prior to the Second World War, logging, which forced to undergo a reconversion since felling is no
occurred in fact on a much greater scale than is longer permitted, increased from 11% to 45% of the
generally believed, opened the way to agricultural entire country (more than 23 million ha in 1998).
colonization, which accelerated until the middle of The spatial distribution highlights the potential for
the 1970s. At that time deforestation particularly forestry in the north, particularly along the border with
affected the North-East and the South. As agricultural Myanmar, the limited resources in the North-East and
expansion often accompanied road development, the imbalance between the peninsular coasts, the
it followed, among others, the strategic roads built impact of agricultural colonization being felt later in
during the United States’ war with Vietnam. It was the the west. Defining the reserves, however, does give
advance of cash crops (cassava, maize, sugar cane), rise to some confusion because they include in part
however, which produced the main changes in the areas which have been occupied and cultivated by
conversion of land on the terraces and the plateaus more than a million families since the middle of the
(see plate 31 Land utilization). Agricultural expansion 1980s. Among the provinces which have sizeable
slowed from the middle of the 1980s, especially with forest reserves, both in area and in importance for
the end of communist guerrilla warfare, thus paving the province, Chiang Mai had officially in 1998 more
the way, at the beginning of the 1990s, for a degree than 97% of its total area made up of forest reserves,
of stability in the forest cover on a national scale. whereas, according to the same source, in 1995
Nevertheless, agricultural land continued to extend 75% of this area was occupied by forests and 10%
into some regions like the South where more than by crops. By classifying as “forest reserves” areas
260,000 hectares of forests were felled between which are in fact still under cultivation, the government
1989 and 1995. The rapidly diminishing forest areas creates confusion and is forced to evict people from
incited the government to ban raw timber exports in so-called reserves, thus creating conflict.
1973, after which Thailand became a net importer.
This measure was enforced in 1989 with the repealing
of forest concessions.
68
DEFORESTATION 23
Forest
1973 1995
34.3% 50.8%
19.4 16.4
22
6.3
T
here are excellent road links between provincial tions; it was possible to handle the large increase in
centers but the radial arrangement of the rail volumes and relieve some of the congestion due to
network and the major roads which fan out inadequate facilities at the Bangkok port, overshad-
from the nucleus formed by Bangkok, Nonthaburi and owed since 1998 by Laem Chabang (in 2000, con-
Pathum Thani still clearly predominates; the air routes tainer traffic in these two ports was 1.1 and 2.1 million
too reinforce this pattern (see plate 54 Passenger TEUs respectively). The new ports have attracted
traffic). The establishment of the capital as a bridge- private capital (Si Racha and Map Ta Phut) and have
head for the country’s national and international close ties with industries on the Eastern Seaboard.
commercial networks dates from the end of the 18th These recent developments have increa-sed the
century, using the complex network of canals (khlong) number of sites available, but they have nevertheless
that criss-cross the Chao Phraya delta and the port also resulted in the spatial concentration of points of
of Bangkok. The radial pattern is largely the result of access to international exchanges, a situation which
a political decision at the end of the 19th century to is only emphasized by the pre-emi-nence of Bangkok
consolidate links between Bangkok and the peripheral airport, now at saturation level in terms of both cargo
regions. The completion in 1939 of railways linking and passengers; a new site east of the capital has
the North, the North-East and the South to Bangkok, been earmarked. The two private ports in the South,
was chiefly in order to help these regions become fully opened in 1988, have a limited amount of facilities
integrated into the nation, to facilitate implement-ation and their own hinterland to service.
of the centralized program of reforms and to deal with
threats of expansion from the colonial powers. There Appeals to the private sector have not pro-
were strategic reasons also for instiga-ting the major duced the hoped for results in the provision of public
road building program, begun in 1950 with American transport systems and infrastructure, apart from the
aid and financial support from interna-tional agencies; Skytrain, the elevated train system in Bangkok, urban
this has brought benefits to the North and the South, express-ways in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region
and in particular the North-East. (BMR), and some facilities at the port and airport. In
the context of a policy of liberalization and privatiza-
Construction work during the last two decades tion, the national airline company has been opened
has improved road links between villages and the up to private capital, private companies have been
major road axes and has pinpointed congested areas authorized to operate domestic flights and bus links
where traffic is heaviest. Road building has tended to within the BMR and out to province centers. The prob-
monopolize government action in land transport and lem of financing infrastructure is even more topical in
the rail network has undergone only minor expansion the present climate as Thailand seeks to strengthen
since the Second World War, such as the coastal its economic pre-eminence and become the chief
link from Chachoengsao in the Eastern Seaboard point of access into the Indo-Chinese peninsula,
deve-lopment. Bangkok is still a bottleneck and one focusing on a strategy of transnational integration
which has extended to cover some adjoining areas at continental South-East Asia level (see plate 6
in the metropolitan region as a result of the delay Networks in Eastern Asia). Among the priority areas
in providing infrastructure compatible with such a for cooperation are the harmonizing of national road
concentration of population and activities (see plate and rail networks, a fairly uncertain project at pres-
60 Road system and motorization in Bangkok): the ent for rail, apart from the links that already exist with
very rapid urban and industrial growth between 1986 Malaysia, and shipping on the Mekong. The opening
and 1996 has merely accentuated the pressure on up of the Chiang Rai airport to international traffic,
facilities which were already inadequate. This same the construction of the Nong Khai bridge, and the
congestion can also be seen, though on a smaller commitment from Japan to finance the construction
scale, in the build up of traffic in some of the regional of a bridge at Mukdahan are included in the same
centers such as Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai or development context.
Songkhla/Hat Yai.
70
TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS 24
Chiang Rai
L
Mae Hong Son
A
Nan
Chiang Mai
O
Phrae
Lampang
S
Nong Khai
Nakhon
Phanom
M
Udon Thani
Sakon Nakhon
Y
Sukhothai
Phitsanulok Mukdahan
Mae Sot
Khon Kaen
A
N
Ubon Ratchathani
Nakhon Ratchasima
M
A
Chachoengsao C A M B O D I A
R
Prachuap
Khiri Khan
Province centers
Railways
Ko Samui
Main expressways-divided highways:
Surat Thani existing in 1996
constructed in 2000 and under construction
Other roads:
Nakhon Si major roads, 2 paved wide lanes in 2000
Thammarat
main secondary roads, 2 or more paved lanes in 2000
Narathiwat proposed
T
hailand is a major energy consumer, whose several major electricity lines, the position of Roi
dependence on imports, about 60% of energy Et will be confirmed. The North will link up with the
consumed, has not been reduced despite the power stations of Yunnan (Jinghong) and Myanmar
use of domestic energy resources. Efforts to diversify (Shan state) and the South will strengthen its links
supplies and bring demand under control have been with Malaysia.
the main directions of the country’s energy policy
since the first oil crisis. Lignite production increased The question of electricity supply is a social
dramatically between 1970 and 1999 (from 0.3 to and economic issue that has been a priority since the
almost 20 million tons): it is used in 20% of electricity 1960s for a state that is so concerned about control of
production, especially from the mines in the North. its territory: considerable progress has already been
Since 1981, production from the fields in the Gulf of made, since 98% of villages are now connected to
Thailand has made it possible to partly substitute oil the grid (see also plate 29 Water and electricity sup-
for natural gas in the generation of electricity (about ply). Although the exploitation of petroleum fields
40%) and to supply the petrochemical sector. How- has not produced as large a petrochemical complex
ever, crude oil resources proved disappointing (3% as was hoped, it has nevertheless enabled a major
only of South-East Asia’s total production and over industrial base to develop on the Eastern Seaboard
70% of this from the Phitsanulok fields), and gas where crude oil refineries and gas separation plants
supplies were not sufficient (almost 14% of regional are concentrated. It has also made it possible to
production, 90% offshore) to satisfy the foreseeable modernize gas transportation modes (sea and land
requirements of the different sectors before the 1997 gas pipelines) and power production techniques
crisis. (combined cycle power plants).
There is still a heavy reliance on imported The liberalization of the electricity industry
petroleum, with the Middle East supplying the larg- resulted in 1992 in its opening up to private capital.
est quantities since regional reserves have been The Independent Power Producers’ share in produc-
depleted, and over a period of years the state has tion then increased, representing about 25% in 2000.
introduced a policy to align the country’s refining ca- Foreign investment is particularly important in this
pacity with consumption that is driven by the transport sector and power plants to which the public enterprise
sector. A regional gas market has developed with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)
purchase of gas from Myanmar and offshore explora- has contributed, via its commercial subsidiaries partly
tion in conjunction with Malaysia. The considerable open to private capital, have been set up in areas
growth in the hydroelectricity sector (a little over 10% where the risks associated with supply and demand
of the existing electrical capacity) would appear to be are limited. Electricity production and distribution in
restricted by the limited capacity of the plants that can the areas that are economically less dynamic remain
be installed: Thailand uses the potential of Laos from the responsibility of provincial agencies or specific
whom it has purchased electricity for over 30 years. ministries. Despite the effects of the crisis on the
public budget and the wishes of the government, the
When the demand for energy was revised privatization of EGAT has been postponed and its
upwards, after an earlier drop in consumption due to monopoly over electricity transport and distribution is
the immediate effects of the 1997 crisis, this revived intact. The situation in the petroleum sector is similar:
interest in Indonesian gas and the purchase of greater exploitation has been open to foreign companies
quantities of electricity from Laos (by 2006), from since 1971, the liberalization of the transformation
Myanmar (2010) and in the longer term from Yunnan process was initiated in 1992 and confirmed in 1997,
power stations in which Thai capital holds a stake of and the privatization of the PTT (Petroleum Author-
between 25% and 80%. These plans for the future will ity of Thailand) was begun in 2001, yet it still has a
increase connections to the electricity grid in certain monopoly on gas purchase and distribution while
regions to the grids of neighboring countries and participating, via its subsidiaries, in very large-scale
reinforce the radial layout of the main electricity lines operations in association with the private sector.
into the Bangkok region, which dominates consump-
tion and facilities. The North-East and Laos will thus
become more closely linked, and while Khon Kaen
already emerges as a point of intersection between ATLAS of THAILAND
72
ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE and NETWORKS 25
Chiang Rai
S
Uttaradit Loei Udon Thani Nakhon
M
Tak
Phitsanulok Ubol Rattana
Chulaborn
Khon Kaen Kalasin
Mukdahan
Kamphaeng Phet Phichit
Phetchabun
A
Uthai Thani
Siridhorn
Chai Nat Ubon Ratchathani
Yada Buri Ram Si Sa Ket
n a Sing Lam Takhong
Lop Buri
M
Ratchaburi
Samut Chon Buri
ANDAMAN Songkhram
Petroleum fields (2000):
Phetchaburi Kiridharn offshore onshore
Kaeng Krachan
Oil
Rayong Gas
SEA Trat
Gas field under the Malaysia-Thailand
Joint Development Area (MTJDA)
Active lignite production areas in 2000
Prachuap
Khiri Khan
Power plants (2000):
under state agency (EGAT) or
department or provincial authority
under Independent Power Producers (IPP)
Chumphon OF 1,200-3,700
500-850
THAILAND
Ranong 130-350
25-75
1-20
Ko Samui
Gas separation plants (1998): capacity in million m3/day
Ratcha Prapha existing under construction planned
Surat Thani
<2 6-7 10-12
construction
Phatthalung oil
Trang
gas
electricity
lines
Songkhla
Yala Narathiwat
Province centers
Bang Lang
T
hailand’s spatial investment policy consists of social needs. The fact that the World Trade Organi-
dividing the country into zones, with the level zation challenged the criteria being used was also a
of privileges granted to companies via the good argument for taking the inequalities in spatial
Board of Investment (BOI created in 1959) being development more into consideration.
determined according to the zone in which they are
located. These privileges may be indirect grants The fact that location and subsidies criteria are
(tax concessions, reduction of import duties on raw closely linked has given rise to a complex system of
materials, intermediate products and machinery) incentives and the BOI has been able to use its dis-
and facilities (use of foreign capital, employment of cretionary power to anticipate or accentuate trends
foreign nationals). that had not been clearly announced. The level of
exemptions accorded to companies settling in the
The spatial organization of investment promo- low or intermediate privilege zones is raised accord-
tion was outlined in 1972, after more than a decade ing to criteria which, although constantly changing,
of supporting private investment without giving con- are seen as essential for economic growth (volume
sideration to the location factor: a few urban districts of exports, employment creation, sectors classified
were designated to receive the largest amounts as priority). The resources available were totally
of public aid. In 1983, the approach became more inadequate to develop the industrial estates which
all-encompassing, with three specific zones being had been intended to deconcentrate the location of
defined, and the degree of privileges they received companies and provide them with the facilities nec-
being directly related to their distance from the Bang- essary for rapid growth. This situation has resulted
kok-Samut Prakan pole: however, until 1986, the in an appeal for assistance on the part of the public
special promotion districts still received the highest authorities to the private sector and the granting of
level of incentives. Successive readjustments have exemptions to industrial estates of whatever status,
taken into account the advance of the investment front which can be more substantial than those already in
away from the pole and have pushed some groups force in the provinces concerned.
of provinces into the zones with less advantageous
tax exemptions. The areas that have the highest level In 1998, private developers managed over
of incentives are all the provinces in the peripheral 45% of the total area of the industrial estates
regions. As well as its declared objectives of promot- without government assistance and almost 40%
ing a social and spatial balance, since 1972, when the in partnership with the public body, the Industrial
first measures favoring export-oriented industriali-za- Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT). The result of
tion began to emerge, the BOI has offered investors this public/private partnership was a major spatial
the opportunity to access pools of cheap labor in the imbalance in the location of industrial estates, with
peripheral regions and combat the gradual erosion short-term investment profitability taking priority over
of their competitiveness on the international markets. geographical deconcentration, a priority only for the
Salary-related policies reinforced the comparative public authorities. Industrial estates set up in some
benefits of using this work force by fixing a lower poles of the peripheral regions with a boost from the
minimum salary in the peripheral regions, with the IEAT, Nakhon Ratchasima excepted, represent less
exception of 5 provinces where the legal wage is than 10% of their total area. With a high level of IEAT
between 8% to 25% higher. participation, the Eastern Seaboard, conceived as
an area of industrial deconcentration for the central
Spatial adjustments made in 2000 created a provinces, accounts for a little over 50% of the total
special zone 3, with the highest level of incentives, industrial estates area, with only slightly less than half
from some of the most underprivileged provinces in of this being Export Processing Zones: they receive
the peripheral regions. The three provinces on the increased benefits (duty-free) according to the export-
Eastern Seaboard are now in the same zone, though ing performance of the enterprises. Private capital,
Rayong had benefited from the same treatment as on the other hand, has established the majority of the
the peripheral regions for almost twenty years. Given industrial estates in the central provinces.
the deterioration in the country’s fiscal situation since
1997, it is expected that the subsidies awarded to
new investors, especially foreigners, will be much
more effective in meeting the country’s economic and ATLAS of THAILAND
74
INVESTMENT PROMOTION INCENTIVES 26
Levels of incentives :
1989-2000
High Medium Low
1983-1988
High
Medium
Niedrig
Area (ha)
4,100
1,080
240
70
18
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Special Zone 3
Areas of higher minimum wages
a
Phuket
b
Songkhla
Deep-water ports
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Eastern Seaboard
D
espite the excellent level of school provision The fact that the country is well served with
throughout the country after a major effort regional and provincial hospitals, with good local
made in the 1960s and 1970s, overcrowded medical provision in the districts, the sub-districts
classrooms in the cities and a lack of educational (all equipped with a health center since 1996) and in
materials hinder the learning process, the authori- sensitive areas such as the mountain border regions,
ties finding it difficult to cope in particular with urban is a major achievement of public health policy over
growth. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) the last 30 years. Between 1975 and 1995 the pro-
and also Chon Buri and Songkhla seem to te par- por-tion of visits to a regional or provincial hospital
ticularly underprivileged, with class sizes of 30 to 36 has decreased by half, in favour of the health cent-
pupils. Government expenditure on education (3.5% ers. This definite progress in access to health care
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 19.5% of the is however limited as there are not enough doctors
state budget in 1996) has not increased as a propor- (81% of urban dwellers have access to facilities
tion of GDP since 1970. with a doctor, as opposed to 47% of rural dwellers).
There has recently been a sharp increase in family
Elementary education is still absorbing almost expenditure on health, associated with the changing
half of total expenditure on education. The proportion needs that accompany a changing society. Since
spent on higher education was greatly increased 1992, priority has been given to quality of service and
at the beginning of the 1990s, from 10% in 1985 health insurance and more recently to lifestyle and
to almost 20% in 1996. The proportion allocated to environmental problems.
secondary education, however, remains low, at 22%
in 1996 (against 19% in 1985) for a school population The development of health services is consid-
that is twice that of higher education. More than half erable in all regions: in 1995 at national level, there
of the country’s universities are concentrated in the were nearly 300 inhabitants per health care profes-
Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). While the policy sional and the number of inhabitants per doctor fell
of university decentralization remains fairly limited in between 1985 and 1995 from 15,700 to 10,500 in the
numerical terms, there is nevertheless a consider- North-East, from 13,300 to 5,600 in the North, from
able spread of universities throughout the country. 8,000 to 5,500 in the South and from 1,500 to 1,000 in
The creation in the 1960s of regional universities in Bangkok. However, outside the BMR, only areas with
Chiang Mai, the second largest university center in large numbers of tourists, a few regional cities and
the country, Khon Kaen and Songkhla was extended the border areas that are more susceptible to health
in the 1990s, with further new universities being cre- risks have a high level of health care provision. The
ated and a scattering of minor centers set up in many North-East in particular is poorly equip-ped, as it was
provinces. Several campuses were established on under-equipped in the past and has not made up this
the outskirts of Bangkok to cope with the increase in deficit to the same extent as the North, whereas the
student numbers in the capital’s universities. South inherited a much better situation. After declin-
ing between 1970 and 1988, the private sector has
The state education system accounts for a benefited from the rapid improvement in quality of
growing number of students at secondary level (73% life in the 1990s, to reach 23% of the total number
in 1976, 87% in 1996), but the private sector retains of hospital beds in 1995, against 13% in 1985. This
its presence at primary level (13% of pupils in 1996) sector occupies an ever-increasing place in the areas
and is increasing in the higher education sector (20% of high purchasing power, mainly the Bangkok urban
of students in 1996 against 7% in 1986). Given the area where it represented 40% of hospital beds in
increasing demand for places, the reduced capacity 1995 (with a particularly high rate of increase in the
of the traditional universities and the mass Open-to- suburbs), and in some regional towns and tourist
all University system (with no restriction on student areas (Chon Buri, Phitsanulok, Chiang Mai, Phuket).
numbers) where the academic level is low, the way is Health provision is still however almost exclusively the
open for more and more growth in the private sector. domain of the public authorities in most provinces.
The question of the extent to which the state should
be responsible for education is at the heart of the
debate engendered by the Eighth Plan for education
(1997-2001), which recommends that state universi-
ties be self-governing. ATLAS of THAILAND
76
SCHOOLS and HEALTH FACILITIES 27
1934-1964
1974
1988
1990
1964
1988
1994
1986
1990 1990
1984
1978 1986
1940-1990
44.7% 1917-1974 1990
26.3
14.5
[ 23 - 26 [ 11-12
[ 18 - 23 [ Campus
Opening year
1940 first
1967-1996 1996 recent
28.8% 27.4%
30.1
21.9
19.2
13.7
14,044
private hospital
public hospital
T
he country is not well served with post offices in 1996 and 1,105,148 in 1997 (of which 62% were in
(1 post office per 50,000 inhabitants at natio- the Greater Bangkok Area). This rapid development
nal level) and provision varies widely from one in the 1990s is a new factor that is tending to reduce
province to another. The under-provision in relation to the effect of regional differences as far as fixed lines
population density affects mainly the North-East and are concerned.
to a lesser extent the rapidly growing (in population
terms) outskirts of Bangkok. This situation reveals, on In order to meet a growing demand for main
the one hand, the wide variety of economic situations telephone lines, partnerships between the state in
in the provinces and, on the other, the difficulty facing the form of public enterprises, the Telephone Organi-
the authorities in coping with the rapid increase in zation of Thailand (TOT) and the Communications
needs arising from the rapid growth rate in the Ban- Authority of Thailand (CAT), and private operators
gkok metropolitan region and also in regional cities were established between 1992 and 1993. Thus TOT
which have undergone rapid expansion (Nakhon has granted 25 years service concessions to Telecom
Ratchasima). The lack of post office provision in the Asia for the installation and operation of new lines
most rural provinces should be seen in the context of in the Greater Bangkok Area and to Thai Telephone
a low level of postal activity (between 2 and 8 postal and Telecommunication for the provincial service. In
items sent per inhabitant in 1996 for the north-eas- 1996, these operators were responsible for installing
tern provinces, compared with 72 in Phuket and 112 more than 90% of new lines. Their participation in the
in Bangkok). To compensate both quantitatively and telephone infrastructure system has grown from the
qualitatively for the inadequacies of the public sector, management of 300,000 lines in 1994 to 2.3 million
private postal services provide a vital local service in lines in 1997, out of a total of 4.8 million, or 48% of
Bangkok and the main cities. the country’s telephone lines.
The capacity of the telephone network reflects State enterprises have also granted conces-
the different levels of economic activity and standards sions for the development of a large proportion of the
of living between regions (5 lines per 1,000 inhabit- new communication technology for mobile phones
ants in Si Sa Ket as opposed to 200 in Bangkok). and telecommunications via satellite. These opera-
Bangkok and region have a very high teledensity, with tions ensure a good level of coverage throughout the
the Greater Bangkok Area alone (Bangkok, Samut country as a whole, although this is nevertheless lim-
Prakan, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi) containing 61% ited by the poor quality of inter-connections between
of all the country’s lines in 1996. The extension of the telephone systems and operators. They also
industry along the Eastern Seaboard gave rise to an pave the way for the privatization of TOT and CAT,
excess capacity in the network (in Rayong, only 83% scheduled in the 1997 Telecommunications Master
of lines were in use in 1996, compared with more than Plan for 2006. The long-term view held in 1997 by
96% in Bangkok) due to the voluntaristic develop- the Thailand Development Research Institute esti-
ment that had taken place throughout this vast zone mated that, on the basis of economic growth being
of industrial activity and which by the middle of the maintained, 10 million fixed lines would be required
1990s resulted in infrastructure that was far in excess by 2001 (or, between 1997 and 2001, 250,000 new
of what was required by the businesses already in lines per year for the Greater Bangkok Area and
place (a situation that is being repeated in Pathum 350,000 for the provinces) and 14 million by 2006,
Thani province, also undergoing large scale develop- or about 21.5 lines per 100 inhabitants. Given that
ment, on the outskirts of Bangkok). In the rest of the there were 4.8 million existing lines in 1997 (or about
country, the remarkably good levels of provision in 8 lines per 100 inhabitants), these figures indicate the
Phuket or Chiang Mai are related to the major tourist scale of the increase in equipment needed to match
infrastructure. No province in the North-East, includ- the country’s economic development and meet social
ing those which are the most urbanized, has more demand.
than 17 lines per 1,000 inhabitants. Despite a 3- or
4-fold increase in the number of lines at the beginning
of the 1990s in the least well-developed provinces
(revealing a very poor initial level of equipment), most
still have fewer than 10 lines per 1,000 inhabitants. In
1994 there were 422,283 mobile telephones, 924,415 ATLAS of THAILAND
78
POSTAL and TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE 28
35.6%
27.4%
26
24.7 20.5
9.6
[ 48,800 - 69,600 [ [ 24 - 50 [
[ 19,000 - 38,300 [ [ 5- 15 [
Post offices
118
23
11
3 to 10
34%
16.4
27.4
100,000
2,944
Sources : Ministry of Transport and Communications, 1998
NSO, 1990, 1997b, 1997c, 2000
C
3 - The state and the construction of the territory
T
here is a great contrast between Bangkok, and less markedly than in the South. Piped water is fairly
its surrounding provinces, where almost all well developed and there have been remarkable
households have piped water, and the rest of improvements since 1990 in some of the most rural
the country: in 1996, one household in two had water of provinces (Mae Hong Son, Tak).
in the central region and fewer than one in four in
the South. In 1994, the Ministry of Public Health conside-
red the quality of drinking water in Bangkok and the
The contrast between town and country main cities to be adequate, with the notable exception
remains considerable with 81% of urban homes of the squatter settlements. Throughout the rest of the
supplied with piped water in 1994, compared with country it remains inadequate, however: only 46%
only 27% in rural areas. In each region, the most of samples collected met health standards. In 1996,
urbanized provinces and also a few rural provinces 925,000 homes, especially in the Central Plain and
which have undergone improvements through speci- the periphery of Bangkok, were mainly using water
fic development programs stand out above the rest. from the canals and rivers. In order to cope better
Due to population growth, a lack of planning and with the shortages, the management of amenities
main-tenance, and insufficient local ground water, and water provision planning were handed in 1992 to
water supplies in 1990 were still not satisfactory in the provinces. In response to increasing demand and
35,529 villages, half of which are in the north-east to provide more widespread coverage, in 1996 the
of the country. According to the Ministry of Public task of improving and extending the water services in
Health, 1.73 million rural homes were without drinking some provinces was delegated to private companies
water in 1994. Programs since the 1960s to provide for 25 years.
facilities, mainly wells, have proved inadequate, and
so the focus since 1992 has been on installing water In 1995, 98% of villages were connected to the
pipelines with the aim of supplying 70% of villages by electricity supply and 88% of homes were connected,
2001. This development has been felt in the North- thus the aim to supply electricity to the rural areas was
East particularly, where the proportion of homes with very largely fulfilled. And this was achieved by the end
piped water increased 2.3-fold between 1990 and of the 1970s, especially under the Third and Fourth
1996, and there was a corresponding decrease in Plans (1972 to 1981) which made rural development
the provision of public wells. a priority. As in the case of the water supplies, we find
here, but with a better success rate, the effects of
The North-East and the South have contrast- basic infrastructure improvement programs aimed at
ing water supply profiles. The South has a reduced countering uprisings, especially in the North-East. Es-
amount of public infrastructure, compensated for by tablishing an extended road network provided support
private wells, which, in 1990, were the main source for the provision of electricity to rural areas. In 1995,
of water for between 47 and 80% of households, only 9 provinces had fewer than 95% of their villages
according to the provinces. Piped water supplies supplied with electricity. The mountainous provinces
improved little between 1990 and 1996, an indication in the north-west along the border with Myanmar are
of the persistent weakness of public intervention. The the least well supplied (especially Mae Hong Son, with
North-East, on the other hand, has benefited since 181 villages out of 379 without electricity). The other
1960 from large-scale improvement schemes: the use provinces not yet fully equipped have a considerable
of public wells predominates in all provinces and the number of households without electricity, although the
installation of piped water is improving considerably. villages are on the grid. In the South, 9/10 of the vil-
Until the middle of the 1970s, the government, with in- lages of Chumphon and Krabi are supplied, but only
valuable help from the United States, concentrated its 6 out of 10 households are connected.
rural development actions on this region for strategic
reasons in order to counter communist insurrections.
Thus between 1966 and 1972, the Potable Water
Project covered 600 zones, mainly in the North-East,
with the specific aim of winning the loyalty of the local
populations. Since then, attention has continued to
be focused here as there is a chronic water short-
age. In the North, private wells predomi-nate, but ATLAS of THAILAND
80
WATER and ELECTRICITY SUPPLY 29
56%
32
2.7
[ 75 - 95 [
[ 48 - 75 [
percentage of households
0 20 40 60 80 100%
Typology according to main water supply sources
1990
Main water
Piped water
Households
using mainly Thailand
source tap water (%) 1996
poor 4.5 - 17.2
Public wells
more developed 21.3 - 22.9
1990
Canals and rivers developed 16.7 - 32.4 North
poor 8.4 - 18.4 1996
Private wells more developed 20.2 - 36.7
important 29.3 - 49.2
Piped water 1990
No dominant
predominant 51 - 92.7
Center
1996
water source
1990
North-East
1996
1990
Bangkok
1996 metropolis
1990
South
1996
tap water
public wells
private wells
others (canal, river, rain)
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Agriculture
A
griculture was the main driving force behind by subtracting built-up areas, idle land and pastures
the economy until the 1960s. The high levels from the total agricultural area. After the signing of
of growth recorded during the next decades the Bowring Treaty (commitment by Siam to provide
were due to the success of other economic sectors, rice for the British Empire, 1855), the rapid increase
and the performance of agriculture and its role in the in productions was achieved essentially by expand-
industrialization process have tended to be over- ing the cultivated areas. Agricultural colonization was
looked. The rapid response by farmers to market achieved in successive phases, in a spontaneous
incentives and their ability to constantly renew pro- fashion and on an individual basis (plate 31 Land
duc-tions, have provided the raw materials needed utilization). The pioneer movement was backed by
to establish a powerful national agro-industrial sector, the state and benefited from the 1950s from the in-
they have satisfied the growing and diversified de- troduction of new cash crops, which enabled farmers
mand of the urban classes and maintained Thailand’s to turn over to cultivation land that was unsuitable for
position among the leading exporters of agro-food rice-growing. The supply of land increased faster than
products in Asia. the agricultural population, thus allowing a suitable
man/land ratio to be maintained, at least until the end
At the end of the 1950s, when the economy of the 1980s, which for most of the country marked
was moving towards industrialization through import the closure of the agricultural frontier (average land-
substitution, the state introduced taxes on agricultural holding size of 4.7 hectares in 1990, and constantly
productions and exports that particularly affected the decreasing since).
rice-growing sector (Rice Premium 1955-1986): they
represented an important source of funding for large- Agriculture remains for the most part rainfed
scale investments in agriculture and other economic and subject to seasonal variations, even though the
sectors (hydro-agricultural infrastructure, communi- development of irrigation lay at the heart of the state’s
cation). By maintaining rice prices artificially low, planned measures to support the agricultural sector.
until the collapse of world prices in the 1980s, the Most state investment has been concentrated in the
state was able to control the cost of industrial labor Central Plain, benefiting rice farming yet not giving
and move into an export oriented industrialization rise to any real Green Revolution (plate 32 Irriga-
(see chapter 5 Industry). Industry’s high demand for tion). Generally speaking, Thai agriculture is still
labor and its spatial spreading towards the periphery not very productive, and a significant diversification
(1990s) have created neither a massive rural outflow in productions has not been accompanied by major
nor a disaffection for agricultural activity. Agriculture technical changes. High-yielding varieties, with the
continues to employ about 50% of the working popu- exception of just a few crops or a small number of
lation, despite the low level of profits from traditional irrigated zones, are little used and the consumption of
productions and the wide variations in incomes as- chemical fertilizers is, on average, amongst the low-
sociated with fluctuations in world market prices est in Asia despite a rapid increase since the 1980s
(plate 30 Agricultural households and product). associated with the development of various forms of
Alongside the trend in the census to overestimate contract farming. Small-scale mechanization (trac-
numbers of agricultural workers by taking into account tors, rotovators, threshers, pumps) has seen consid-
main employment only, the true proportion of workers erable progress throughout the country, strengthened
in agriculture and their low income levels have to be in the 1990s by the increased cost of labor and the
moderated by the large numbers of rural workers who shortage of workers. The diversification of produc-
engage in multi-activity (seasonal or temporary) in tions has been very dynamic under the impetus
different sectors of the economy, and are thus able given by the private sector (networks of middlemen,
to support farms which are barely profitable. agro-industrial groups) and is more a reflection of the
farmers’ responsiveness to the signals of the market
Thai agriculture is peasant-based, with pre- than the result of public action. Although the state has
dominantly small and medium-sized owner-occupied supported the agricultural sector by constructing infra-
farms. In 1996, the total area given over to agricul- structure, agronomic research, credit or agricultural
ture, as defined by the Ministry of Agriculture and extension, the level of investments has remained low
Co-operatives, was 21.2 million hectares (45% of the compared with that of other Asian countries and aid
entire country) of which 19.7 million hectares were has tended to consolidate changes already underway
cultivable land. These figures have been calculated rather than initiate new ones.
83
Rice remains the main crop, both in area under a liberalization of exchanges (especially within the
cultivation and employment generated, and for its AFTA-ASEAN Free Trade Area). The government
contribution to agricultural exports. Today rice farming has launched many new initiatives to develop joint
is faced with a decrease in available resources (labor strategies with other countries on the world market
force, water), high production costs and competition (rice, natural rubber).
from new Asian exporters on the world market (plate
33 Rice). The cultivation of sugar cane, which has Attempts to achieve an extensive type of agri-
developed considerably to respond to international cultural development have gone as far as they can
demand, also suffers from increased industrial pro- and the decrease in available resources in the sector
duction costs over the last decade (plate 34 Sugar (labor force, land, water) presupposes considerable
cane). Cassava has been maintained as an important increases in productivity. Intensification of crops and
upland cash crop thanks to new industrial outlets with of breeding is already underway and, not being limited
higher value added and more diversified markets: to the irrigated farms of the Central Plain, it has based
the decrease in exports to the European Union has itself locally in the peripheral regions, creating envi-
been compensated by the rapid boom in demand ron-mental problems (see plate 8 Environment and
from Asia and from the national industries (plate natural resources). While agriculture is a profitable
35 Cassava). Public aid today is tending to limit the activity in the Central Plain delta and in a few zones
advance of rubber cultivation in the South in favor of specializing in high value added productions, the
new tree plantations (oil palm; see also plate 64 Ag- most vulnerable groups depend on local opportuni-
riculture in North-East and South) and to encourage ties to diversify the non-agricultural part of the family
it in the North-East where its potential profitability is income or on migration towards the urban centers or
supposed to be high (plate 36 Rubber). The advance abroad. Part of the rural world must contend with the
of crops such as maize, mungbean or soybean (plate low level of agricultural incomes, indebtedness, land
37 Other crops) illustrates the peasant farmers’ insecurity, and the consequences of public projects
response to the demand from Thai agro-industrial (eviction because of dams or forest reserves). These
groups, especially in the animal feed sector which different factors feed a social tension that recent
forms the basis for the development of new types of populist measures (see chapter 9 Social imbalances
contract farming for specialized breeding (plate 38 and spatial organization) do not seem capable of ap-
Recent breeding and shrimp farming activities). peasing and which are finding an expression in the
structured peasant movements of the 1990s such as
Since the 1990s, the choices of diversification the Assembly of the Poor.
or intensification of productions have been an indica-
tion of the great extent to which peasant agriculture
was integrated into the activity of Thai agro-industry.
They are also the result, more than before, of the dis-
tribution of the family labor force amongst a variety of
agricultural activities and employment opportunities in
non-agricultural sectors, the management of workers
according to the potential of the agrarian systems and
their integration into commercial networks. The his-
tory of agricultural colonization and the phenomena
of diversification or intensification of productions can
be seen by a marked specialization of agricultural
regions (plate 39 Agricultural specialization and
socio-economic features).
84
INNOVATION and DIVERSIFICATION in AGRICULTURE
Market gardening and rice-growing in the irrigated perimeter of Nam Phong (Khon Kaen province)
ATLAS of THAILAND
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
As there is insufficient water in some zones in the perimeter for a second rice crop, market gardening is adopted in the
dry season. This is on small plots only, and requires considerable inputs in terms of chemicals and labor. Depending on
the crops, production is sold either to the urban markets or to agro-industry (development of contract farming).
©
4 - Agriculture
A
t the beginning of the 1960s, Thailand had all and with others where the effects of industrialization
the features of an agricultural economy, with and urbanization are more striking (Chiang Mai,
80% of the active population engaged in this Lampang, Lamphun, Songkhla).
sector which contributed almost 40% of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Despite the very rapid The values produced from agricultural activities
growth of industry, which is highly intensive in its use and the part that they represent in the Gross Provin-
of manpower, and the gradual closure of the agricul- cial Product reveal a major imbalance between the
tural frontier since the beginning of the 1980s, the South and the rest of the country. The South benefits
agricultural sector continues to employ almost 50% from the high value added linked with the economy
of the active population although its contribution to of the plantations (rubber trees, oil palms) and of the
the GDP has dropped to less than 12%. Although the contribution of fishing to provincial products. With the
sector has seen considerable growth over the last exception of Phuket, the share of agricultural activities
two decades (an average of 3% per year between represents more than 30% of the gross product (50%
1980 and 2000) its contribution to the GDP has seen and above in the provinces along the western coast).
a sharp decrease in the share from crops, linked with It was also in this region that agricultural products,
the drop in prices on the world markets, and a relative under the combined effect of price increases and the
stability in other activities due to the performances development of fish-farming activities, registered, on
of livestock and fishing. At the end of the 1990s we average, the best performances between 1989 and
saw the trend reversed as a result of the 1997 crisis 1996 as can be seen from the differences between
(see plates 40 Industrial product and 50 Product of provincial figures compared with the national average.
tertiary sector) and a recovery in the prices of some The importance of tree crops (Trat), aquaculture or
export products (natural rubber). fishing (coastal provinces in the Center) accounts for
the agricultural values produced in these provinces.
At the time of the 1990 census, agricultural In contrast, values produced are low in the North and
households represented at national level more than the North-East. These regions remain for the most
half of all households. Their spatial distribution shows part characterized by agriculture with a modest rate
very clearly in reverse the processes of industriali-za- of value added despite diversification phenomena
tion and urbanization in a series of concentric zones which enable certain provinces to register agricultural
around Bangkok. The provinces adjoining the capital product growth rates similar to the national average
form a first ring where the rates of agricultural house- (Chiang Mai and Lamphun in the North, Mukdahan
holds are less than 24%. In the South, the province of and several provinces around Nakhon Ratchasima
Phuket, where the economy has diversified rapidly as in the North-East).
a result of the development of tourism, and to a lesser
extent of industry, belongs to this class. A second ring The capacity of the agricultural sector to retain
includes the provinces stretching from Ratchaburi, to the active population of rural origin appears to be
the west of the capital, to Saraburi, to the north, and to strong despite the low average income that it earns
these is added the province of Chon Buri as a result of locally. As well as the recently acquired character of
the creation of the industrial complex on the Eastern industrialization in the surrounding regions there are
Seaboard. From this group, the proportion of agri- dynamics that are specific to the rural environment:
cultural households increases gradually towards the agricultural workers employ economic diversification
provinces in the south of the Central Plain and those strategies, especially through multi-activity, which are
in the east and the west while remaining lower than or guided by their commitment to the land which remains
close to the national average. In the North-East, the strong; agrarian systems are flexible, thus allowing a
percentage of agricultural households is more than rapid response to incentives from the agro-industries
65% with the exception of the corridor formed by the and world markets.
three provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen
and Udon Thani, where, since the end of the 1980s,
the bulk of industrial and urban development is con-
centrated around the provin-cial centers and along
the axes of communication. The North and the South
have characteristics that contrast more sharply with
the highly agricultural provinces (Nan, Patthalung), ATLAS of THAILAND
86
AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS and PRODUCT 30
%
25
20
15
31%
25.7
10
8
[ 53 - 65 [
(provisional)
[ 38 - 53 [
[ 24 - 38 [
0
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 [ 2 - 24 [
(new series, constant 1988 prices)
Agricultural households
Crops Others Total 314,096
66,045
4,053
24.7%
34.2%
14.5 10.4
8
4
Share of the agricultural product in the Difference from the national growth rate
Gross Provincial Product (annual compound growth rate)
in percentage in percentage
[ 49 - 63 ] [ 8.7 - 13.1 ]
[ 31 - 41 ] [ 3.6 - 5.9 ]
[ 22 - 31 [ [ -0.5 - 2.3 ]
[ 14 - 22 [ [ -2.7 - -0.9 ]
A
griculture in Thailand is unique in South-East The changes in land use between 1978 and
Asia, in that it occupies at least 40% of the 1995 show a strong advance of urbanized areas in
entire country. The area under cultivation was two main directions from this metropolitan region:
first extended with the Bowring Treaty (1855) and this northwards as far as Lop Buri and out to the Eastern
process accelerated after the Second World War (4 Seaboard in Chon Buri (class 1). This process con-
million hectares in 1940; 20 to 25 million hectares at tinued further north in a more diffuse fashion as far as
the end of the 1980s) at the expense of forests. The Chiang Rai and west to Phetchaburi (class 2). During
expansion of rice cultivation, at first into the Central this period the proportion of agricultural land in class
Plain then into the lowlands and valleys of the periph- 3 remained stable, while the unclassified lands were
eral regions, was followed, after the 1950s, by the developed to the detriment of the forests. In class 4
advance of the agricultural frontier onto the uplands and 5, the increase in the percentage of land given
as new cash crops were gradually introduced: cotton, over to agriculture suggests that the agricultural
maize, kenaf, cassava, sugar cane (see also plate 8 frontier was closed here at a later date, or even that
Environment and natural resources). active land colonization still continues (South).
This gradual spatial spread of the cultivated Paddy fields represent about 50% of the total
areas is the result of spontaneous colonization cultivable land at national level (see plate 33 Rice),
by individual agriculturalists, although the pioneer with a high concentration in the Central Plain and
move-ment was supported by the state through land the valleys in the North-East (class 1). They are still
tax concessions and settlement programs in some a major type of agricultural land use in most of the
frontier zones or zones occupied by ethnic minorities. provinces in the North, the North-East and the Cen-
Drain-age and irrigation work at first facilitated expan- ter, associated with fruit tree cultivation (class 3) or
sion of the area under rice farming. After the 1950s, upland crops: cassava, maize, sugar cane (class 2).
culti-vation of the uplands was given impetus by the Rice cultivation systems become marginal only in the
cons-truction of road infrastructure and the adoption peninsula and the south-east, where there are zones
of the new cash crops (which were more profitable of tree crop plantations (rubber and fruit trees, oil
than rice) benefited from the role played by the net- palms; classes 5 and 6; see also plate 64 Agriculture
works of Sino-Thai middlemen (provision of inputs, in North-East and South), and in the mountainous
credit, transport, agricultural extension). provinces on the central axis and the western axis
(other crops; class 4). Since 1978 the proportion of
The distribution of the provinces into classes paddy fields has been in constant decline: although
defined according to the major types of land use ex- this decrease has not been so great in the zones that
presses the combined effects of the duration of land benefit from irrigation or abundant rainfall (class 1), it
development and the importance of topographical has been very marked in areas where rice cultivation
constraints (see plate 7 Relief and hydrographical is more marginal. This reduction reflects the current
system). Agricultural land predominates in the alluvial difficulties encountered by the paddy farmers (price,
plain of the Chao Phraya, the cradle of rice cultivation, availability and cost of the labor force) and the effects
and in the irrigated valleys in the North-East (class 5). of new diversification into more intensive and more
In the provinces where uplands and valley bottoms profitable production, with encouragement from the
alternate, the situation is more contrasted (class 4): agro-industry companies through contract farming
agricultural land occupies between 35 and 65% of (flowers, vegetables, fruit trees) or from the public
the total area, the remainder being shared between authorities (oil palms in the South, rubber trees in
forest land and unclassified land, the latter taken up the North-East).
by built-up areas and the communication axes. The
pioneer nature of agricultural development is dem-
onstrated by the rapid retreat of the forests, which
are now of relative importance only in the provinces
that extend over the mountain chains in the north and
west and in the peninsula (classes 2 and 3). In the
Central Plain delta the predominance of unclassified
land (class 1) reflects the influence of built-up areas
in Bangkok’s extended urban region. ATLAS of THAILAND
88
LAND UTILIZATION 31
0%
0
10
nd
l la
Fo
ura
re
st
ult
lan
r ic
d
Ag
10
0%
Classes Agricultural land Forest land Unclassified land
0
100% 0
Unclassifical land 5 ++ =, -, -- =, -, --
Classes Agricultural land Forest land Unclassified land
5 > 65% 10 - 35% 10 - 30%
4 + =, -, -- ++, +, =, -
1 20 - 45% 0% 55 - 80%
percentage
classes 0 20 40 60 80 100%
1995
6
1978
1995
5
1978
1995
4
1978
0%
0
10
1995
3
lds
Tre
fie
1978
e
cro
dy
d
ps
Pa
1995
2
10
1978
0%
0
100% 0
Other cultivable lands
1995
Classes Paddy fields Tree crops Other cultivable lands 1
6 < 26% > 74% < 10% 1978
D
espite a policy of sustained development of reservoirs, lack of funds to complete construction,
irrigation infrastructure since the 1950s, Thai faulty design, poor maintenance arrangements or
agriculture remains very much exposed to ineffective organization of distribution systems, strong
seasonal climatic fluctuations. Rainfall rates represent opposition from farmers threatened with ejection).
a real ecological constraint for rice cultivation which,
during the monsoon season, requires extra irrigation, The basins of the North have a long history of
even in the wettest areas (see plate 8 Environment communal irrigation and water control. The absence
and natural resources). of this tradition slowed the rhythm of adoption of ir-
rigated rice cultivation in some areas of the Central
In 1996, 4.6 million hectares are classified as Plain and resulted in an unreliable water supply to
irrigated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-opera- the plots. The implementation of irrigation schemes
tives, or 23% of the total cultivable land, but there are in the North-East encountered substantial problems
great regional disparities: 46% of the total irrigated due to the emergence of conflicts between irrigated
area is located in the Center, 26% in the North, 17% and rainfed agricultural systems. In the middle of the
in the North-East and 10% in the South. This refers 1970s, policy shifted towards smaller and less costly
to the extension of specially built perimeters where a structures in the underdeveloped regions (North-East)
regular water supply depends largely on the nature in order to allow farmers to benefit from the increase
of hydro-agricultural infrastructure. The enclosed in rice prices. The total area of irrigated land reached
areas fed by the major dams may receive sufficient 4 million hectares in the 1980s. Irrigation may still
quantities of water for complementary irrigation in remain a declared priority of the government’s policy
the rainy season, however, there are vast stretches to provide aid for agriculture, but the accent from now
of land, mapped as irrigable, that are dependent on is placed on renovating and improving existing
on much more modest reservoirs and whose water infrastructure rather than creating new ones.
supply relies on the strength of the monsoon, and is
more unpredic-table; the North-East, where annual These improvements and the rapid develop-
variations in rainfall are greatest, is thus the most dis- ment in the use of water pumps have made it possible
advantaged region. The slim possibilities of growing to extend irrigated areas to 4.5 million hectares in the
irrigated crops in the dry season accentuate regional rainy season and to increase from 450,000 (at the
disparities: thus only 8% of paddy fields are cultivated end of the 1970s) to 750,000 the areas with two rice
twice a year (but 40% in the Center, 14% in the North, crops. Today, through a lack of new investment, the
4% in the South and 1% in the North-East). irrigated areas are stagnating and water manage-
ment remains fairly inefficient (loss of water through
In the 1950s, the state completed the first seep-age, leaks, evaporation). The absence of any
large-scale irrigation schemes in the Central Plain, proper-ty rights over water means farmers have no
using external funding (American aid, loans from the incentive to use in a more rational and efficient way
World Bank) to support rice production and exporta- a commodity that is essentially free. Conceived as an
tion. The first two Plans (1961-1966, 1967-1971) aid to rice production, irrigation has not led to a real
placed the development of irrigation at the heart of Green Revolution as there has been no wholesale
the govern-ment’s agricultural policy. Public invest- adoption of a set of technical conditions (access to
ment gave priority to the development of the most chemical inputs, credit facilities) in order to increase
favorable sites with the best cost/efficiency ratio. yields. Finally, the increasing demand for water for
Large multi-purpose dams allowed the development urban, industrial and recreational consumption poses
of electricity produc-tion and irrigation of the lowlands the severe problem, in the dry season, of a sector al-
on the Central Plain, the traditional rice granary of the location of resources, forcing farmers to turn towards
country that has benefited since the end of the 19th less demanding crops (soybean, mungbean, sugar
century from a good drainage network (see plate 7 cane).
Relief and hydrogra-phical system). In 1970, out of
more than 2 million irrigated hectares, 70% were in
the Center (15% in the North, 10% in the North-East
and 4% in the South). However, the implementation
of irrigation facilities encountered many technical
defects and difficulties (insufficient capacity of the ATLAS of THAILAND
90
IRRIGATION 32
Me k o n g
Chiang Rai
Wan g
Yo m
Lamphun
Lampang
Pin g
Nan
Son
Phrae
Kh
g
ra
m
Sirikit
Nong Khai
Bhumibol
Uttaradit Loei Nakhon
Phanom
Udon Thani Sakon Nakhon
Nong Bua
Lam Phu
Sukhothai
Lam Pao
Tak Ubol
Phitsanulok Rattana
Khon Kaen
Phetchabun Mukdahan
Phichit Kalasin
Kamphaeng Phet
Maha
M
Pas a k ko n
e
Sarakham Roi Et
g
Yasothon Amnat
Chaiyaphum
Charoen
Nakhon Sawan Ch
Mun i Ubon Ratchathani
Uthai Thani
Si Sa Ket
Chai Nat
Nakhon Ratchasima Buri Ram
Khao Sing Buri Surin Sirindhorn
Laem Lop Buri
Krasieo
Chao
Kw Ang Thong
Suphan Buri Saraburi
Phr
en
oi
ay
Si Nakarinda Ayutthaya
a
Nakhon Nayok
Kanchanaburi Pathum Thani
Prachin Buri
k loNakhon Pathom Nonthaburi
P r a c h in
Me
Bangkok Sa Kaeo
ng
Phetchaburi
Chanthaburi
Rayong
ANDAMAN
Trat
Ko Chang
Prachuap
Khiri Khan
SEA
Ko Kut
GULF OF THAILAND
Chumphon
Isthmus
of Kra
Ranong
Ko Samui
Ratcha
Prapha
Surat Thani Water resources development in 1996
Ta p i
Nakhon Si
Irrigated areas
Phangnga Thammarat
Irrigable areas
Krabi
Small irrigated areas
Phuket
Important storage and diversion dams
Trang Phatthalung
Thale Sap
Province centers
Songkhla
Pattani
Contour lines in meters
Ko Tarutao Satun
Yala
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
100 m
Narathiwat
t tan i
Pa
Bang
Lang
0 100 200 km
0 60 120 miles
Sources : RID, 1989, 1998
RTSD, 1992
C
4 - Agriculture
M
ain staple food and foremost agricultural first to benefit. From 1976 to 1996, the area under
export crop, rice occupies 50% of the total cultivation increased only slightly (600,000 ha) and
cultivable area and provides employment unevenly across the territory. Cultivation advanced in
for about 70% of the active agricultural population. the North-East (1.1 million ha were added: irrigation
Thailand is the fifth largest producer in the world and, work continued and later closure of the agricultural
for about ten years, has been the leading exporter frontier), the largest increases being found in the
(30 to 40% of international trade). northern provinces. The crop increased to 180,000
hectares in the North, but decreased sharply in the
Over 80% of the annual production of paddy South (down 100,000 ha) and especially in the Center
(22 million tons in 1996) comes from major rice, cover- (down 600,000 ha).
ing more than 9 million hectares in the rainy season.
The extent of the first crop in the North-East (55% of Production reached 20 million tons in the
the total national area) enables the region to provide middle of the 1980s. Although productivity increased
40% of the country’s production. The paddy fields as a result of mechanization specifically adapted to
are concentrated in the valleys of the Khorat plateau, the small size of the plots (multi-purpose rotovators,
which stretches from Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratcha- threshing machines), the low distribution of high-
sima to Ubon Ratchathani and also in the valleys in yielding varieties and the levels of consumption of
the extreme north-east (see also plate 64 Agriculture chemical fertilizers (the lowest in Asia) meant that
in North-East and South): in ten provinces, paddy there was no spectacular increase in yields (2.25
production in the rainy season covers over 65% of tons/ha on average for the two crops in the 1990s).
the cultivable area and the Nakhon Ratchasima-Ubon Since the middle of the 1980s, the planted areas and
Ratchathani axis is the main production zone. The production have remained stagnant for several rea-
second largest is in the Chao Phraya valley (around sons: colonization of land suitable for paddy-growing
80% of the cultivable area in Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya, came to an end and there were cutbacks in public
Ang Thong, Chai Nat). The provinces in the Center investment in irrigation, profitability decreased and
represent 17% of the area cultivated in paddy, but there was diversification into other crops and competi-
produce about 30% of the national total thanks to the tion with other sectors of the economy for resource
size of the second crop (40% of the surface area). allocation (workforce, water).
Although yields are only modest, they are among the
highest (almost 3 tons/ha and more than 4 tons/ha in Sixty per cent of the 15 million tons of rice
major rice and second crop compared with 1.7 and produced are destined for the domestic market. The
2.5 tons/ha in the North-East). The North represents industrial implantations involved in rice transformation
22% of the total area grown under first crop for 26% correspond for the most part to the major production
of production. In the South, rice cultivation is not wide- zones, with nevertheless some high concentrations
spread (less than 5% of the national total is grown) of investment in just a few large regional centers
except for the coastal valleys of the eastern provinces, (Chachoengsao and Suphan Buri in the Center,
from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Pattani (38% of total Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani in the North-
cultivable area in Phatthalung). East, Chiang Mai in the North). Exports include
products of varying quality destined for a wide variety
After the Bowring Treaty (1855) until the middle of markets: high quality white rice to China, Hong
of the 20th century, rice cultivation was developed Kong, the United States, or poorer quality rice to Iran
extensively, in response to demand from abroad. and Indonesia, broken rice to the African continent.
New land was put under cultivation, made possible Thailand is still in a strong position in the world mar-
by the growth in population, and was concentrated in ket for the high quality types of rice that have made
the Central Plain (abundance of lowlands, transport the country’s reputation, but today there is a great
facilities to the port of Bangkok for export) before deal of competition to contend with from countries
extending North and North-East via the new rail and like Vietnam and India, which have the advantage of
road infrastructure. From 1950 to 1970, the areas lower production costs.
under paddy in the rainy season increased from 5.5
to over 7 million hectares, annual production doubled
(from 6.7 to 13 million tons) thanks mainly to hydraulic
developments from which the Central Plain was the ATLAS of THAILAND
92
RICE 33
25% 43.7%
30
22.4
17 10
no data in 1976
Planted area (ha)
485,433 Planted area : net variation (ha)
221,817
35,648 positive
14,524
<11,200 13,307 negative
4,822
Variation < 4,200
China
Others
Hong Kong
Japan
250.6 471.3 South Korea
European Union
80.6
34% Canada Indonesia
140.1
35.5
USA
548.8 Malaysia
14.5
258.5
Others (Middle East) 277.7 Singapore
Percentage in national rice production
Iran
[ 3.2 - 5 ] United Arab Emirates Others (South-East Asia)
Mauritania South Africa
[ 1.5 - 3.2 [ Senegal Nigeria
Benin
[ 0.7 - 1.5 [
[ 0 - 0.7 [
115.4
35.3
<30
Sources : Bank of Thailand, 2000
MAC, 1980, 1998
Ministry of Industry, 1997
NSO, 1997
C
4 - Agriculture
D
espite its importance in Thailand’s economy north-east as far as Udon Thani. This expansion was
and its position at the world level, the sugar achieved by clearing uplands and was given impetus
industry is today characterized by poor sugar by agricultural policies encouraging diversification of
cane yields (about 50 tons/ha), only modest rates products for export and spatial spreading of sugar
of sugar extraction (100 kg/ton of cane), and an plants with more favorable installation and operating
industrial sector which is in debt, and with excess costs than in the central region. Only the provinces of
capacity. Chon Buri, Nakhon Pathom and Prachuap Khiri Khan
showed a net and relative decrease in planted area
In 1996, sugar cane occupies around 1 mil- between 1976 and 1996 and the proportion of sugar
lion hectares with almost 50% concentrated in the cane cultivated in Kanchanaburi dropped from about
Ratchaburi-Suphan Buri-Kanchanaburi triangle and 50% to 41%, despite an increase of more than 10,000
Lop Buri-Sukhothai arc. Kanchanaburi is the main hectares; this province remains, however, the main
producer for this crop: sugar cane covers 41% of producer, as can be seen from the size and scale of
the total provincial cultivable area. The North-East its industrial plants.
as a whole represents one third of the total area
planted with sugar cane, with no more than 13% in With production levels of 5 to 6 million tons
Chaiyaphum and 10% in Udon Thani, the first primary at the end of the 1990s, of which about 75% were
producer in this region. To the east of the capital, exported, Thailand became the world’s fifth largest
Chon Buri is distinguished by its planted area as producer and third largest exporter of sugar. The
well as by its percentage in the total cultivable area. value of these exports (1.335 billion US$ in 1996)
Towards the south, the crop extends no further than makes sugar cane the third most important agricul-
Prachuap Khiri Khan. tural product in Thailand after rubber and rice. Asian
markets absorb 70% of total exports (of this almost
Sugar cane cultivation has encountered cycli- half goes to Indonesia, Japan and South Korea).
cal development. Exports of refined sugar were one
of Thailand’s main sources of income in the 18th cen- Government protection, introduced during
tury. Production for export was dominated by foreign the import substitution period, continued long after
companies and concentrated in the Chao Phraya sugar became an export commodity, particularly as a
delta, west of the capital. After the Bowring Treaty result of lobbying by associations of sugar producers.
(1855) came into force, competition from Europe and Since 1982, a price stabilization program has been
changes in the tax system resulted in a rapid decline operated by the Thai Cane and Sugar Corporation,
in the sugar sector in the last quarter of the 19th cen- which represents the interests of the farmers, indus-
tury and most of the cultivable land in the Central trialists and the state. The sugar cane payment to
Plain was turned over to paddy fields. Sugar cane the producers, which is fixed before the beginning of
has gra-dually been reintroduced since the 1930s, the crushing season, is based on a sharing system
encouraged by public investment in new sugar mills (70:30) between growers and mill owners. This price
and protec-tionist measures put in place by the state, is calculated on future net incomes from sales on do-
in the context of the import substitution policy. Until mestic and foreign markets. The difference between
the beginning of the 1970s, the increase in the area the prices obtained on these markets and the price
planted with sugar cane represented a response on paid to the producers is absorbed by the Sugar Fund
the part of peasant agriculture to national demand. and the banks. Nevertheless, price fluctuations have
In 1976, Kanchanaburi, Suphan Buri, Ratchaburi and tended to produce a succession of cycles of expan-
Nakhon Pathom cultivated more than 56% of the total sion and regression of this crop which has inhibited
planted area, Chon Buri and Rayong, to the east of investment and intensification in the sector. The in-
the capital, 20%. Sugar cane was poorly developed crease in industrial production costs over the last ten
in the North-East, where it was concentrated around years and the cash-flow difficulties that companies
new industrial plants (Udon Thani). are experiencing remain a serious problem for the
entire sector.
The areas planted expanded between 1976
and 1996 by almost 160%. From the heart of the
production region, the crop extended along a northern
axis towards Sukhothai and in particular towards the ATLAS of THAILAND
94
SUGAR CANE 34
63%
45.5%
24
22.7
13.6
6.5
Japan
South Korea
Others
526.3
251.1
China
107.6
Vietnam
Iran
28.9 421.3
Average number of employees per unit
Philippines
[ 705 - 1,106 ]
Sri Lanka
[ 288 - 523 ] Indonesia
Malaysia
[ 51 - 267 ]
Sugar plants
11
6
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
3 to 4
1 to 2
T
ypical cash crop of the North-East uplands, the 1990s, total cultivated areas remained around 1.2
cassava is, in value terms, one of Thailand’s million hectares, with average production at about 20
five foremost agricultural exports. Introduced million tons.
from Malaysia at the beginning of the 20th century
into the southern provinces where it was grown as Unlike most cassava-producing countries,
an inter-crop in most rubber tree plantations, the Thailand has always grown cassava for commercial
cultivation of cassava spread to all the provinces of ends rather than for self-consumption. The roots are
the Kingdom before later becoming concentrated in processed into two main products: pellets, used in the
the provinces to the east of the capital, then in the production of animal feed, and starch, modified starch
provinces of the North-East. and starch products, used in industry. Process-ing is
carried out in a very wide variety of units, ranging from
In 1996, over 60% of the cassava crop was small village workshops producing cassava chips to
planted in the North-East, with 21% in the province modern enterprises extracting starch products, and
of Nakhon Ratchasima alone, where this crop repre- requiring large-scale industrial investment. Spatial
sents 22% of the cultivable area. The seven eastern distribution of these units mirrors that of the produc-
provinces of Bangkok are the second production tion zones, with a predominance of the North-East
zone with 20% of the total area given over to cassava around three major poles: Nakhon Ratchasima (1/3
nationally (about 20% of the total cultivable area in of total national investment in relatively large units),
Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Sa Kaeo). The area Udon Thani, Khon Kaen. Ayutthaya, at the junction of
planted with cassava increased very rapidly until the the communication routes, does not produce cassava
end of the 1980s (14,000 ha en 1950, 475,000 ha in but stands out because of the scale of its modern
1975, 1.6 million ha in 1989 with production at over factories, while to the east of the capital, Chacho-
24 million tons) with an expansion from the eastern eng-sao, Chon Buri and Rayong also contain large
provinces towards the North-East. In 1975, the production units.
eastern provinces still represented 45% of the total
planted area. Chon Buri and Rayong, the foremost Pellet production expanded very quickly from
producers at the time, were also the most important the 1970s in response to the needs of European
centers for marketing and processing, especially as animal feed industries, the main outlet for exports.
they received the crop produced in the neighboring Faced with the reduction in quotas awarded to Thai-
provinces in the North-East. Although in terms of land land by the European Union (mid-1990s), indus-trial
use, cassava is still an important crop in the eastern production was diversified into starch and modified
provinces, it is very much in decline in the former starch products with a higher value added (and today
production centers in this zone (more than 35,000 this absorbs 60% of the root crop production). These
ha lost in both Chon Buri and Rayong). also supply national industries (paper, sweeteners,
drinks, medicine tablets…) whose needs are increas-
The cassava cultivated area expanded mainly ing considerably. Out of a total cassava production of
in the North-East, from Nakhon Ratchasima-Chaiya- 18 million tons in 2002, the national market absorbed
phum towards Udon Thani-Nong Khai to the north 5.6 million, of which more than one third was used
and towards Kalasin-Mukdahan to the east. It was in starch production, the remaining being mainly
also extended along the western and northern edges used for swine and cattle feeds. Thailand’s cassava
of the Central Plain, from Ratchaburi to Kamphaeng exports (all types combined) represent about 80% of
Phet and Phitsanulok. In the South, around Bangkok the international cassava trade. The decrease in ex-
and in the provinces in the north-west, it has been ports of pellets to the European Union (Netherlands,
gradually abandoned. The rapid expansion of the crop Spain) is compensated by the rapid rise in exports of
in the North-East during the 1970s and 1980s can be starch and starch products to Asian countries (Japan,
seen as a response on the part of small farmers to Taiwan, Korea).
the increase in international demand. This develop-
ment benefited considerably from the extension of
credit facilities, marketing and processing services
provided by Sino-Thai middlemen and formed part of
the process of agricultural colonization of the uplands
in this region (see plate 31 Land utilization). During ATLAS of THAILAND
96
CASSAVA 35
21%
48%
35
37.2
18.8
10.4
[ 17.7 - 23 ] [2-6[
[ 11.4 - 16 ] [-3 - 2 [
[ 5 - 10 ] [-21 - -10 ]
Others
(European Union)
Japan
Südkorea
278.8 Taiwan
Netherlands 434.2
China
Hong Kong
52.4
24.9 26.1 Indonesia
Average investment per unit Malaysia
(million Baht) Singapore
Spain Others (South-East Asia)
70 Others
USA
5 - 10
< 3.2
54
14
< 10
Sources : Bank of Thailand, 2000
MAC, 1980, 1998
Ministry of Industry, 1997
NSO, 1997
C
4 - Agriculture
R
ubber cultivation was introduced into Thailand (from about 350 kg/ha/yr in the 1960s to 1.3
from Malaysia at the beginning of the 20th t/ha/yr on average in 1996, over 1.5 tons in the most
century and developed rapidly in the South productive provinces in the South).
and in the eastern provinces of Bangkok. In the
1950s, rubber was the country’s second most valu- Most of the peasant production is sold to
able export commodity after rice. The total area under dealers in the form of poor quality unsmoked rubber
cultivation, estimated at 1.2 million hectares in 1966, sheets and the market at national level is still fairly
reached almost 2 million hectares in 1996-1997. Rub- disorganized, with wide price variations linked with
ber production is predominantly smallholder-based, the quantities sold, the position of the dealers in the
consisting of about 820,000 small production units, chain or the place of purchase. In order to enable
with only 10% of the landholdings larger than 40 small farmers to get better prices and to encourage
hectares. Although farms are small in size (2.4 ha on improvements in the quality of their product, a rubber
average in 1996), rubber cultivation requires a large market auction system was set up for smallholders
labor force, estimated at about 5 million, including in 1991 with the establishment of the first central
tappers. rubber market in Hat Yai. It also provides informa-
tion on domestic and world market outlook and price
After vigorous expansion until the middle of trends. The marketing of latex has expanded since
the 1980s, the area under cultivation in the South the middle of the 1980s from newly established latex
stabilized at around 1.6 million hectares. The region concentrate factories. These units make possible a
still produces an overwhelming proportion of the further value added transformation in large modern
country’s rubber: 85% of the total planted area in companies located in the main production areas
1996 for 90% of production, of which more than 60% (Songkhla, Surat Thani and Trang in the South region;
in the Songkhla, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Rayong and Chon Buri in the south-east). Running
Trang and Narathiwat provinces. The south-east rep- parallel to this, there is still a traditional industrial
resents almost 9% of national production. In these sector providing poor-quality intermediary products
two regions, rubber tree cultivation now seems to for the world market.
have reached saturation point and over the last fifteen
Since 1991, Thailand has been the leader in
years some farmers, faced with a shortage of work-
world production and the largest exporter of natural
ers, have started substituting rubber for fruit trees.
rubber. Domestic consumption is only 10% of national
Plantations were developed in the North-East from
production. Almost half of exports are in the form
the end of the 1980s after intervention from the state, of ribbed smoked sheets, about 30% in the form of
which saw this potentially highly profitable crop as a standard Thai rubber blocks and 10% in the form
means of developing rural areas. Few plantations are of latex concentrate. With a value of over 2.5 billion
still productive, however, and yields remain low due US$ in 1996, natural rubber is the country’s leading
to a chronic shortage of rainfall. agro-based export. The Asian market represents 60%
of this total with almost 30% to Japan and 20% to
In 1960, the state provided the incentive for a China where national production is growing rapidly.
widespread replantation program to overcome the The quality of national production and the variation in
decline in a sector based on tapping ageing trees from prices on the world market are major problems, how-
traditional varieties. As well as encouraging growers ever. Disappointed in attempts by the International
to expand their crops, the Office of Rubber Replant- Natural Rubber Organization (INRO created in 1980)
ing Aid Fund (ORRAF), funded initially by loans from to stabilize the world market by adjusting supply,
the World Bank, then until 1985 by taxes on rubber Thailand left this organization in 1999 and has since
exports and now from the state budget, provides tried to develop a combined strategy with Indonesia
improved varieties, equipment and fertilizer, and also and Malaysia (these three countries represent 80%
financial aid, 70% of which goes to smallholders (less of world production) in an attempt to maintain prices
than 4 ha). In conjunction with this, the first rubber re- that are favorable for the producers.
search center (Rubber Research Institute of Thailand)
was created at Hat Yai in 1965. Production increased
from 170,000 tons in 1960 to over 2 million tons in
1996-1997 with an appreciable increase in yields ATLAS of THAILAND
98
RUBBER 36
63.8%
30.3%
42.4 27.3
10.6 15
22,424 36,672
9,857 15,922
< 5,400 < 2,815
Japan
South Korea
Taiwan
Others
(European Union) 1,500.3
France 317.6
35%
China
37.8 Spain
27 Canada 315.1
268
65
< 35
Sources : Bank of Thailand, 2000
MAC, 1997
Ministry of Industry, 1997
NSO, 1997
C
4 - Agriculture
T
raditionally grown by small subsistence farmers combined planted area for the two crops increased
for self-consumption, maize became a major between 1976 and 1996 in the provinces between
crop in Thailand only after the Second World Tak, Nan, Khon Kaen and Uthai Thani; Sukhothai is
War, in response to the demand from foreign markets, the excep-tion, although a decrease in the proportion
especially Japanese animal feed industries. With the of these crops and the planted area they occupy has
prospect of profit from growing maize, farmers were not threatened its strong position. More than 80% of
persuaded to expand the cultivation of new imported the national production of mungbean comes from the
varieties by clearing forests in the lower North: the quadrilateral enclosed by Sukhothai, Uthai Thani,
crop rapidly extended to the Central Plain uplands, Lop Buri and Phetchabun, where it can occupy up to
chiefly in the Lop Buri, Saraburi and Nakhon Sawan 15% of the cultivable area (Sukhothai, Phetchabun).
provinces which are most favorably located in rela- Soybean cultivation has gradually extended from the
tion to the port of Bangkok from where most of the northern provinces to the north of the Central Plain
crop is exported. and to a lesser extent into the North-East (Loei, Khon
Kaen, Chaiyaphum) and south-east (Sa Kaeo). In
In 1947, maize production covered 23,000 about half of the area under cultivation, it is a dry
hectares, increasing to 200,000 hectares at the end season crop planted on the irrigated perimeters, and
of the 1950s and 1.3 million hectares in 1976, 75% is encouraged by the state as a rice substitution crop.
of which was in the area sometimes dubbed the The North remains the main region of production
“corn belt” (Loei, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, Lop (70% of the national total in 1996). 20% of national
Buri, Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchasima). The crop production is consumed immediately, 70% is used in
reached its maximum area in the middle of the 1980s the oil factories and 10% for seed.
(almost 2 million ha) then stabilized around 1.3 million
hectares. In these provinces, maize still covers more Thailand’s mungbean production (218,000
than 30% of the total planted area despite the major tons in 1996/1997) is barely sufficient to cover do-
drop in planting between 1976 and 1996, in favor mestic requirements and exports, which reached
mainly of cassava and sugar cane: Lop Buri and es- almost 150,000 tons in 1990, but were limited in 1997
pecially Phetchabun and Loei, where the proportion of to under 10,000 tons. Maize and soybean production
planted area given over to maize cultivation dropped is now insufficient to meet the country’s needs. At
to just over 20%, remain the major production areas. the beginning of the 1980s, maize exports (2 to 3.7
Together with Sa Kaeo in the south-east and Kam- million tons), which went mainly to the Asian market,
phaeng Phet and Tak in the west, provinces where represented 80% of national production. The reason
maize production has increased considerably since for the very large increase in domestic consump-
1976, the “corn belt” today produces almost 70% of tion (less than 1 million tons in the 1980s compared
the total national crop. In the country as a whole, the with more than 4 million tons ten years later) is the
decrease in planted areas over the last twenty years increase in the requirements of the animal farming
in the heart of the region of production has been sector, forcing Thailand to import (about 400,000 tons
compensated for by the expansion of the crop around in 1995 and 1996). Similarly, soybean production
the north, west and south-east edges. (360,000 t in 1996/1997) today supplies less than
40% of domestic demand. The practice of introducing
Soybean and mungbean can be grown as high prices (via taxes and import quotas) to promote
the first or second crop of the rainy season on the the development of this crop has not had the hoped
uplands, or in paddy fields in the dry season with ir- for effect on production and has led to an increase in
rigation. The planted area increased from 20,000 and the price of animal feed. Sporadic intervention by the
40,000 hectares respectively in 1950 to 100,000 and state, which is widely criticized by the agro-industry
200,000 hectares on average at the beginning of the sector, has resulted in a loss of competitivity for the
1970s. Although these crops increased considerably poultry industry, especially against competition from
until the end of the 1980s (500,000 ha each), today China for the Japanese market.
they cover only 300,000 and 350,000 hectares. As
with maize, this decrease reflects fluctuations in the
price and profitability of the different crops that can
be grown on a plot and, in the case of soybean, the
effects of competition from foreign producers. The ATLAS of THAILAND
100
OTHER CROPS 37
37.2%
34%
12.2
19.5 16.3
9.3
51%
61.8%
7.3 5.5
17.6 6
Planted area for each crop (> 3,000 ha) Planted area : net variation (ha)
74,834
3,280 soybean positive
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
12,977 18,576
mungbean
97,008 2,217 negative
Total planted area < 3,000 ha Variation < 1,650 ha
T
he production of swine, chicken and shrimp, Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), reflecting the
traditional farming activities, has evolved into influence of the urban market and the presence of
specialized systems, and is now an integral major production units. The North-East (Nakhon
part of the activities of the major Thai agro-industrial Ratchasima, Buri Ram) and the North (Chiang Mai,
groups. The extent of direct involvement of these firms Chiang Rai) both contribute about 20% of national
in all stages of production and marketing is strong production, while the South produces considerably
even though it may vary according to the different sec- less (different food habits). The fluctua-tions in the
tors. These companies have also organized contract price of meat, like the changes in the food prefer-
farming systems whereby producers are provided ences of the middle classes (beef and broiler), lead
with all the inputs. to large fluctuations in animal numbers. Produc-tion
barely covers domestic demand because of cyclical
The development of broiler production was problems (indebtedness of peasant units, epidemics,
rapid from the 1970s onwards, with the importation cost of animal feed).
of chicken breeds and the introduction of wage and
price guarantee contracts by Charoen Phokphand, It was also in the 1980s that intensive shrimp
an animal feed producer. National production is now farming techniques were developed in the coastal
controlled by just a few agro-industrial groups. Two provinces. Between 1980 and the 1990s, the area
thirds of the total output of 1.2 million tons is destined given over to this activity increased from 25,000
for the domestic market. The largest production area hectares to more than 70,000 hectares (20,000
is concentrated around Bangkok: Lop Buri, Ayut- farms), production rose from less than 10,000 tons
thaya, Saraburi in the Central Plain, Samut Sakhon to 200-250,000 tons. In the traditional production
and Ratchaburi to the west, Chon Buri, Prachin Buri, areas (Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram,
Chachoengsao and Nakhon Nayok to the east. These Samut Sakhon) this type of farming is today very
eastern provinces produce more than 40% of broil- much in decline (pollution, urbanization), but in the
ers. The spatial distribution of production in the pe- provinces in the south-west and especially to the east
ripheral regions (less than 10% each of production), of Bangkok and in the South, it is now increasing.
differs between the North and the North-East, where Since the middle of the 1990s, the South and the
production is notably greater in the urban poles, and eastern provinces of the BMR represent over 90% of
the South where it is more evenly spread between national shrimp production, but for several reasons
the provinces (food habits). Thailand is the leading this figure has tended to stagnate: productivity gains
exporter in Asia by export value (544 million US$ in have reached a plateau, shrimp farming has been
2001) and half of these exports are destined for Asia abandoned in some coastal areas due to self pollution
(especially Japan). Faced with competition from Brazil and land degradation, and the recent development
and China, the high price of feed (see plate 37 Other of inland shrimp farming in the Central Plain was
crops) and the increased cost of labor, agro-industrial officially banned in 1998 due to opposition from rice
groups are diversifying their production (from bone- growers (see also plate 62 Land use in the South:
less parts to cooked products) and investing abroad Pak Phanang watershed). Shrimps are the third most
(see plate 1 Economic relations and integration). valuable agricultural export product (about 150,000
tons, especially in the form of frozen shrimps). The
Commercial swine production represents about main markets are Asia, which takes more than half
80% of total pork production. The modernization of (Japan), the United States and the European Union.
this sector in the 1980s, traditionally associated with As for exports of broiler chickens, Thailand must
rice-growing, was in response to a large increase in improve sanitary conditions in its factories (traces
domestic demand (improvement of the standards of of forbidden chemical substances), and adapt to
living among urban dwellers), with considerable impe- changes in customs barriers (European Union) and
tus from major agro-industrial groups: vertical integra- increasing competition from the Asian countries (In-
tion and economic concentration in swine production dia, Indonesia) in which Thai groups invest.
are nevertheless less developed than in the other two
sectors. There is also a lesser degree of imbalance
in the spatial distribution of this activity throughout
the country, despite the fact that 40% of production
is concentrated in seven provinces surrounding the ATLAS of THAILAND
102
RECENT BREEDING and SHRIMP FARMING ACTIVITIES 38
86,075
2,910,395 4,753
164,654
Others
United Kingdom (European Union)
France
Canada
Japan
167.3
4,973
596
D
espite recent diversification, agriculture is The map of the socio-economic characteristics
marked by regional specializations in of the agricultural sector shows clear spatial dispari-
productions and by major socio-economic ties linked with the different degrees of redeployment
imbalances. After more than a century of sustained of this agriculture in transition. A first group is made
growth based on the expansion of cultivated areas, up of provinces that are affected by the strong influ-
the agricultural sector today has to tackle the growing ence of Bangkok’s urban agglomeration and the
shortage of resources (water, land, labor force), the Eastern Seaboard (classes 1 and 2). This zone is
increasing threat from international competition, and character-ized by intensive productions and attracts
the impact of poverty in many rural areas (see plate a large proportion of agro-industrial investment. The
66 Income and consumption indicators). growing shortage of agricultural lands accompanied
by land speculation have led to a definite decrease
Only the most discriminating variables of the in the number of farms and agricultural workers. This
principal component analysis are shown in the leg- decrease is accompanied by processes that are more
end tables. The map of agricultural specializations marked than in the rest of the country: concentration
highlights groups of provinces that are homogeneous of land (especially in class 1), development of land
and affected in different ways by the modification of renting, conversion of land for non-agricultural use.
land use and the diversification of productions. In the Changes in landholding structures bring class 3
Chao Phraya delta, agriculture is in competition with nearer to this group: farms are large in size but agri-
other economic sectors for access to resources (class culture brings in lower incomes. Class 4, close to the
1). Irrigated rice cultivation predominates but is in national average for all the variables treated, covers
decline, in favor of crops for the metropolitan market a large part of the Center and the North.
(market gardening produce, tree crops). The effects
of urban growth can also be seen, to a lesser extent, The majority of provinces in the North-East,
in the surrounding provinces and in some provinces and a few in the north and the west, form class 5
on the Eastern Seaboard (class 2). The proximity of which is characterized by the increase in the number
export infrastructure and the size of the markets have of farms, the decrease in their size, and the modest
favored the development of new productions that are level of value added: non-agricultural income (local
highly integrated into agro-industry and are added to employ-ment or migration) is important in order to
the more traditional crops (rice and upland crops). support families in rural areas. The last three classes
emerge as particularly dynamic agricultural regions.
The provinces in the northern Central Plain The provinces on the eastern side of the peninsula
and the central mountain axis define class 3, close (Phatthalung excluded) and Nakhon Ratchasima
to the average, yet with an appreciable increase in the North-East form class 6 which can be distin-
in upland crops destined for agro-industry (animal guished by its high agricultural product per capita and
feed, oil mills). Diversification, also linked with the large contribution to the national agricultural product,
development of highly specialized breeding, can be linked with productions of greater value added. In
found in the forest provinces in the North (class 6). classes 7 and 8 the pressure on agricultural land
The valleys and the low altitude terraces in the North- is not so strong (land colonization still active in the
East make up the country’s other major rice-growing peninsula) and there is a high level of value added
region (class 4). The low profit to be gained from per capita (especially for Ranong the only province
rice cultivation and the varied physical environment in class 8).
have been instrumental in encouraging local diver-
sification (see also plate 61 Land use in the North-
East: Sakon Nakhon province). The other part of the
North-East (class 5) is dominated by upland crops:
cassava, sugar cane; with sugar cane predominating
extensively in the western provinces (class 7). The
peninsula and the south-east are characterized by
having only a small proportion of land given over to
rice cultivation and a marked specialization in peren-
nial tree crops (rubber trees, oil palms, fruit trees),
which is developing steadily (class 8). ATLAS of THAILAND
104
AGRICULTURAL SPECIALIZATION and SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES 39
Agricultural specialization
Factors Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Forest (%, 1995) - - = - = ++ ++ =
Land use
Agricultural land -- -- = + + = + +
(evolution 1978-1995)
Classes ++ = = ++ = = - ---
8 Agricultural Paddy fields (%, 1995)
land use Tree crops (%, 1995) - = -- -- -- - - +++
7
Rice - - + ++ - - = -
6 (evolution 1975-1996)
5 Sugar cane (%, 1996) - + + - + = +++ -
Crops
4 Cassava (%, 1996) - + = = ++ - = --
3
Soya / Mungbean (%, 1996) - - ++ - - ++ = -
2
1
Socio-economic features
Factors Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Agricultural households
(evolution 1970-1990) Percentage -- -- = = + = + +
Landholdings Size + - ++ - - - + ++
(evolution 1976-1996) Number -- - - = + = + ++
Land use Agricultural land -- -- + + + = ++ ++ Classes
(evolution 1978-1995) Unclassified land ++ ++ + + - = -- - 8
Agricultural Per capita - - - = - + + ++ 7
Gross Product Percentage 6
(AGP, 1996) in national AGP + - -- = - ++ = =
5
4
3
2
1
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Industrie
T
he industrialization that has taken place since are present in world markets and invest abroad.
the 1960s has produced major changes in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises nevertheless
economic structure and society of Thailand make up the major part of industrial enterprises,
which, until that time, had all the characteristics of extraction of natural resources included (plate 41
an agricultural country. Industry was in an embryonic Size of estab-lishments). The influence of the
form, based around the state, which controlled some capitalist elite has continued to grow, especially
emerging sectors, and the mainly merchant capitalists through their alliances with high ranking officials,
who were established in Bangkok in the middle of their ability to be organized (powerful business
the 19th century. associations) and to make demands. They also take
part in directing public policies through their presence
From 1958, state policy favored industrialization in the administration, on the executive committees
through import substitution and private investment of public bodies (including planning and investment
(national and foreign), and provided a stimulus boards) and by achieving political power (Parliament,
for entrepreneurial industrial activity. Industry’s Senate, Govern-ment). Recent movements towards
contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decentralization and democratization have provided
increased and, in particular, cooperation between the provincial entrepreneurial base, whose numbers
bankers and local industrialists established the have swelled with the economic growth of the last
economic basis for the expansion that was to take twenty years, with access to local executive bodies.
place over the next two decades. At the beginning of
the 1980s, with the country in full recession, industrial Since industrial development strategy is
strategy turned firmly towards exports, though without export-oriented and labor-intensive, factories are able
abandoning import substitution. The value of the to absorb a population of rural origin at a fairly rapid
industrial product (extractive and manufacturing pace, though the scale of this transition is tempered
production) increased steadily, though with wide some-what by the ability of the agricultural sector to
variations from one province to another (plate 40 retain its work force (see also plate 30 Agricultural
Industrial product), thus supplanting in the GDP the house-holds and product). Despite some areas of
value of the agricultural sector on whose dynamism progress, legal protection for salaried workers is
industrialization was based (see also chapter 4 limited, and social protection is still provided by the
Agriculture). From 1985, manufactured products were workers’ families; apart from a few more liberal periods,
diversified, with impetus from domestic demand and the unions have been weak, divided and gagged
the world market, and became the leading export by the authoritarian governments who politicized
sector, accounting today for over 70% of the value workers’ claims on the pretext that they threatened
of exports. The effects of the 1997 crisis and the internal security. Although state policies have actively
economic slowdown which then affected Thailand’s helped maintain the system of low salaries (which
major commercial partners have had uneven have tended to increase faster than productivity, thus
repercussions, according to the sector of activity and eroding one of Thailand’s comparative advantages),
the enterprises (fall in demand, rise in the cost of they have, on the other hand, done little to help train
imported products, financial burden) and have given the work force, which remains very poorly qualified,
rise to recovery rates that are just as variable. with a majority of employees having no secondary
education whatsoever (see also chapter 9 Social
The economic regime is based on a liberal imbalances and spatial organization).
approach which draws on a partnership between the
public and private sectors, combining their interests. Estimates of the numbers of industrial em-
Three types of enterprise coexist: public and military, ployees (approximately 4.5 million in 1996 or 15% of
transnational and private. Enterprises controlled the working population) are difficult to make as they
by the state are mainly in the service sector (see have several types of status and work in a multitude
also chapter 3 The state and the construction of the of small enterprises, though there is a concentration
territory) and are limited in the industrial sector (oil, in the center of the country (plate 42 Employment in
sugar processing, textiles, tobacco). Some private establishments). The source used here (and for the
enterprises, where the Sino-Thais predominate, 2nd plate in the chapter) from the Ministry of Labour
have seen large-scale development; they belong to and Social Welfare does not systematically ignore
powerful family-based groups who have an oligopoly small establishments whereas the industrial census
over the financial, commercial, real estate markets,
107
carried out by the National Statistical Office considers beginning of the 1980s, 30% of textile factories were
only enterprises with more than 10 employees. not registered, in order to escape the limitations
being placed on the capacity permitted, as a result
Public investment incentives managed by of overproduction. The available source at province
the Board of Investment (BOI) are aimed both at level and by industrial sector (Ministry of Industry)
Thai and foreign enterprises, and try to influence may reflect the threshold (7 employees) below which
decision-making relating to their localization (plate enterprises are not obliged to be registered; one may
43 Enterprises under the Board of Investment). also wonder whether enterprises that cease all activity
Criticism of the very complex nature of its procedures are systematically withdrawn from the database. It is
and admission criteria that has been leveled at the likely, however, that these statistical inadequacies are
BOI, and measures taken to liberalize customs in evenly spread throughout the provinces and do not
the context of the general policy have limited the therefore distort any comparison.
importance of the incentive package and encouraged
foreign firms to operate outside the scope of the BOI Agricultural and agro-food industries remain
programs. Although these investments have been the main sector of industrial employment (plate
very important for the expansion of the industrial 44 Agro-based industries); the incorporation of
structure and for exports, it is the mobilization of agricultural products into industrial transformation,
national capital that has been the determining factor and Thailand’s export strength, make this a key
in launching growth. Thailand has greatly benefited sector. The expansion of the textiles and wearing
from the strategy of relocating enterprises from Japan apparel sector has been considerable, but it is cyclical
and the new industrialized Asian economies (see also (plate 45 Textiles and wearing apparel); this sector
chapter 1 Situations of the territory): between 1986 which benefited so much from foreign investments at
and 1996, while quadrupling in number compared the beginning of the 1970s, climbed to first place in
with the previous 25 years, wholly foreign-owned exports before being toppled by electrical machinery
plants represented one quarter of BOI promoted and electronics. The dynamism of these last, subject
enterprises in operation. Joint-ventures with local as they are to the hazards of the world market,
entrepreneurs, however, have not produced the cannot detract from that of non-electrical machinery
hoped for results in terms of technological autonomy (plate 46 Electrical and non-electrical machinery).
and innovation which are indispensable if Thai The activities of the chemical and plastics sectors,
competitivity is to be maintained. The orientations developed from the oil and gas transformation
of the BOI are determi-ned today, more than ever, industries, illustrate the diversification of the industrial
by external constraints: bilateral and multilateral structure with impetus from Thai firms (plate 47
agreements on trade and investment, competition to Chemistry and plastic). The last sector-based
attract foreign investment. plate considers sectors with differing dynamisms and
perspectives (plate 48 Other industries). Industrial
The scale of the need for labor force in the development varies throughout the country as can
industrial sector (and the social repercussions that be seen from the differing intensities of employment
this represents for the country) justifies the choice specialization that have been created (plate 49
of this variable to assess the spatial distribution of Industrial specialization).
the sectors. At province level, the divergence of
the different sources for the evaluation of industrial
employment (from one source to another and when
comparing them with estimates at national level,
from the National Statistical Office or the Ministry
of Labour and Social Welfare) is due to the fact that
small, and even micro-establishments (especially
textiles and wearing apparel, agricultural and agro-
food industries) have not been taken into account
uniformly, and also to the use of a different method
to record seasonal and temporary employment, and
home-based workers. Other factors can also handicap
the perspective on changes: it is estimated that at the ATLAS of THAILAND
108
CONTRASTS in the INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
In most villages, rice mills employing 1 to 2 people often represent the sole source of "industrial" activity, where the
owners are also middlemen. The first rice mills were established at the beginning of the 19th century and the largest
have diversified their products (different rice-based preparations).
ATLAS of THAILAND
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
The Suranaree industrial park, one of only a few in the peripheral regions, contains production units of this type,
employing a large work force, mostly young females. Completed in 1989, it is under private management and has had
the advantage of major support from local politicians, including the then Prime Minister. It is able to offer entrepreneurs
a variety of infrastructures and facilities.
©
5 - Industry
T
he proportion of the industrial product in the contrast observed expresses much higher densities
Gross Domestic Product rose from less than of activity in the center and a diversification in the
25% in 1980 to almost 40% in 2000 thanks to industrial fabric, with incorporation of those sectors
an annual growth of 8%. This growth was greatest said to be modern, which generate a higher value
between 1986 and 1993 (almost 14%), reflecting an added (see plate 49 Industrial specialization). This
acceleration in production levels and in value added. diversification has spread to a few provinces in the
The contribution of extracted natural resources peripheral regions while the others specialize in the
(mining and quarrying) increased (especially natural transformation of primary resources of which the
gas). In manufacturing, the relative value of agro- value added varies according to the products.
industrial products decreased despite the regular
increase in their value added that was possible Provincial differences from the national growth
through a diversification of productions (see plate rate of the industrial product (11% from 1989 to 1996)
44 Agro-based industries). Textiles and wearing reflect the diffusion of growth to provinces both close
apparel, the sector with the highest value added at the to and distant from the capital, based on the industrial
beginning of the 1980s, gave way ten years later to poles already established: Bangkok-Samut Prakan
electrical and electronic goods, and to non-electrical registers a level lower than the national average,
machinery and transport equipment: their respective whereas the Eastern Seaboard has a lower rate of
contribution amounted in 1986 to 25% and 13%, and growth than in previous years but still remains either
in 1996 to 15% and 28%. At slightly more than 1,000 higher than average (Chon Buri, Rayong) or the same
billion Baht in 1996, the industrial product registered (Chachoengsao). On the western and northern sides
a 9% decrease in 1998. After this fall-off, growth of the capital, Ayutthaya stands out, with a particularly
resumed, but at a slower rate (2%). high rate of growth, mirroring Lamphun in the North. In
the North-East corridor growth tails off as one moves
The values produced and their contribution to away from Bangkok and the Eastern Sea-board. In
the Gross Provincial Product highlight the industrial the South the western provinces have rates that are
importance of a center encompassed by Rayong, clearly less than average, contrary to the eastern part,
Saraburi, Ayutthaya and Ratchaburi: 12 provinces where the panorama is more highly contrasted.
created almost 85% of the national industrial product.
The contribution of Bangkok remained large despite The distribution per capita of the industrial
a decline after 1989 (see plate 58 Urban and product highlights different levels within the central
industrial development around Bangkok). There is a industrial area: nevertheless, all the provinces, except
notable dissymmetry between, on the one hand, the Ratchaburi, are clearly above the national average.
eastern and northern provinces and on the other, The western and eastern sides as well as Nakhon
the western provinces where, apart from Samut Ratchasima and Khon Kaen in the North-East corridor
Sakhon, products and the contributions of industry to confirm the dynamics of diffusion already observed.
the provincial product are less. Industry is the chief In the North, the ratio in Chiang Mai and Lampang
source of value added in all these provinces, with the is considerably less than in Lamphun. In the South,
exception of Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Ratchaburi. Phuket stands out with a ratio markedly higher than
This concen-tration of value produced underlines, the regional average.
in contrast, the weak state of the peripheral regions,
with the exception of some poles which stand out as The 1997 crisis, which affected the industrial
a result of the importance of value added (Nakhon sector, did not produce any particular changes in the
Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, and for oil spatial distribution of industrial value added. Trends
and mineral resources Lampang and Kamphaeng were confirmed: the decline of Bangkok, growth
Phet), and by the place of the industrial sector in the in the provinces bordering the center (Ang Thong,
provincial product (Lamphun). Suphanburi to the north-west, Prachinburi to the
north-east) or in the peripheral regions (Lamphun,
The distribution of industrial product is a result Khon Kaen). In the Eastern Seaboard, Rayong is
of differing levels of production, of a combination of particularly dynamic.
industrial transformation value added and, as far as
the industrial product share is concerned, of the value
added from the tertiary and agricultural sectors. The ATLAS of THAILAND
110
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT 40
35
30
25
20
55.3%
15 17
4
[ 35 - 50 ]
5 [ 24 - 35 [
(provisional)
[ 12 - 24 [
[ 2 - 12 [
0
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 Industrial product in million Baht
(new series, constant 1988 prices) (constant 1988 prices)
366,300
30,000
33% 66.2%
12.3
9.6
2.7 6.8
D
espite an increase in the average size of was responding to the metropolitan market, which
establishments since the beginning of the at that time was more or less exclusive in Thailand,
1980s, more than 90% of the country’s and adopting entrepreneurial dynamics that were
industrial base consists of enterprises with less firmly based in the metropolitan region. At the end
than 100 employees, with a predominance of micro- of the 1970s, the increase in land prices and the
establishments of 1 to 9 employees. These small traffic congestion in the Bangkok-Samut Prakan pole
and medium industrial enterprises, a category unani- were the key reasons behind the spatial diffusion of
mously defined twenty years ago according to the large establishments out into the four neighboring
employment criterion (fewer than 200 employees), provin-ces. Although the five provinces adjacent to
have long been penalized by banking policies and the capital, with which they make up the Bangkok
investment incentives, and were also severely Metropolitan Region (BMR), contain only 10% of all
affected in their finances and export capacity by the establishments with fewer than 100 employees, their
1997 crisis, but some of them have recently received share in the national industrial fabric rises to 36% of
considerable government attention. Recognition of establishments with 100 to 499 employees and 40%
their importance in the real economy (half of the total of the larger establishments.
value of manufactured goods and exports) and their
role in the country’s industrial structure has led to the Fewer and fewer establishments of 100 to 499
drafting of financial and tax measures to encourage employees are to be found as we move north beyond
more technologically effective subcontracting in export Ayutthaya and Saraburi provinces and there are also
sectors which, although vigorous, depend on imports fewer in the western provinces of Kanchanaburi and
of intermediate products and services (processed Ratchaburi than in the Eastern Seaboard and certain
foods, textile goods, electrical and electronic parts, poles in the peripheral regions. The spatial organi-
automobile parts). The rapid industrial expansion zation of these poles varies according to the area: in
is indeed characterized by a wide diversification of the South there are, in particular, the eastern coastal
productions yet with no real intensification or strong provinces from Surat Thani to Songkhla, in the North
development of intra- and inter-sectoral linkages the Chiang Mai-Lamphun-Lampang triangle and in
which could have led to a greater growth in value the North-East the north-south corridor. At the end
added. of this corridor Nakhon Ratchasima links up with the
dynamics of the Bangkok metropolitan region and the
The dominance of Bangkok, which by itself Eastern Seaboard, thanks to its proximity to Bangkok
accounts for about 50% of all establishments, and the Eastern Seaboard provinces, with which it
declines as the size of the establishments increases has good road links (see plate 24 Transportation
(48% of establishments with fewer than 100 networks). This structure is echoed in the distribution
employees, under 30% of those with between 100 of establishments of 500 employees and over, whereas
and 499, 25% of those with 500 to 1000 and over). in the Center the east/west imbalance, matching that
The city’s industrial supremacy dates back to the of the distribution of the industrial parks (see plate
19th century when the growth in international trade 26 Investment promotion incentives), favors not only
led to the development of transformation activities Bangkok but also the provinces of Samut Prakan,
(processing of agricultural products, saw mills). The Pathum Thani and in the Eastern Seaboard Chon
growth in exports, the expansion in infrastructure and Buri, with some regional poles also emerging. The
advances in mechanization (production, shipbuilding) scattering of large establishments, even though they
gave local capital based in Bangkok the opportunity are few in number, in the more distant provinces, is
to expand: from controlling certain specific activities one of the consequences of the investment promotion
(rice milling), it turned from the end of the 19th century incentives launched by the Board of Investment and
to the consumption sector and import substitution. of the search by industrialists for labor pools; it also
testifies to the dynamism of entrepreneurs in the
After the introduction of incentive policies provinces (see plate 43 Enterprises under the Board
for the private sector and following the boost to of Investment).
industrialization through the import substitution policy
introduced in 1958, investment in Bangkok continued
and also extended out to the immediate periphery. In
this it mirrored public investment in infrastructure, and ATLAS of THAILAND
112
SIZE of ESTABLISHMENTS 41
Establishments
1,645
269
Distribution of establishments 119
by size
1
number of employees
1,000 & over
100 to 299
50 to 99
20 to 49
10 to 19
1 to 9
Establishments
41,552
Establishments
3,274 1,645
946
64
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
269
119
1
B
angkok and its five adjacent provinces share establishment (size, production sector, public or
pre-eminence in industrial employment (65% private sector), also qualifications and status within
of national employment). Their respective the establishment (monthly worker, daily worker,
share, however, is in inverse proportion to the size contract employee, seasonal worker, employed on
of establishments, with the capital’s main share site or at home). On top of the basic wage, which is
being primarily in the fewer than 100 employees barely over the legal minimum, there may be extras
category (a little over 40% of industrial employment such as social advantages (transport, housing) or
in the province). Because there is an imbalance cash incentives (overtime, year-end bonuses) which
between the two areas in the internal composition before the crisis could represent more than 30% of
of this category, it still represents more than 20% of the pay packet and still leave the entrepreneur the
industrial employment created in the five adjacent flexibility to be able to make adjustments according
provinces, mainly in establishments of between 50 to the business profits.
and 99 employees. Establishments of this size also
play an important role in the Eastern Seaboard and This fragmentation in the world of industrial
in certain provinces in the peripheral regions (Nakhon workers, combined with its youth, low level of educa-
Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, Songkhla). In more than tion and mainly rural origins are among the factors
half the provinces, establishments of fewer than 100 that are constantly identified as obstacles to the
employees have a decisive role and provide at least emergence of a more intensely felt class conscious-
60% of industrial employment. ness and a more powerful trade unionism. The
creation of in-house unions was largely encouraged
Establishments of 100 to 499 employees are by the state which, from 1975 onwards, established
just as important at national level for job creation as its employment policies on tripartite institutions
those with fewer than 100 employees (a little over (representatives of the state, employers and
30% of total employment). Spatial distribution is employ-ees) such as the Wage Committee, given
mirrored in the size of establishments: an east/west responsi-bility in 1972 for adjustments to the recently
imbalance from Bangkok, the triangle in the North, introduced minimum legal wage, or the Labour Court,
imbalance between the two peninsula coasts, the established in 1980 to resolve disputes in enterprises.
central corridor in the North-East. Ayutthaya and With the creation in 1993 of the Ministry of Labour and
Saraburi benefit from the negative factors which Social Welfare, the state asserted its mediatory role
affect the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) in capital-work relations, while the banning of trade
(cost of land, traffic congestion and difficulty of unions in state enterprises in 1991 to pave the way
land transport, pressure on the infrastructure and to privatization had considerably weakened the orga-
work force), and together they have 6% of national nized workers’ movement, even though the demands
industrial employment created by establishments of public sector employees were very different from
of more than 100 employees, with establishments those of employees in the private sector.
of over 500 employees predominating. Despite the
expansion of this type of establishment in these two It is estimated that 5-6% of private sector
provinces, and also in Chon Buri and Chachoengsao workers belong to a trade union. Until the 1997 crisis,
or in certain provinces in the peripheral regions, 65% discontent over working conditions or pay could be
of employment generated by these larger establish- expressed in other ways than direct confrontation:
ments is concentrated in the BMR. the flexibility of the employment market, as a result of
the high demand for workers in all economic sectors
Labor force management strategies range and non-agricultural establishments, enabled the
through a wide spectrum, from paternalism to a dissatisfied worker to withdraw from the factory rather
style which resembles that of western capitalistic than put in his claim. The reduction, or even the loss,
enterprises. As they are under constraints both to of monetary incentives as early as 1997 and the lay-
keep wages as low as possible and to fulfill their labor offs that followed have demonstrated how little power
requirement, entrepreneurs have been obliged to there is in collective action.
multiply both the types of employment available and
the methods of payment. The work force therefore
contains a complex multitude of internal divisions
which vary according to numerous criteria, such ATLAS of THAILAND
114
EMPLOYMENT in ESTABLISHMENTS 42
Distribution of employment
according to the size of establishments
number of employees
1,000 & over
100 to 299
50 to 99
20 to 49
10 to 19
1 to 9
Employees
500,300
339,700
200,800
71,700
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
10,200
810
< 810
P
ublic investment incentives have been adjusted These dynamics reflect an industrial strategy that is
since the 1970s according to a division of the turned towards exports and the search for pools of
country into several zones (see plate 26 cheap labor. Nevertheless, the general configuration
Investment promotion incentives). 85% of employ- mirrors that of the spatial distribution of the units,
ment created by promoted enterprises are in industry. demonstrating their propensity to settle close to the
The opening up of the Board of Investment (BOI) regional poles (availability of infrastructure, ability of
in the 1980s to services and real estate was felt entrepreneurs to invest or to enter partnership with
especial-ly in Bangkok and the South. foreign companies).
116
ENTERPRISES under the BOARD of INVESTMENT 43
59%
28.8% 16.4
16.7
4
10.6
Multiplying coefficient
Average employment per unit
of number of units
= or > 10 [ 390 - 504 ]
[ 5.5 - 10 [ [ 278 - 325 ]
[ 4 - 5.5 [ [ 201 - 260 ]
[1-4[ [ 128 - 195 ]
created after 1986 [ 27 - 117 ]
Number of units Employment
863 187,618
87
10 16,928
Zentrum
Periphery
Bangkok
West
East
38.4%
Samut
Prakan
15 2.7
16,702
355
A
gro-based industries remain the mainstay of handicrafts in the North (except for Chiang Mai,
industrialization in Thailand, with 30% of Lampang and Songkhla where furniture manufacture
employment in the industrial sector overall, has developed). A reduction in national resources
and rates of 60% and over in half the provinces. In has forced industries to resort more to imports
the South, the percentage is homogeneous, with and to use local species which are not considered
70% of industrial employment. In the North and noble (see plates Forest and Inter-regional trade).
North-East (50% and 40%) percentages are still high, The distribution of units in the leather and tobacco/
and contrast with those in the Chiang Mai-Lamphun- natural rubber sectors is in clearly defined areas.
Lampang triangle, the Nakhon Sawan-Sukhothai axis Leather production is concentrated in the center
or the Nakhon Ratchasima-Udon Thani corridor. With and the eastern provinces: in these provinces,
about one third of agro-based industry employment, and also Ayutthaya (important collection center for
rates in Bangkok and the neighboring provinces hides), the most polluting operations of the process
are amongst the lowest: the east/west imbalance are now located, rejected by Bangkok and Samut
continues with a proportion of less than 50% in the Prakan. 60% of employment in the tobacco sector
Eastern Seaboard provinces (Chachoengsao, Chon is concentrated in the North and more than 30% is
Buri, Rayong) whereas in the west levels reach 60% in Bangkok, in the state-owned company. The South
and over, with the exception only of Ratchaburi. contains almost 50% of employment in natural rubber
processing, the Bangkok Metropolitan Region with
The wide diversification in food production Ayutthaya has about 40% and the eastern provinces
which began in the 1970s reduced the role of rice more than 10%. The units in the South which have
mills in employment. It has thus benefited from the succeeded in diversifying rubber-based products
expansion in the food packaging sector (fruits and are, on average, larger than those in Rayong and
vegetables, produce from the sea and aquaculture, Chon Buri.
meat from poultry and pig farming), government
support policies (sugar), entrepreneurial initiatives By classifying employment into three sectors,
(cassava) and an increase in domestic consumption areas that form specific groups or are limited to a
(beverages) and in demand for intermediate products single province (North-East) can be defined. Almost
(animal feed). This development led to the growth half the provinces belong to class 1 where the food
of transnational firms which at first carried out the sector predominates, with the importance of rice
simple processing of agricultural produce (rice, mills varying considerably. Class 2 (predominantly
cassava), but then diversified their activities into wood) concerns a scattering of provinces, except
agro-based industries and have now invested in in the South and the extreme East. Class 3, where
other sectors. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region tobacco/rubber is on the increase, forms larger areas,
contains a very diversified pattern of medium-sized notably the South, while class 4, where these sectors
units, the eastern provinces too, with a major canning predominate, covers three isolated provinces. The
industry and sugar and cassava processing (Chon importance of wood in class 5 brings the North to
Buri, Chachoengsao). The North-East is still marked the fore.
by the processing of cassava, as are Kanchanaburi
and Ratchaburi by the transformation of sugar cane Through diversification at the production
(see Chapter Agriculture) and the Chiang Mai- stage, exports have now become products of higher
Lamphun-Lampang triangle by the canning of fruit added value: the food sector with its key products
and vegetables. The South, with the Songkhla pole, (fruit and vegetable packaging, frozen shrimps and
specializes in the packaging of fruit, produce from broilers), wood and leather, rubber products that
the sea and from aquaculture. are more sophisticated than before, and a decline
in primary exports (see Chapter Agriculture). The
Employment in the wood and wood by- strength of the country’s agro-based industries and
products sector differentiates groups of provinces the corresponding exports (25-30% of manufactured
according to the type of activity that predominates: goods value), combined with the dynamism of its
paper manufacture from Samut Prakan to Ayutthaya firms have resulted in Thailand becoming a “Newly
in large factories, furniture production in Bangkok and Agro-Industrializing Economy” (NAIE).
the Eastern Seaboard provinces, timber workshops
in the South, or smaller units for the production of ATLAS of THAILAND
118
AGRO-BASED INDUSTRIES 44
Employment Employment
in agro-based industries (1996) in food & wood sectors (1996)
48.7%
Employment
5.3 13.2 690
5,600
22,934
Percentage in total industrial 47,513
employment
[ 60 - 84 ]
[ 50 - 60 [
[ 36 - 50 [
[ 30 - 66 ] [ 21 - 29 ]
10,958 [ 5 - 27 ] [ 8 - 19 ]
689
0%
0
10
ge
Employment
ra
W
ve
209
oo
be
1,180
d
d&
4,764
14,495
o
Fo
10
0%
0
100% 0
Others
Classes Food & beverage Wood Others
(rice mills included)
5 9 - 47% 51 - 74% 0 - 41%
Average employment per unit
4 16 - 34% 19 - 48% 47 - 64%
Leather Tobacco & rubber
[ 680 - 1,440 ] [ 227 - 343 ] 3 36 - 56% 2 - 42% 19 - 44%
[ 5 - 80 ] [ 5 - 79 ]
T
he development of the wearing apparel sector (subcontracting, homework). Employment distribution
between 1986 and 1996 has been much more shows the predominance of Bangkok (almost 70%)
marked than textiles, as can be seen by the in small units, a much more restrained situation in
multiplying coefficients of the number of units (8.8 the North-East, while the North is distinguished by
and 3.8) and of employment (4.6 and 2.2). Precise its larger size units.
analysis of this evolution is nevertheless hampered as
there are specific statistical difficulties for this sector The heterogeneity of the industrial structure
(home-based workers, unregistered small workshops, is considerable: it can be seen in the size of the
sensitive period during the 1980s). enter-prises, the quality of the products, labor force
manage-ment methods and also access to markets.
The increase in the number of textile units The most capital-intensive are the spinning mills
(spinning, weaving) highlights the provinces of Chon working synthetic fibers, in partnership with firms
Buri and Chachoengsao and some regional poles from Japan and Hong Kong. At the other extreme,
(Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai). The net creation the garment factories have a low investment/worker
of units in thirty or so provinces has had a minimal ratio and use mainly simple technology: these
effect on employment, with the exception of Prachin factories can range in size from 10 sewing machines
Buri. The share of Bangkok, overwhelming in terms of or less to several thousand workstations. Because
number of units (more than 40%), is more modest in of the erosion of competitivity on the world market,
terms of employment (one quarter), barely more than contractual employment has been developed to
in Samut Prakan, notably because the enter-prises contain the costs of the labor force (homework),
are smaller in size. In the distribution of employ-ment, or to increase producti-vity (piecework). Outdated
apart from the mass of the Bangkok Metro-politan technology and the medio-cre quality of goods
Region (BMR), there is a clearly distinguishable would appear to be factors that will limit growth in
North-East corridor with poles that have been able this sector, even though improve-ments have been
to develop new market segments (synthetic fibers, made in some companies to meet the requirements
fishing nets) while still relying on traditional products of foreign buyers.
(silk). In other peripheral provinces there still exist
large units associated with a traditional raw material Exports have increased greatly since 1985.
(cotton in Phitsanulok and Nong Bua Lam Phu) Garments have been the segment leader since
or with downstream activities (packaging for the 1975, with more than half of production being sent
cement works at Saraburi). In the South the number abroad (not counting the non-recorded items that
of units is minimal, and this region does not appear pass across into bordering countries): since 1994
as registered employment is under 356 employees they have achieved on average 60% of the export
per province. value for this sector. Although fairly severely affected
in 1996 and 1997, exports rallied with the devaluation
With the exception of the South, the evolution of the Baht, but their share in the total exported
in the number of units producing wearing apparel manufactured goods is decreasing. For garments,
has meant net creation in many provinces, a very the United States and the European Union make
large increase in Chon Buri and Nakhon Pathom up the most important markets in the context of the
and it has strengthened traditional poles of activity Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA), despite the efforts
(Bangkok-Samut Prakan, Chiang Mai). However, it made by exporters to win markets in countries outside
is possible that the registration between 1986 and the quota in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
1996 of units already in production beforehand is The sector is faced with the prospect of increased
in part responsible for this dynamism. It is also due liberalization of world exchanges. The dismantling
to the setting up in regional capitals or peripheral of the MFA, the establishment of the AFTA (Asean
provinces of units that have been created or Free Trade Area), the decrease in the country’s tariff
established from partial or full relocation from the protection are all factors which tend to make it more
Center: the key elements in this relocation are the
search for a work force supposed to be abundant
and covered by a lower legal minimum wage (see
plate 26 Investment promotion incentives), and the
possibility of developing flexible working methods ATLAS of THAILAND
120
TEXTILES and WEARING APPAREL 45
Textiles and wearing apparel units in 1996 Employment in textiles sector (1996)
and evolution (1986-1996)
50%
14.3
3.6
[ 5 - 10 ] [ 290 - 408 ]
[ 2 - 64 ]
Number of units
Textiles
Wearing apparel
Employment
2,761
77,687
548 18,276
84
10 356
< 10 units
38%
18
Others
6 Others Japan
(Eastern Europe)
Poland Hong Kong
Others 243.3 Others (North-East Asia)
(European Union) 109.4 437.4 South-East Asia
Italy
Spain 60.4
Netherlands
France United Arab
Average employment per unit
667.5 Emirates
387.3
[ 325 - 385 ]
United Kingdom Others
(Middle East)
[ 230 - 290 ] Germany
[ 176 - 210 ]
Panama
[ 88 - 138 ] Canada 1,242.3
[ 19 - 70 ]
USA
Employment
198,824
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
5,700
304
Sources : Bank of Thailand, 2000
Ministry of Industry, 1997
NSO, 1997
C
5 - Industry
T
he growth in the electrical and non-electrical on the electronics sector. This in turn has given the
machinery sectors recorded between 1986 and impetus to other sectors, such as non-electrical
1996, more vigorous in the case of the former, machinery, also stimulated by the manufacture of
reveals a high multiplying coefficient for implantations agricultural and industrial equipment in response to
(4.5 and 3.4) but especially high for employment (5.4 domestic demand. The rapid expansion in electronics
and 4.5), which represents an increase in the average is closely linked with the presence of foreign compa-
employment per factory. nies. The sector was first developed in 1961 when
Japanese firms joined with Thai enterprises to
There has been a large increase in the supply the national market. In 1971-1972 it turned to
number of electrical machinery units in Chon Buri exports and diversified production with the arrival of
and Chachoengsao in the Eastern Seaboard. In subsidiaries of multinationals from the United States
the Center, only Pathum Thani has experienced a and Europe, from Japan and Taiwan (these were
similar rise, higher than that of Nakhon Pathom, large in scope and in number from 1986), and from
Samut Sakhon and Ayutthaya. Nakhon Ratchasima new industrialized Asian economics (Singapore, Hong
has benefited greatly from the spatial diffusion of this Kong). The foreign subsidiaries concentrate for the
sector, characterized by the net creation of small units most part on foreign markets, while the Thai enterpri-
in more than twenty provinces, though their impact ses are aiming at a well protected domestic market.
on employment totals is negligible (less than 200). In
1986, the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) and Progress has been made in producing parts
Ayutthaya accounted for almost 95% of employment and components with a higher value added: these
in this sector, but this has fallen to barely 70% in 1996 have been mainly due to Japanese subcontractors
with the emergence of Pathum Thani as the second based in Thailand in the wake of the multinationals.
important pole for employment. A third of all employ- Manufacture is dominated by assembling and is
ment is still concentrated in Bangkok in smaller units dependent on imported intermediate products:
whereas in Ayutthaya and to a lesser extent Pathum these occupy between 60 and 90% of production in
Thani the units tend to be larger. Larger units are also the electronics sector, thus reducing the true export
to be found in the provinces of Chon Buri, Chachoeng- values. Exports of electrical and electronic goods
sao and Nakhon Ratchasima, which group together a represented almost 30% in 1996, 40% in 2001 of
total of almost 25% of employment in this sector. the total value of exports of manufactured goods.
The flow of integrated circuits, the major production
The units involved in non-electrical machinery, item, reveals the intra-company exchanges that
on the contrary, covered the entire territory in 1996 characterize the electronics industry. The main
with a greater and less unbalanced spatial effect on sources of imported components are the United
employment. Apart from the provinces that had a very States (more than 50% in 1996) and Japan (about
small number of units in 1986, the largest increases 30%): the assembled integrated circuits are exported
have been in Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon and for the most part to the countries of Asia (about
Nakhon Ratchasima with a varying effect in terms of 60%) where Singapore emerges as the hub. Exports
total employment and of average employment per to multinationals in the United States represent
unit: Nakhon Ratchasima has shown a considerable about 30% while the Netherlands remains the main
increase in employment, bringing it almost to the level destination for goods into the European Union. The
of Pathum Thani and above Ayutthaya in terms of cyclical nature of the electronics industry was evident
establishments that are considerably smaller in size. during the 1997 crisis: the sharp deterioration in prices
The proportion of employment in the Bangkok-Samut in 1996 was a factor that severely weakened the
Prakan-Pathum Thani-Ayutthaya group has de- economy, and their rise in 1999 played an important
creased from over 70% to 55% of total employment. part in the recovery.
Although it has a similar volume of employment to
that created in Chon Buri and Chachoengsao, Prachin
Buri differs in that the average size of units is much
larger even than those in Samut Sakhon.
122
ELECTRICAL and NON-ELECTRICAL MACHINERY 46
[ 178 - 310 ]
[ 50 - 118 ]
[ 1 - 47 ]
Number of units
Electrical machinery
Non-electrical machinery Employment
2,782 62,155
301
77 3,947
10
221
< 10 units
Others Japan
(Eastern Europe) Taiwan
246.6
21.9 Hong Kong
European Union 242.7
317.1 141.3 South Korea
35.5
88.2%
527.8
6.6
2.6 648.5
Singapore
119.9
Average employment per unit USA 12.3
[ 141 - 158 ]
[ 88 - 108 ]
Malaysia
Others
(South-East Asia)
[ 50 - 60 ]
[ 3 - 20 ]
Employment
32,431
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
3,417
222
T
he plastic sector has seen the greatest Thani: not far from the petroleum transformation
multiplying coefficient both in terms of the industry and the port facilities in Bangkok, the amount
number of units and in employment (5.2 and of employment created in medium-sized factories is
4.3 respectively), ahead of the chemical industry (2.5 25% of the total for the sector, whereas in Bangkok
and 2.2). and Samut Prakan it still represents 50%.
The increase in the number of chemical units The petrochemical industry has relied heavily
has been greatest in Rayong and Chachoengsao on the government’s highly protectionist policies in
while the modest rate of growth in Bangkok and this sector and on investment promotion in order
Samut Prakan coupled with the large number of to reduce the country’s dependence (see plate 26
existing units confirms the importance of this sector Investment promotion incentives). The sector has
here since 1986. The semi-ring running from Pathum developed considerably since 1989 when the first
Thani to Samut Sakhon has consolidated its strong specialized industrial estate was completed in the
base. Almost 70% of employment in this sector is Eastern Seaboard, the result of a public/private
concen-trated in Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Pathum partnership (National Petrochemical Complex-NPC
Thani, and the units in these last two provinces are I). The sector was further strengthened in 1994
markedly larger than those in Bangkok. In a wider with a clear diversification of upstream products in
semi-ring, employment in Saraburi, Ayutthaya and NPC II, which was also established in Map Ta Phut
Ratchaburi results partly from the transfer from the (Rayong). Some of the largest Thai companies have
Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) of factories formed major conglomerates. The great names of
producing agricultural inputs, while it has been the petrochemical industry, from South Korea, Japan,
boosted in the Eastern Seaboard provinces by the United States and Germany, are operating in Thailand
petrochemical industry that has developed from the through licensing and engineering. Although severely
natural gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand. Rayong affected by a fall in demand during the 1997 crisis,
has most of the upstream factories, including exports began to take off again in 1999 mainly to
gas separation plants (see also plate 25 Energy China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
infrastructure and net-works), far outnumbering those
in Chon Buri. Since 1994 it has been compulsory for The development of the petrochemical industry
these units to set up in industrial estates, and this has in Thailand has had an important role in the growth
strengthened the position of Rayong, which now has a of the plastic industry, just as progress in the local
wider range of downstream transformation industries machinery industry affected the transformation of
and the greatest average number of employees per plastics. The demand from other industrial sectors
enterprise. The amount of employment created in (electronics) and from domestic consumption encou-
the peripheral provinces (Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, raged this sector which, though only just beginning
Songkhla) in small packaging units, mainly fertilizers to develop in the 1970s, has been considerably
to supply the rural areas, remains limited. moder-nized since the 1980s. Production, however,
is still not sufficient to supply the demands of
The plastic sector has experienced the greatest downstream industries and there are major imports
spatial expansion. In 1996 it was present in all the of some intermediate products. Some of the largest
provinces due to the creation of micro-units using Thai companies in the petrochemical sector are also
simple technology and a modest amount of investment, major plastics manufacturers: they produce a wide
with varying effects in terms of job creation. Whereas variety of products (toys, household goods, filaments)
Chiang Mai has a very high multiplying coefficient, in generating a stream of exports, 70% of which are
Nakhon Ratchasima, where many enterprises have destined for the Asian market. After a collapse in
relocated from the center, there has been a large 1996, the value of exports returned to its pre-crisis
increase in employment in much bigger factories. In level by 1998.
the provinces, where the creation of enterprises has
been greatest, Chachoengsao, thanks to its proximity
to the oil and gas industries in Chon Buri, has received
more enterprises than Rayong and of similar size.
There has also been a large increase in the number
of units in these last two Eastern Seaboard provinces ATLAS of THAILAND
124
CHEMISTRY and PLASTIC 47
Chemistry and plastic units in 1996 Employment in the chemical sector (1996)
and evolution (1986-1996)
[ 6-8] 10.5
5.3
[ 2.8 - 6 [ Average employment per unit
[ 1 - 2.8 [ [ 83 - 95 ]
[ 52 - 63 ]
created after 1986
[ 32 - 45 ]
[ 15 - 28 ]
Number of units [ 2 - 12 ]
Chemistry
Plastic
2,353 Employment
25,087
567
2,416
75
10 160
< 10 units
Others
Hong Kong
European Union
77
169
469.5
Japan
USA
65%
84.9
18.5 China
Africa
17.6 38.7 Taiwan
4
Middle East 38.1 267.8
Average employment per unit 85.6 Laos
Australia Myanmar
[ 119 - 129 ]
Sri Lanka Vietnam
[ 71 - 93 ] Bangladesh
India Pakistan Others
[ 35 - 53 ] (South-East Asia)
[ 16 - 32 ]
[ 2 - 14 ]
Employment
55,903
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
4,480
160
Sources : Bank of Thailand, 2000
Ministry of Industry, 1997
NSO, 1997
C
5 - Industry
T
wo intra-sector segments determine employ- The geographical distribution of employment
ment distribution in the metal sector. Manufac- and the average size of firms supplying the transport
turing of metal products has been established equipment sector (excluding repair workshops)
in micro-units in all the provinces and regional poles reveal two clearly contrasting groups of provinces.
can be clearly distinguished (Chiang Mai, Nakhon The first covers over three-quarters of the provinces,
Ratchasima, Songkhla) where units are larger. The with small-sized units creating little employment and
processing of basic materials is carried out in a few producing generally in a rather unsophisticated way
provinces, with the recycling of metals (Nakhon (boats in the South, rural utility vehicles in the North
Ratchasima, Khon Kaen) or the treating of local metal and North-East): in a few provinces, slightly larger
resources generally realized in small or medium-sized units can be seen to supply a mainly local demand (in
units: tin (especially Songkhla and Phangnga), lead the Central Plain, Khon Kaen). The group of provinces
(Kanchanaburi), iron (Prachuap Khiri Khan), zinc formed by the Bangkok metropolitan region (Ayutthaya
(Tak). These two segments are closely associated and Ratchaburi included), the Eastern Seaboard and
in the Eastern Seaboard and the metropolitan region Nakhon Ratchasima contains 90% of employment in
(except Bangkok and Nonthaburi) with the largest larger size firms, with a notable imbalance between
units, especially on the eastern side of the capital: the west and the east. In Samut Prakan and Ayutthaya
the proximity of the port facilities strengthens the the largest automobile assembly units can be found.
close links with the user industries.The steel industry The position of Rayong has been strengthened
expanded considerably at the beginning of the 1990s since 1996 with the establishment of European and
with the establishment of production for import American manufacturers which have tended to erode
substitution, a boom in the construction sector and in Japanese domination (90% of the market).
the demand for capital goods and consumer goods.
The industry is still reliant on imports of raw materials In the automotive sector, the production of parts
and scrap metal. As a result of the difficulties the and components and also vehicle assembly have
sector has experienced from 1998 (fall in domestic developed, heavily protected by favourable import
demand, decrease in the world market, dumping by duty regulations. The local content requirement, of
Eastern European countries) a few enterprises have which the share was reinforced constantly between
been able to strengthen their hold. 1972 and 2000, has resulted in a strengthening of links
between local and Japanese parts manufacturers:
About thirty non-metallic mineral resources are nevertheless, the latter play a key role through their
exploited throughout the country. Saraburi has parts suppliers and assembly plants. Thailand is the
the largest units with almost 15% of jobs concentrated leading ASEAN market and has become the main
here, ahead of Bangkok, in producing building production center for Japanese manufacturers, and
materials. This sector predominates in Bangkok and the regional hub for the production of parts and
in four neighboring provinces (cement, glassware) components. Between 1996 and 2000, while the
while Ratchaburi specialises in ceramics. In the North, domestic market was in total stagnation, the value
where a variety of mineral resources are to be found of exports increased almost 5-fold, thanks to vehicle
(excluding lignite), half the employment of the entire assembly and automobile component manufacture.
region for the sector is grouped in Lampang and Exports to Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar have
Tak, and in Chiang Mai the production of traditional been stable, while those to the European Union
handcrafted pottery has developed. The size of (Portugal), Australia, Japan or New Zealand have
the units in Nakhon Ratchasima (marble, granite) expanded considerably: some are integrated into
contrasts with the very basic saltworks in the rest of the supply networks for Japanese firms. The recent
the North-East. Production of non-metallic mineral liberalization measures and the proposed reduction
resources is constantly declining, with the exception in import tariffs in the context of the regional free-
of building materials where in some cases Thailand trade area (AFTA) represent important stakes for
appears to be competitive (largest cement producer this sector.
in South-East Asia). This sector has been affected
particularly badly since 1997 as a result of the drop in
demand from the domestic market and the shrinking
of the ASEAN market.
ATLAS of THAILAND
126
OTHER INDUSTRIES 48
[ 309 - 492 ]
[ 126 - 150 ] [ 44 - 57 ] 22
4
[ 67 - 106 ] [ 27 - 37 ]
[ 30 - 53 ] [ 9 - 19 ] Average employment per unit
[ 4 - 25 ] [ 2-8] [ 69 - 104 ]
[ 39 - 53 ]
[ 18 - 33 ]
Employment
[ 6 - 16 ]
Basic metal products
Fabricated products
53,341
Employment
21,225
14,779
1,868 3,420
200 200
< 200 < 200
Hong Kong
Others Japan
Others
(South-East Asia)
European Union 56 19 30
100.9
151.7
85.7%
282.9
7.8
2.6 56.7
Indo-China
USA 22.9
25 and
Average employment per unit
Myanmar
[ 135 - 139 ]
Brazil
[ 88 - 101 ] Australia
[ 30 - 62 ]
[ 2 - 23 ]
Employment
31,182
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
4,022
200
< 200
F
or the last two decades, the country’s industrial this covers only two outlying provinces. The degree
structure has become more diversified. The of specia-lization decreases slightly in type 7 which
movement has particularly affected the sectors brings together three provinces close to the capital
of electrical and non-electrical machinery (with the and where the exploitation and transformation of
rise of the electronics sector), plastic and transport non-metallic minerals predominate over the agro-food
equipment. The more traditional branches have and the wood sectors. Types 8 and 9 correspond to
also continued to develop (textiles and wearing less specialized structures where the same branches
apparel), diversify their products and increase the of industry are to the fore, but in a different order of
value added of their finished products (agro-food importance: wood, agro-food (contributing to the
and agricultural industries). In conjunction with this subdivision of the South) and agriculture (rubber
dynamic, the process of rapid growth has weakened in the South, tobacco in the North, leather in Ubon
the traditional centralizing role of Bangkok with firms Ratchathani).
and branches of activities more scattered throughout
some provinces. The imbalances in the scale and The other profiles correspond to structures that
sector orientation of this expansion have nevertheless are specialized to only a modest degree, with the
given rise to varying degrees of regional employment presence of several activities in proportions slightly
specializations. above the national averages. Type 5 combines
agro-food with the wood industry and non-metallic
The principal component analysis is based minerals and is concentrated in the North-East.
on the distribution in relative value of employment at In type 6, a dual pole of activities in Bangkok and
national level in 12 sectors. The classification of each along its western side associates a low level of
province in relation to this average gives 11 types specialization in the textile and wearing apparel sector
of employment specialization. Their geographical and in non-metallic mineral industries. The last two
layout gives rise to groups and is very rarely limited types combine a modest degree of specialization in
to two provinces (type 4): unlike the North, the durable goods (electrical machinery for type 10 and
South is relatively homogeneous, the North-East is non-electrical machinery for type 11) with several
organized around a few types of specialization, and other branches: other durable goods industries in
in the provinces bordering Bangkok east and west provinces in the Bangkok metropolitan region and
are clearly differentiated. The sector specialization the Eastern Seaboard; agro-food and agricultural
of a zone of employment reveals a differentiation in industries in a group of provinces in the north and
its structure especially since wide variations from the north-east of the capital.
average national profile can be seen in most types
(the most extreme in types 1, 4, 7 and 9). The model The spatial organization clearly shows a higher
that is closest to the average is type 6 (five provinces, degree of specialization as one moves further out from
of which Bangkok and its three neighboring provinces a center formed by the Bangkok metropolitan region
to the west). The degree of specialization of one and the Eastern Seaboard. However, the regularity of
zone of employment reveals its dependence on one the whole is disrupted: there is a semi-ring which has
or a few sectors: a high degree of specialization is only a modest degree of specialization from Ayutthaya
characterized by the over-representation of a single to Prachin Buri, groups that are only slightly more
branch (types 2, 3, 4 and 7) which may lead to specialized around Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen, and
situations close to mono-industry (type 1). the South is less specialized than other groups of
provinces in the peripheral regions. Here, the high
Type 1 covers peripheral provinces, three- degree of specialization is not exclusive: these groups
quarters of them in the North-East: 60% of employ- have been able to benefit to a certain extent from the
ment for this group is concentrated in the agro-food diversification of the industrial structure.
industries and this generates local intra-sector
specializations, according to the produce processed.
Although weaker in types 2 and 3, which form adjacent
geographical groups, this sector still predominates
(almost half of employment): the role of other primary
resources can be seen (minerals, wood).Their
impor-tance is clearly shown in type 4 with the over- ATLAS of THAILAND
represen-tation of wood, wood furniture and paper:
128
INDUSTRIAL SPECIALIZATION 49
Types
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
%
25
15
according to sectors
10
S10
S11
S12
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
Differences from the average profile
(in percentage)
40 40 Type 2 40 Type 3 40
Type 1 Type 4
30 30 30 30
20 20 20 20
10 10 10 10
0 0 0 0
S10
S11
S12
S10
S11
S12
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S10
S11
S12
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
40 40 S1 Non-metallic minerals 40
Type 5 Type 6 Type 7
S e c t o r s
S10
S11
S12
S10
S11
S12
S12 Others
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
40 40 40 40
Type 8 Type 9 Type 10 Type 11
30 30 30 30
20 20 20 20
10 10 10 10
0 0 0 0
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
S10
S11
S12
S10
S11
S12
S10
S11
S12
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
Tertiary sector
T
he growth of the tertiary sector, which consists been boosted since 1987 by the frenzy of major urban
of construction and services provided by property projects (offices and luxury apartm-ents).
enterprises or by the state, is part of the expan- The crisis laid bare a series of institutional failures
sion of non-agricultural activities and income that has due to the absence of any rules or regulations to
defined Thailand for forty years. safeguard the opening of the financial system or any
supervision of operators’ activities. Their numbers had
The period between 1980-1996 is characteri- grown as a result of the euphoria of the first half of the
zed by the stability of the tertiary sector share in the 1990s and there were many more financial institutions
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (about 55%) and, independent of banks. They were protected by the
within it, by the growing importance of the financial state, they were favored by the political and bureau-
sector (associated for statistical purposes at provincial cratic apparatus, and what were at first appreciated
level with insurance and real estate) and construction as elements of economic success, have since been
(plate 50 Product of tertiary sector). The doubling of denigrated in the name of corruption, inefficiency and
the contribution from the financial sector was the re- lack of transparency. The image of the central bank,
sult of efforts at the very beginning of the 1990s to en- the Bank of Thailand, suffered from accusations of
courage domestic savings and then to attract foreign imprudence in its management of liberalization and
capital through a few Sino-Thai financial conglome- of poor assessment of monetary risks. The country
rates, via a network of commercial banks developed called on the International Monetary Fund for assis-
from the 1950s and subsidiaries consolidated in the tance, and in the meantime measures were taken
1970s (finance and securities companies). It also illus- to help establishments restructure their debts and
trates the spreading throughout the country of other financial institutions recapitalize (creation notably of
financial institutions in both the public (agricultural the Asset Management Corporation): non-performing
cooperatives or savings cooperatives, Government loans were reduced from about 50% to 10% by the
savings banks) and private sectors (pawnshops). This beginning of 2002, total foreign debt decreased to
upward trend continued until 1996, under the effect of 50% of the GDP.
an accelerated liberaliza-tion of the financial system;
the aim behind this was to maintain economic growth, Apart from the importance of its contribution to
by supporting industriali-zation and developing in- the GDP, the tertiary sector provides 70% of non-agri-
frastructures, and the political ambition was to make cultural employment and 35% of employment overall.
Thailand a subregional financial hub, especially for The four sub-sectors, selected for their significance
the reconstruction of the countries of Indo-China. The in relation to employment as well as to the GDP, and
subsequent inflow of short-term capital from abroad defined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare,
(especially via the Bangkok Inter-national Banking do not lend themselves to any internal subdivisions
Facility, established in 1993 with provincial ramifi- and they do not all correspond to the categories used
cations) generated a high level of financial, stock to constitute the GDP (plate 51 Employment in four
market, and real estate speculation, and low-return tertiary sub-sectors). In order to give a better un-
investment projects: between 1993 and 1996, 30% derstanding of the phenomenon of urbanization, the
of loans were channeled into the real estate sector maps combine the masses of employment with em-
and construction, 25% into consumption, compared ployment structure according to size of establishment,
with 14% into the manufacturing sector and 2% into as defined by classes of employees. Since Bangkok
infrastructure. accounts for such a large proportion of employment
(60% on average), as a result of its exaggerated
When the speculation bubble burst in 1997, metropolitan functions, to represent such proportions
coinciding with a commercial deficit and the over- accurately would make it difficult to produce a legible
evaluation of the currency, the result was a financial map covering the other provinces. For this reason
crisis that revealed the scale of the foreign debt (more Bangkok is not shown here.
than 70% of the GDP, of which 40% was in the form
of short-term debts and more than a third from the In the period immediately after the crisis, the
private sector) and the large amount of bad loans. tertiary sector suffered a reduction in employment
Between 1996 and 2000, the value added dropped which it is difficult to evaluate due to the structural
65% for financial activities, 35% for insurance and real characteristics of the sector: importance of informal
estate, and 55% for the construction sector which had activities in some sub-sectors (trade, hotels and
131
restaurants, transport), scattering in a multitude of protected status of national parks (Ko Chang close
small enterprises, insertion in multi-activity. Some to Cambodia, see plate 8 Environment and natural
services (trade, street food vending) have absorbed resources).
workers laid off from industry or other tertiary sector
activities that were particularly affected by the crisis The demand from tourism has helped to open
(real estate, construction) and were put under res- up domestic air routes, and to extend international
tructuration (finance). Measures taken to recapitalize air routes for Bangkok and a few provincial airports.
and settle debts have led to the closure of about sixty The capital is the major hub for air travel in Asia,
finance companies and changes have occurred in the and the crossroads for domestic passenger journeys
control of banks and acquisition of holdings: the ban- whatever the mode of transport (plate 54 Passenger
king sector, despite greater participation by foreign traffic). However, the very wide variety of modes of
banks, still remains a closed oligopolistic market. In transport can in no way disguise either the radial
the construction sector, although employment was configuration of the air, road and rail networks, or the
severely affected by the collapse of the real estate predominance of the use of road transport for pas-
sector and postponements of major infrastructure senger journeys and the carriage of goods (plate 55
projects, there are now signs of recovery thanks to Commodities traffic). Rail use is limited, however,
the upturn in the middle class residential market and by the structure of the rail network; coastal shipping
completion work on unfinished buildings. Major retail has brought activity to the ports on the Gulf of Thai-
distribution has asserted its position by the opening land and the canals serve mainly a few provinces in
of supermarkets, large stores and shopping malls the Central Plain: for all these modes of transport,
which are threatening the survival of small shops in Bangkok remains the focal point for the movement
urban centers: these have recently benefited from of goods and passengers. Inter-regional exchanges
government aid to organize their supplying systems. of goods (according to a regional division used by
The cash flow problems of national groups have led to several public bodies) confirm that production like
increased stake-sharing with groups from abroad. demand, both from industry and from consumers,
has undergone a spatial diffusion right out to the
Due to its importance in the GDP (6%) and in peripheral regions, through some poles (plate 56 In-
employment, leisure and business tourism is fortu- ter-regional trade). The nature of these movements
nate in being the focus of attention by the state, shows that they are not limited to traditional regional
which aims to make Thailand the heart of the Asian agricultural specializations.
tourist industry. In 2002, it appointed a new ministry
responsible for coordinating private and public opera- The development of the very heterogeneous
tors, and for creating policies to take into account the tertiary sector has led to very contrasting spatial
increased regional competition (Vietnam, Indonesia, configurations of activities and their value (plate 57
Malaysia) and the risks involved in the world tourist Tertiary sector facilities and activities). Alongside
market. The Tourism Authority of Thailand continues the aim of integrating some of the long marginalized
to focus on promotional campaigns for customers peripheral regions and facilitating economic growth,
abroad but which are also aimed at Thai nationals: the state has also had to cope with rapid urbaniza-
leisure tourism within Thailand is booming, with Thais tion: here too the appeals to the private sector have
travelling not only to the same destinations as the resulted in marked spatial differentiations in the
international tourists, but also to other preferred des- provision of facilities. Some variables, processed
tinations (plate 52 Hotel trade). Tour operators and analytically in chapter 3 The state and the construc-
public authorities are keen to develop the country’s tion of the territory, are incorporated into the principal
tourist image and to attract an international clientele component analysis.
with a wide variety of aspirations and tastes, so they
are diversifying available attractions and opening up
new destinations to help spread tourism throughout
the entire country (plate 53 Main tourist destina-
tions). In order to do this and to increase the value
added from tourist activities by reaching out to a rich
clientele, operators have no qualms about building
luxury accommodation on sites that until now had the ATLAS of THAILAND
132
The RANGE of SERVICES to the POPULATION
From small villages to large cities, small traders can be found, either ambulant or with a stall, selling a wide variety of
products and providing a source of income for many people. Generally considered informal, these activities have
absorbed many laid off workers, victims of the 1997 crisis. In the larger cities, some urban authorities are trying to limit
their physical extension and frequency.
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Road transport predominates in the carriage of passengers and goods, thanks to the extensive road network. Public
buses or buses run by private enterprises are widely used for inter-provincial journeys by those who cannot afford their
own vehicle. The number of road accident victims is constantly on the increase.
6 - Tertiary sector
T
he contribution of the tertiary sector to the Gross erogeneous within the sector and which provincial
Domestic Product (GDP) remained stable over data does not always allow us to differentiate (espe-
the period 1980-1996, at around 56%, due to cially “services”). The principal component analysis
an annual growth of 8%. The finance-insurance-real enables us to define 8 classes of spatial structures
estate, transportation-communication, and con-struc- of the product. The first three classes are character-
tion sub-sectors recorded strong growth from 1989 ized by a concentration of activities sensitive to the
(between 11% and 16% per year) and increased their demographic and economic size of the urban market
contribution to the value added of the tertiary sector. and to the internationalization of exchanges, and by
Within the group made up of trade and transportation- a relative weight of commercial activities and public
communication, which was stable over this period, the administration which is lower than average. They
pre-eminence of trade was eroded (from over 70% of are limited to the central provinces and part of the
the product of the sub-sector in 1980 to 65% in 1996) Eastern Seaboard (except Chon Buri). At the heart
while transportation-communication consolidated its of this area, Bangkok and some of the neighboring
position. The contribution of “services” weakened be- or more distant provinces, are differentiated by the
tween 1990 and 1998: almost half of the value added relative importance in class 1 of transportation-com-
of this sub-sector derives from hotels-restaurants, munication, finance-insurance-real estate, energy
25% from education, 10% from health services. The and water supply. The contribution of this last sub-
sub-sector labeled “others” followed the same trend, sector increases in the surrounding area and this is
but with a specific internal modification: from 1995, accompanied by a relative weakening of the first two
the value added of energy and water supply reached in class 2. This trend continues in Pathum Thani and
the same level as that of public administration and Nonthaburi (class 3) which register a large contribu-
ownership of dwellings. From 1,700 billion Baht in tion of construction.
1996, the value of the tertiary sector fell to 1,500
billion in 2000 as a result of the severe recession (- Class 4 relates specifically to the provinces
20% per year after 1996) in the construction and the with a pole where urban functions are carried out
finance-insurance-real estate activities at the heart on a regional scale: the contribution to the provincial
of the 1997 crisis. product of transportation-communication enterprises,
financial and real estate institutions and especially
Bangkok, where almost 70% of the Gross “services” is of major importance. As well as the
Provincial Product (GPP) derives from the tertiary educational and health services that are considerable
sector, monopolizes almost 50% of the national everywhere, there is the probable importance of tour-
product of this sector. In the surrounding provinces ism-associated activities in Chiang Mai and Phuket,
(except Nonthaburi) and as far as Ayutthaya-Saraburi services to enterprises in Chon Buri. “Services” play
to the north and the Eastern Seaboard, the tertiary an even more decisive role in the three provinces that
sector contributes less than 40% to the provincial make up class 5. Classes 6 and 7 are similar as they
value added for products that represent at most 5% both include commercial activities. However, the prov-
of that in Bangkok (Samut Prakan and Chon Buri): inces in class 6, bordering the Bangkok metropolitan
here industry is the primary source of value added, region and in the peninsula, show a contribution of
just as in Lamphun in the North. Everywhere else, the public administration which is less than in the very
tertiary sector is the predominant contributor to the rural provinces of class 7. The relative weight of this
provincial product, with the exception of the western sub-sector is as great in class 8, but is less than that
provinces of the peninsula and Pattani. Higher values of construction: in these provinces in the North and
produced and lower contributions distinguish certain the North-East, activities linked with transportation-
regional poles (Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, communication, and finance-insurance-real estate
Songkhla) whereas in the North, where the tertiary are clearly less significant.
product is just as high, Chiang Mai registers a high
rate of participation in the GPP by the tertiary sector,
as a result of tourism-associated activities.
134
PRODUCT of TERTIARY SECTOR 50
50
40
30
27.6%
22.4
13.2
20
Share of the tertiary sector product in the
Gross Provincial Product in percentage
[ 70 - 79 ]
10 [ 61 - 70 [
[ 51 - 61 [
(provisional)
[ 39 - 51 [
[ 22 - 39 [
0
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 Tertiary sector product in million Baht
(new series, constant 1988 prices) (constant 1988 prices)
814,400
Trade, transportation Services
& communication
Total
Construction, finance Others
& real estate
28,500
2,500
Factors Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Wholesale & retail trade - -- --- -- -- + + =
Transportation & communication ++ + = + -- = = -
Finance, insurance & real estate ++ + = + -- = - -
Services = - - ++ +++ = = =
Classes
8 Public administration & defence -- -- --- - = = + +
7
Construction -- -- +++ = + - = ++
6
5 Electricity, gas & water supply ++ +++ + = - = = =
4 Ownership of dwellings - -- - -- = = + =
3
2
1
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
T
he classes of establishments have been coastal axis along the eastern side of the peninsula,
defined according to the profile of each sub- the North-East corridor, Chiang Mai and Lampang,
sector. Trade-restaurants-hotels (hereafter some provinces to the north and west of Bangkok
referred to as “trade”) and construction are charac- where residential housing for the middle classes rep-
terized by the presence of large establishments from resents a large market. The improvements in housing,
class 2 onwards, whereas for transport-storage-com- right down to village level, made possible as a result
munication (“transport”) and finance-insurance-real of increased incomes, generate employment in small
estate-services to enterprises (“finance”) there is a enterprises which, during the agricultural off season,
very clear contrast between the first three classes represents an income supplement.
and the last two. Bangkok has not been shown for
reasons of legibility. In employment terms the capital The “finance” sub-sector reveals a concentra-
represents 50% for “trade”, 40% for construction, 75% tion which appears relative for employment (30%
for “finance” and 65% for “transport”. without Bangkok) but which is high for the largest
enterprises in four provinces of the metropolitan
The distribution of employment throughout the region and Chon Buri. In the different segments of
country reveals different configurations. “Trade” and the sub-sector, the role of the capital (where half of
“transport” represent two extremes, with the former employ-ment is in establishments of more than 299
having a less marked inter-provincial imbalance due employ-ees) has not been compromised by the scat-
to its internal heterogeneity and to vigorous com- tering of banks throughout the entire country or by
mer-cial activity across the entire country. In classes the development of services to enterprises in some of
4 and 5 in the “trade” sub-sector we see provinces the adjoining provinces, the Eastern Seaboard or the
with urban centers on a regional scale (see plate 16 peripheral regions. With the exception of Phuket (im-
Munici-palities), cumulating commercial wholesale portance of tourism), these are characterized either
and retail functions, while some also have a large part by a larger proportion of small enterprises (Chiang
of their activity associated with tourism (Chiang Mai, Mai, Phitsanulok, Ayutthaya, Rayong, Songkhla in
Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Chon Buri, Phuket; see also class 4) or by small enterprises exclusively (Nakhon
plate 52 Hotel trade). Around Bangkok (class 4) and in Ratchasima, Nakhon Sawan and the western provin-
the largest towns in the peripheral regions, the evolu- ces of the capital in class 3).
tion that has occurred in retail distribution, from the
popularity of supermarkets and shopping malls, has The major imbalance between provinces in the
brought the structure of employment towards medi- “transport” sub-sector can be explained by the fact
um-sized and large establishments. Some provinces, that employment is concentrated in two provinces and
where the urban centers are somewhat dependent on by the proportion of the largest establishments (40%
primary produce markets, can be differentiated from without Bangkok in Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan
their neighbors as they include enterprises of over and up to 95% in enterprises of over 299 employees).
299 employees (Nakhon Sawan, Buri Ram, Surin, The capital’s share confirms its supremacy in domes-
Ranong, Trang). Everywhere else, small enter-prises tic and international communications. Certain poles
predominate (class 1) with amounts of employ-ment can be clearly seen, also belonging to class 5, but
that can exceed those of the larger urban centers ranking far behind for the amount of employment in
(Kanchanaburi, Roi Et, Sakon Nakhon). Petty retail the peripheral regions (Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Na-
trade, which can be carried out all year round at the kon Sawan, Songkhla), and the Bangkok metropolitan
place of residence, traditionally plays an important region (Pathum Thani, Saraburi), while others in the
role in the multi-activity of the rural population. same regions show a decrease in large enterprises
in favor of small ones (Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon
The masses and structure of employment in Pathom, Ayutthaya, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon
the construction sub-sector bring to the fore (class 5) in class 4). Everywhere else, small establishments
the Eastern Seaboard, some central provinces and predominate.
Phuket where large enterprises can be found in major
infrastructure or tourism projects. It is in this sub-sec-
tor that the capital has the smallest share (class 5).
Classes 3 and 4, which are opposite for the share of
small and medium-sized enterprises, highlight the ATLAS of THAILAND
136
EMPLOYMENT in FOUR TERTIARY SUB-SECTORS 51
0%
0%
0
0
10
10
10
50
0t
to
00
o4
0
29
<1
<5
99
9
10
10
0%
0%
0
0
100% 0 100% 0
> 299 > 499
Classes < 50 50 to 299 > 299 employees Classes < 100 100 to 499 > 499 employees
5 26 - 41% 24 - 39% 20 - 43% 5 22 - 52% 17 - 44% 29 - 48%
Employees
49,534
34,191
11,725
Finance, insurance, real estate 2,952
250
Transport, storage
and business services (1996) and communication (1996)
< 250
%
0
0%
0
0
10
10
10
50
0t
to
00
0
o2
<5
29
<1
99
9
10
10
0%
0%
0
100% 0 100% 0
> 299 > 299
Classes < 50 50 to 299 > 299 employees Classes < 100 100 to 299 > 299 employees
5 32 - 43% 33 - 57% 2 - 30% 5 3 - 49% 4 - 33% 38 - 95%
1 100% 0% 0% 1 100% 0% 0%
S
ince the 1970s, tourism, whether for business, infrastructure and services. Today, tourism involves
conferences or pleasure, has played a major almost the entire country, even the North-East, which
role in Thailand’s economic growth (see also until now had been somewhat left behind; coverage
plate 2 Foreign and Thai travelers), with international varies in the degree and type of facility provided, of
tourism providing the country’s main supply of foreign course, but the tendency is generally to play down the
currency, and generating a great deal of employment, country’s authentic and exotic features, as presented
either directly or indirectly (in the service sector, but in the tourist brochures of the 1970s and 1980s, in
also in handicrafts). The tourism industry has been favor of more elaborate and sophisticated facilities
massively supported by the Tourism Authority of Thai- and activities (historic and archeological sites, natural
land (TAT), and also by the Board of Investment (BOI), parks). The result is that Thailand has now become
which provides both national and foreign investment the gateway to newly emerging and more “authentic”
incentives in the tourism sector, especially in the hotel neighboring tourist regions, such as Yunnan, the
industry, and today this sector represents 6% of the Shan plateau in Myanmar, Laos, now much more
country’s Gross Domestic Product. accessible since the construction of the Friendship
Bridge in 1994, and Cambodia. Direct air routes link
Thailand has become a major destination for the Asian capitals and tourist centers to Bangkok and
mass international tourism, thus also stimulating also to several Thai provincial centers.
domestic tourism, as the country’s economy and
infra-structure provision improve. The Thais have In 1996, foreigners represented 45% of hotel
tradition-ally been very mobile, for economic and room occupancy. Numbers are considerably greater
family rea-sons, but also to attend the many Buddhist, in certain target destinations, promoted by the profes-
Chinese or Animist festivals (songkran, loi kratong) or sionals of the tourism industry, where the income from
to visit religious shrines (see also plate 11 Religions). hotels is also highest. Bangkok first of all, principal
To these have now been added new types of mobility, point of access for international tourists, practically
tourism for pleasure, either in trips abroad or cultural all of whom arrive by air, with the exception of the
visits and resort holidays in Thailand itself, following Malaysians; next the coastal resorts in the east and
the trends of international tourism. Such trips are now the south (Chon Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phuket,
much more accessible to the Thais as their standard Narathiwat); then the cultural and eco-tourism des-
of living is higher than before and communication has tina-tions in the north. With the exception of the
improved considerably. The increased turnover from northern part of the Central Plain and the North-East
the hotel industry in some provinces in the North-East corridor linking Nakhon Ratchasima and Nong Khai,
(Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Nong Khai, Ubon a dom-estic tourist destination, the high proportion of
Ratchathani), where domestic tourism predominates, foreign-ers correlates positively with visitor numbers.
is a clear sign of this trend. In the longest established tourist destinations for
foreigners, major international hotels, developed by
International tourism is still the driving force Thai chains (Amtel, Dusit Thani, Imperial, Central) or
behind this sector. As well as the foreign currency foreign chains (Novotel, Sheraton, Ramada), have
he brings in, the foreign tourist also usually spends gradually supplanted the smaller establishments
more than the Thai tourist. Moreover, since the end owned by local entrepreneurs. Those destinations
of the 1970s, the increase in tourism revenue has that have more recently been opened up to inter-
exceeded the increase in numbers of visitors enter- national tourism, however, such as the island of Ko
ing the country, due to the wider selection of tourist Samui in Surat Thani, or Chiang Rai and Mae Hong
destina-tions now offered and the increase in busi- Son to the north, have not yet completed this process
ness travel and conference facilities, which generate of development and small hotels still predominate
considerably more income. here. Once again, the North-East corridor is in this
respect atypical, as it does have some major hotels,
Through its widening appeal and diversifica- though these are still few in number, and cater mainly
tion, international tourism encourages the develop- for Thai visitors.
ment of new sites and promotes investment in the
hotel sector and the development of communication ATLAS of THAILAND
138
HOTEL TRADE 52
48%
19.5
[ 78 - 89 [
[ 54 - 78 [
[ 35 - 54 [
[ 8 - 35 [
Hotels
469
48
3
65%
[ 45 - 83.3 ]
[ 22.7 - 45 [
[ 12 - 22.7 [
[ 0.1 - 12 [
35%
1.4 13.5
3,860
5,958,210
24,930
Sources : NSO, 1986, 1996
1,200 to 23,040
C
6 - Tertiary sector
F
or a long time, tourism was confined to a line islands where expansion has been limited due to the
running from north to south, focusing on protected marine reserves located there. This surge
Bangkok, and based on a limited number of in tourism into the south of the country has met up
destinations, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket; with the influx of tourists from Malaysia, stopping at
today it covers the entire country, from the main points the frontier towns of Sungai Kolok or Betong further
of access provided by international air lines. to the west, with the town of Hat Yai and its gaming
houses being particularly popular.
Bangkok, at the center, remains the main
entry point for the international tourist and is also an In the north, Chiang Mai is a destination based
important destination for domestic tourism (see plate on culture and handicrafts, the starting place for trek-
54 Passenger traffic). It is also the regional hub for air king holidays into the mountains and to the minority
travel to continental South-East Asia, giving access populations who live there (see plate 10 Main ethno-
to neighboring countries. Major efforts have been linguistic groups). The city provides eco-tourism,
made to improve the tourist image of the city (about sharing the influx of foreign tourists, and of Thais
30 % of its budget) and extend the average stay of too, with other similar northern destinations, such as
visitors to the capital, which is currently less than 2 Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and to a lesser extent
days. Close to Bangkok are the coastal resorts of Tak. Linking these focal points on the north-south axis,
the Eastern Seaboard, limited for a long time just to are new destinations, some more cultural and historic
Pattaya, but now they are more numerous. Pattaya or promoting “countryside” tourism, to complete the
is situated close to the former air base at U-Tapao tourist landscape and also bring in many Thai visitors.
and quickly developed in the 1960s into a “Rest and Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, ancient capitals, are a good
Recreation” station for American soldiers, from where example of this. West of Bangkok, Kanchanaburi is
the image of Thailand as a center for sex tourism. the starting point for excursions to the bridge on the
This development happened far too quickly, with no river Kwai and beyond this, the Three Pagodas Pass
thought given to environmental planning and this, into Myanmar. Finally, the North-East, with its many
combined with the town’s somewhat dubious repu- Khmer temples, has also benefited from attempts
tation (gambling, prostitution, crime), did not help its on the part of the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT)
image. It has been on the decline since the end of the to disperse tourism throughout the country, with the
1980s as a result of competition from other sunshine promotion of festivals and countryside tourism in the
destinations along this coast or on the neighboring national parks (see plate 8 Environment and natural
islands from Chon Buri to the Cambodian border. resources). The axis linking the main towns of the
There are also holiday resorts along the other coast North-East appears to be developing apace, catering
of the Gulf of Thailand, such as Hua Hin, an old resort, mainly for domestic leisure tourism and conferences
fashionable with the elite in the 1960s, or Cha-am, (the World Tech fair in 1995 brought a 3-fold increase
a more recent development, but these destina-tions in visitors to Nakhon Ratchasima): hotel capacity has
are more popular with the Thais. almost reached a state of saturation.
Another area where tourist resorts have be- The list of major tourist destinations will surely
come established is the island of Phuket, on the expand in the future, as long as new initiatives emerge
peninsula, which has enjoyed a remarkable tourist and promotion by the TAT of Thailand as a tourist
boom since the 1970s with a gradual “colonization” destination becomes more focused. Tourism already
of the island by the major hotel chains, offering a extends to the country’s borders in all directions, so
range of services and activities which are more and cooperation with neighboring countries is already es-
more varied and sophisticated. Tourism has spread tablished, whether through institutions or in the form of
from Phuket towards neighboring destinations, which Thai investments in the hotel and tourism sectors.
in the past were more protected, like the islands off
Krabi (Ko Phi Phi) and as far as those off the coast
at Satun (Ko Tarutao), which mark the southern limit
of the expansion of leisure tourism in Thailand. On
the east coast of the peninsula, a similar process has
occurred, although to a lesser degree, marked by the
spread of tourism from Ko Samui into the adjoining ATLAS of THAILAND
140
MAIN TOURIST DESTINATIONS 53
Chiang Rai
Nong Khai
Nakhon
Sukhothai Udon Thani Phanom
Visitors
Tak 14,234,701
Phitsanulok
5,894,330
1,529,084
Khon Kaen 113,310
3,500 to 82,000
Ubon
Ratchathani
Lop Buri Nakhon
Thai
Ratchasima Foreign
Kanchanaburi
Ayutthaya Nakhon
Nayok
BANGKOK
Pattaya
30.4%
Cha-am
Hotel capacity (1995)
Trat 4.3
Hua Hin Rayong
21.7
[ 2.5 - 4 ]
[ 1.6 - 2.5 [
Ko Samui
[ 1.3 - 1.6 [
Nakhon Si
[ 1 - 1.3 [
Thammarat
Krabi 0.9
[ 60 - 72 ]
Visitors (1995)
20,265,384 [ 55 - 60 [
[ 45 - 55 [
[ 31 - 45 [
2,741,532
Rooms
48,801
178,896
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
3,687
473
T
he road has overtaken all other modes of the plane in providing services to the capital for the
passenger transport: rail accounts for about 5% well-off social classes. In the South and the North,
and air about 2% of the total, all distances the plane is beginning to play a role in regional orga-
combined. Facilitated by the social prestige afforded nization, around the main airports at Chiang Mai and
those who own a vehicle and boosted by the im- Phuket, with impetus from the mainly international
provements in the standard of living of part of the tourism. Apart from these as yet sketchy regional air
population, as well as meeting a real need, private sub-networks and the Phuket-Hat Yai or the Phuket-
vehicle ownership rose by 16% per year between Chiang Mai tourist services, the map of domestic
1991 and 1997, to reach almost 5 million cars and air traffic consists solely of the routes spreading out
12 million motorcycles. Statistics relating to inter- from Bangkok. Several inter-provincial services have
provincial journeys by private car are not available. disappeared since the middle of the 1970s in the
Although the majority of people still use public trans- North and the North-East as the road network has
port, its importance is steadily declining despite the gradually been improved.
modernization of privately owned buses which have
increased in number almost three times faster than Chiang Mai, Phuket and, to a lesser extent,
those in the sector as a whole. Commuters from the Hat Yai are distinguished from the purely domestic
Bangkok suburbs, or neighboring provinces where airports by their higher levels of traffic. These three
there are navigable waterways, use the public boat interna-tional provincial airports (Chiang Rai has
service, which plays an important role. Nevertheless, been open to international traffic only since 2001 and
the traffic jams at certain points in the capital, which U-Tapao operates only charter flights) have each a
accounts for more than 40% of the cars in the entire particular profile. International traffic is on a smaller
country, are extreme at certain times of day. scale than internal traffic, and more so in Chiang Mai
than in Hat Yai. Difference is also due to the different
The framework of the railway network is very proportion of flights to South-East Asia (60% and 88%
basic: the North-East branch is the only one to divide respec-tively) and specific services. Whereas Chiang
at Nakhon Ratchasima, with greater passenger num- Mai airport provides services to Myanmar (14%) and
bers on the service to Ubon Ratchathani. Other lines North-East Asia (34%), Hat Yai looks mainly towards
branch out either from Bangkok (Prachin Buri with Singapore and Malaysia (87%) with a few services
900,000 passengers and slightly fewer for Suphan to the Middle East and South Asia. The variety of
Buri) or from branch lines in the peripheral regions countries served and the relative size of the traffic
where only lines in the South, which are very short, flow with Europe, South-East Asia, Japan-Korea and
have over 100,000 passengers. Further from Bang- other countries in North-East Asia give Phuket airport
kok, the three major branch lines gradually thin out a similar character to Bangkok, although international
due to the decrease in inter-province relations, the flights represent only one third of total traffic in Phuket
exception being the line to the South: passenger num- compared with three quarters in the capital. Bangkok
bers are increasing from Phatthalung to the frontier airport receives more than 90% of all the country’s
with Malaysia, in particular because this part of the international passengers: since 1974 it has been one
line is used by tourists. Traffic within the provinces, of the largest hubs for air travel in the world and one
which is added to journeys between the province of the major nerve centers of Eastern Asia. Its near
centers, is proportionally greater in the South and saturation, for passengers and freight alike, despite
on the line which runs through the southern part of several expansion phases, will inevitably result in
the North-East region. The use of the train for local the opening of a second metropolitan airport under
journeys is also reflected in the less regular decrease construction in Samut Prakan province: Nong Ngu
in total traffic. With 45% of passengers, the traffic core Hao airport is planned to open in 2005.
is concentrated between Ayutthaya and Bangkok
due to its central position in the rail network but also
because of the 12 million commuters per year who
travel to and from Bangkok.
142
PASSENGER TRAFFIC 54
Inter-provincial rail traffic (1996) Rail traffic within the provinces (1996)
0.6
0.8
2
2
2.2
6.5
21
1.9
35%
4.7
4,000 [ 34 - 57 [
2,000 [ 23 - 34 [
1,000 [ 7 - 23 [
0.4
140 [ 0- 7[
< 100
no registered passenger traffic Traffic in thousand passengers
27,013
2.2 Traffic in million passengers
0.9
Province centers
1 2,179
140
16 to 110
97
16,231
1,962
Passengers in thousands
International traffic (scheduled flights)
[ 1,300 - 1,400 ]
[ 205 - 520 ] 6,530 350 Passengers in thousands
[ 80 - 101 ] percentage of passengers
[ 11 - 45 ] for each airport
[ 1 - 8.5 ]
847 Japan / Korea Europe
< 0.6
South Asia Middle East
539
45
1,875 350 Passengers in thousands
< 45 725
B
ecause the country has an extensive road industrial dichotomy. The pressure on the road infra-
network, and because of the low cost and structure within the Ratchaburi-Saraburi-Chon Buri
flexibility of road transport, this is the preferred triangle is extreme, given the density of traffic and
mode for transporting just over 90% of the 470 million the nature of the goods being transported. Unending
tons of goods carried between the province centers streams of overloaded trucks transporting very heavy
with a fleet of heavy goods vehicles that grew by goods such as 30 million tons of sand and gravel into
10% per year between 1991 and 1997. The canals, Bangkok, are sufficient in themselves to account for
the traditional way of communication in the 18th and the massive imbalance between the flow of goods
19th centuries when almost all exports derived from into and out of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region
the Central Plain, now contribute only 4% of the total, (BMR). The scale of road traffic between Bangkok
coastal shipping 2%, and rail also 2%. The move- and Ayutthaya is also due to the 12 million tons of
ment of petroleum products by pipeline for industry rice imported by the BMR, between Bangkok and
has increased since 1994 (1%) while air freight Chon Buri-Rayong, to the 9 million tons of imported
remains very limited. Most coastal shipping involves petroleum products and an equivalent amount of
Bangkok, where there is a major imbalance between exported waste material. The flow of trucks entering
the volumes going in (more than 17 million tons) and leaving the BMR carries more than 20% of total
and those going out (less than 1 million): the flow of national traffic. The provinces of Ratchaburi, Ayut-
goods from Chon Buri, crushing in scale, and from thaya, Saraburi, Chachoengsao and Chon Buri also
Rayong consists mainly of petroleum products. Inland have to cope with large amounts of traffic on the major
waterway transportation, where the volumes of traffic roads linking them with the BMR: when combined
are recorded only for the Central Plain, the main area with traffic movement within the BMR, this makes
concerned, carries heavy products (sand, gravel) over up 95% of total national traffic. This expansion in the
short distances: 90% of tonnage are carried within the road traffic network is an indicator of how production
provinces and accounts for the low level of this mode activities have spread away from the BMR and, in
of transport in inter-provincial movement. the case of Chon Buri, the transport of large amounts
of goods exported to the international market since
Produced from flow matrices between the prov- 1992-1993 from the deep-water ports on the Eastern
ince centers, the map showing goods traffic clearly Seaboard, especially Laem Chabang.
highlights the scale of the flow of goods and the com-
parative position of the focus points, but nevertheless More than 150 km from Bangkok, the northern
it does not give an exact picture of the use made of branch carries the heaviest annual road traffic load,
the network. Firstly, internal traffic in the provinces due mainly to the transport of coal from the mines in
is not considered and secondly, as we do not know the North to the cement works in Saraburi. The road
the actual itineraries taken by the road transport in the South carries lorries laden with wood and in
companies, the method of measurement consisted the North-East, cassava and rice. On average, one
of adding the flow on the sections of road network third of goods traffic by road is within the provinces
which constitute the shortest route, though other cri- and over fairly short distances. Road transport within
teria will enter into the equation when drivers actually the provinces, which is not recorded for the BMR,
decide on their route. So it is probable that, because has to be added to inter-provincial traffic in order to
of the improvements carried out on the section of assess road use. The movement of proportionally
highway between Lampang and Nakhon Sawan via large volumes of goods in the total traffic contained
Kamphaeng Phet and Tak, a proportion of traffic will within the province indicates the proximity of major
be drawn away from the other two branches. plants for the processing of raw materials: sugar mills
in Kanchanaburi, Chaiyaphum and Udon Thani, for
The general shape of north-south traffic example, rubber processing plants in Surat Thani and
spreads out in a tentacle formation from the delta, coal in Lampang.
though direct road traffic between Chon Buri and
Nakhon Ratchasima disrupts this pattern to some
extent. Volumes carried on cross-country routes, such
as those between the North and the North-East, are
reduced and the major imbalance between the two
sides of the peninsula reflects their demographic and ATLAS of THAILAND
144
COMMODITIES TRAFFIC 55
52.6%
7.8
21
6.6
18.5
[ 30 - 50 [
9
[ 10 - 30 [
7.3 [ 0 - 10 [
100 km 21
1.1
0.12 to 1
4. 3
18.7
Saraburi 15.7
4. 5
Kanchanaburi Ayutthaya
9.3
3
53.
Nakhon Nayok
Pathum Thani
Nakhon Pathom
Nonthaburi
3 .8
Chachoengsao
Bangkok
2
38.
5
Samut Prakan .8
Samut Sakhon
100 km Ratchaburi 41.5
Samut Songkhram
Commodities
in million tons
Chon Buri
12.5
Road traffic
8.5
50 20 10 5 1 Phetchaburi 50 km
T
hese maps show exchanges of four types of BMR make up the majority of traffic to leave this re-
goods between seven major regions that derive gion: they consist of rubber and live animals, whose
from several provinces taken together.They are feed is supplied by factories in the Center. The South
based on the flow of goods between province centers, is more autonomous than the other two peripheral
all modes of transport combined, but do not show regions regarding international exports of agro-food
movement within these major regions: so, the pro- products, a proportion of which are shipped directly
por-tion of inter-province flow that is not represented from the deep-water ports at Songkhla and Phuket:
is 9% for manufactured goods, 14% for timber and the scale of the region’s intra-regional traffic gives an
wood products, petroleum products and solid fuels, indication of this. The volume of goods sent from the
20% for agricultural products. What can clearly be BMR into the other regions is low but it does involve
seen is the concentration of demand, both for industry higher value added products, processed food and
and for consumption, in the Bangkok Metropolitan drink or feed for livestock.
Region (BMR) along with regional specializations
due to the location of raw materials. However, the The East and the North are the two major
limitations of this pattern are also clearly shown in the regions for energy provision. Petroleum products
development of agriculture beyond the delta region, from the Gulf of Thailand are sent to the refineries at
the emergence of poles of consumption and industrial Rayong and Chon Buri where some of the oil and gas
processing plants in the peripheral regions. The East, produced are used on site and the rest sent to the
the Upper Center and to a lesser extent the West, BMR that is an important center of consumption and
are differen-tiated by the dynamic created by their processing (see plate 25 Energy infrastructure and
proximity to the BMR, with the East also specializing networks): in 1996 the peripheral regions, the South
in industry and opening up to international links with excepted, received more of their petroleum products
the initiatives taking place within the scope of the from Bangkok than from the Eastern Seaboard. The
Eastern Seaboard. North sends lignite to the Upper Center where it is
processed and used in Saraburi in particular.
Transport of wood, timber and by-products is
important from the South, which now supplies most of Even more than for the products already men-
the nation’s requirements, both in the so-called noble tioned, exchanges of machinery, transport equipment
species and also in raw materials like rubber trees, and manufactured goods illustrate just how many
bamboo, coconut palm or other fruit trees. Almost half places of production and consumption there are. It
of the goods dispatched from this region are destined is in this very varied category of goods that relations
for the BMR to be transformed in the large furniture between the regions are most strongly developed,
or paper pulp factories, mainly in Samut Prakan and even though the movement of goods between the pe-
Pathum Thani, or they are re-exported, chiefly to the ripheral regions has a long way to go before reaching
furniture and handicraft industries in other regions. the scale of exchanges with the other four regions or
The North, which was once a major producer, now between these four regions. Exchanges between the
also leans heavily on the South for its supplies. The BMR with the Upper Center, the West and the East
use nowadays of a variety of species has also made are less unequal than one might suppose, despite the
it possible to exploit the production potential of other considerable amount of exchanges originating in the
regions, such as the East. East. The BMR remains at the heart of this movement
of goods since this region monopolizes two-fifths of
The largest movement of agro-food products all exchanges, while the West, taking advantage of
is from the North and the North-East towards the the growth dynamics of the center, emerges as a pole
BMR, and also towards the Upper Center and the of some importance.
East. These are mainly rice (white rice and glutinous
rice), which makes up two thirds of the tonnage from
these two regions, and cassava which undergoes
an initial processing mainly in the North-East, and
is then taken to supply the factories of Chon Buri
in the East. To these products can be added large
quantities of sugar for the North-East and maize for
the North. Goods dispatched from the South to the ATLAS of THAILAND
146
INTER-REGIONAL TRADE 56
in thousand tons
in thousand tons
1,800
[ 5,000 - 7,500 ]
[ 175 - 380 ]
[ 2,500 - 5,000 [
[ 75 - 175 [
[ 1,200 - 2,500 [
[ 30 - 75 [
[ 700 - 1,200 [
[ 5 - 30 [
[ 250 - 700 [
[ 0.001 - 5 [
[ 20 - 250 [
negligible
Regions
NORTH
NORTH-EAST
UPPER CENTER
EAST
WEST
BANGKOK METROPOLITAN
REGION
Petroleum products and Machinery, transport equipment
SOUTH
solid mineral fuels (1996) and manufactured products (1996)
in thousand tons
18,000
[ 4,000 - 10,000 ] in thousand tons
[ 1,500 - 4,000 [ [ 700 - 1,800 ]
[ 600 - 1,500 [ [ 150 - 700 [
[ 220 - 600 [ [ 50 - 150 [
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
[ 50 - 220 [ [ 12 - 50 [
[ 0.001 - 50 [ [ 2 - 12 [
negligible [ 0.02 - 2 [
I
n a context where budgets are inadequate, and and the proportion of private hospitals. The province
where publicly funded amenities in the peripheral of Mae Hong Son is notable in class 7 as it has the
areas are unable to redress the balance in re- lowest rate of electrification in the country and very
ducing regional inequalities, new opportunities are contrasting facility provision. Classes 8 and 9 are
opening up for the private sector to develop tertiary limited to the North-East where water and electric-
activities, especially facilities and services. ity equipment have benefited from public programs
but where investment in telephone provision, health
In the legend tables, only the most discriminat- amenities (reluctance of the private sector) and banks
ing variables of the principal component analyses are has not yet been sufficient to compensate for the initial
shown. For facilities, the classification takes evolu- poor development.
tions into account, evidence of the public authorities’
ability to respond to increased demand; transport The map of activities shows a central area that
infrastructure is incorporated in the form of an index. expands towards the north and the east to include two
For activities, the employment structure index cov- of the three provinces of the Eastern Seaboard: the
ers the smallest enterprises (energy and water are internal organization is modified when incor-porating
excluded because of their atypical behavior). variables other than the provincial structure of the
tertiary sector product (see plate 50 Product of ter-
The map of facilities highlights the Bangkok tiary sector). Bangkok stands out with its strong hotel
Metropolitan Region (BMR) where, even if the level industry, a high contribution to the Gross Provincial
is good overall, there are some public sector short- Product and the national tertiary sector product. The
comings as a result of urban growth. Bangkok itself situation in relation to these variables is the opposite
stands out, with its high level of facilities (piped water, in class 2 which shows up provinces where, despite
very good transport infrastructure, high telephone, a high rate of growth, the tertiary sector product re-
medical and banking ratio) and well developed hotel mains below the industrial product. In Pathum Thani
amenities with large establishments; however, since and Nonthaburi (class 5), the even more vigorous
the middle of the 1980s, the number of schools and growth of the tertiary sector is linked with construction
post offices has not been sufficient, given the level and power and water supply. In these three classes,
of activity and population. In the five adjoining prov- enterprises are medium to large in size. Phuket is
inces (class 2, with similar charac-teristics, apart the only province in class 3 (activities characteristic
from the hotels), more facilities have been provided of tourism, often in large enterprises). Class 4 is
and the level of school provision is now higher than represented by provinces that include a regional
in Bangkok and the provision of tele-phones, health pole, where financial and real estate activities and
amenities (private sector especially) and banking is “services” play an especially important role; small
only slightly lower; there are still not enough post enterprises are more important here.
offices, however. Class 3 groups together provinces
with a sizeable regional pole; they have a better postal Class 6 covers provinces, grouped together
service, an older established network of hospitals, a more in the North-East than in the North, where
good level of hotel and transport infra-structure to construction boosts the contribution of the tertiary
match the level of tourist activities. A second ring of sector to the provincial product. A group of provinces
provinces around Bangkok, several provinces in the around the Bangkok metropolitan region is close to
North and the North-East corridor (including the poles the national average and forms class 7. Their hotel
of Nakhon Ratchasima and Khon Kaen) form class 4, industry activity and higher growth in the tertiary
and these are close to the national average, or only sector product differentiate them from the very rural
very slightly below (telephones, hospitals). provinces of class 8 which are also conspicuous by
their limited activity in the financial and communica-
Some provinces in the North and the Center tion sectors. Small enterprises predominate.
and most of the provinces in the South can be found
in classes 5 and 6; the amount of public piped water
decreases, with more private wells, and the rate of
rural electrification is below average, the number of
schools matches the average and postal equipment
is good; the main differences lie in hotel facilities ATLAS of THAILAND
148
TERTIARY SECTOR FACILITIES and ACTIVITIES 57
Facilities
Factors Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Water supply sources Piped water +++ ++ ++ = - - ++ -- --
(% household users, 1995) Public wells - - - --- -- = -- - = +++ +++
Telephone lines
/ 1,000 inhabitants (1996) +++ ++ ++ - = - -- --- ---
Classes
Inhabitants / post office
(1996) = ++ --- = --- -- --- +++ ++
Inhabitants / hospital bed - - - - -- - - = - ++ +++
9 Communications, (1995)
health, % Private hospital beds + + + + + + + = + -- --- -- ---
8
schools (1995)
7 Evolution hospital --- +++ -- - ++ -- = ++ -
beds (1987-1995)
Pupils / class
6 (1996) +++ ++ + = = = --- = =
5 Hotel rooms +++ --- ++ - = --- - --- ---
Hotels (1996)
3 Rooms / hotel +++ + ++ = = - --- = -
(1996)
4 Inhabitants / bank
Commercial (1996) - - - -- -- = -- = - +++ +++
2 banks Evolution inhabitants
= = - = = = ---
/ bank (1986-1996) + + ++
1
Activities
Factors Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Hotel trade % in national
turnover (1996) +++ - ++ = -- - - --
Transportation +++ ++ ++ = = = = -
& communication
Finance, insurance +++ ++ + + = - = --
Share in & real estate
tertiary product Services = - +++ ++ - = = =
(%, 1996)
Construction -- - - = +++ + = =
Electricity, gas
& water supply -- +++ = = + - = -
% in Gross Provincial ++ -- ++ = - + = =
Product (1996) Classes
Tertiary product Growth + ++ = = +++ = = -
(%, 1989-1996) 6
% in national tertiary
product (1996) +++ = - = = - - - 5
Employment small-sized -- -- --- - -- = = + 4
structure establishments (%, 1996)
3
8
7
2
1
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
A
lso known under its shortened Thai name of Phraya was a strategic location, close to sea trading
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Bangkok was for routes and also at the crossroads of internal routes
a long time a secondary city, but it is now one of due to the use in the 19th century of canals (khlong)
the most important in the world (see plate 6 Networks through the Central Plain for virtually all transport.
in Eastern Asia). Between 1950 and 2000, its urban Bangkok also owes its development to the creation
population increased from 700,000 to 8,000,000 of what was in fact an aquatic civilization, whose
inhabitants (this figure represents the total population inhabitants cultivated a specific variety of floating
of districts within Bangkok and contiguous districts, rice and lived on rafts or in houses built on stilts, thus
where the population density is greater than 1,000 enabling them to adapt to the floods that inundate the
inhabitants per km²). In this, the Thai capital has delta every year. With such assets, Bangkok formed
followed the pattern of many southern cities, though an ideal base for the constitution of an absolute
it stands out in the crushing demographic weight monarchy. The Chakri dynasty, whose family history
placed on the country’s urban network. has been linked with the Siamese capital since its
inception, was thus able to extend its power over
This domination is not only demographic. all the kingdoms and principalities that did not fall
It is also political, administrative and economic. under the control of the colonial powers (see plate
The Bangkok Metropolitan Region, made up of six 21 Formation of the nation-state territory).
provinces, produces more than half the country’s
wealth (plate 58 Urban and industrial development For most of the 20th century, the sources of the
around Bangkok). The centers of command, capital’s supremacy remained the same. Bangkok
commercial headquarters and above all financial remained a focal point for exchange networks and
activity, are all concentrated in the business districts rice exports continued to feed the economic growth.
of Bangkok: in the second half of the 1990s, 60% Although the river and canals have had to compete
of all funds deposited in the entire country were in with rail and road transport, the erosion of their
Bangkok province alone. It is possible, of course, to influence has in fact been very slow. There were
detect some weaknesses in the capital’s supremacy, only 5,000 motor vehicles on the streets of Bangkok
especially in the area of politics. In recent years, the at the end of the Second World War. The waterways
democratization of Thailand has produced a diffusion had already had time to make Bangkok into a trading
of political power away from Bangkok and hence the hub and especially the undisputed political center of
increasing influence in Parliament of representatives the still emerging nation, which Siam then was. The
from the provinces. Any loss of power by the Bangkok transport networks built throughout the country in the
elite is still fairly limited, however, as the administrative 20th century (railways from the 1890s, major roads
machinery remains extremely centralized. Moreover, from the 1950s) thus all radiate from the capital, and
recent trends in world economy have tended to this has only strengthened the city’s pre-eminence
reinforce the economic strength of what it is now a (see plate 24 Transportation networks).
mega-urban region where a large proportion of the
country’s industrial infrastructure is concentrated. In The mass of funds that have been drawn to
terms of port and airport facilities, Bangkok remains the capital by the insertion of Thailand into the global
unrivalled and is therefore the only city in Thailand economy have profoundly changed the landscape of
able to take a leading role in the development of the the former “Venice of the Orient” over the last decades
South-East Asia corridor. (plate 59 Bangkok metropolis development
patterns). Siamese traditions and culture are still
This primacy is not a new phenomenon. very visible, but Bangkok is committed to physical
The city was designated capital of the Kingdom of and functional changes that will bring it ever closer
Siam at the end of the 18th century, after the sack to the major cities of the developed countries. The
of Ayutthaya by the Burmese army, and it rapidly high-rise buildings in the business districts are the
became not only the country’s demographic heart, clearest sign of this convergence, but the rapid and
but also its economic lungs and political head. This massive growth of an urban middle class also forms a
role is partly due to its advantageous geographical solid basis for the movement towards modernization
position. Situated as it is in the Central Plain, the in which the Thai capital is engaged. Beyond the
country’s rice-growing heartland, Bangkok was the appearance of frivolity and consumerism, a truly
chief gateway to the country. The mouth of the Chao urban, cosmopolitan and modern culture is being
151
created. Changes in the content of electoral debates framework. First, the roads that serve the outskirts
and the growing influence, via the press, of the urban of Bangkok have only recently been created, where
public sphere are proof of this. nothing existed before. Roads have been superim-
posed on the waterway network, yet there are no links
In addition to the extremely rapid increase between the two. As outlying villages are almost all
in the urban population, these transformations are located on canal banks, the advance of urbanization
accompanied by many serious problems. The Thai has simply engulfed them. Second, these villages
capital is now paying in kind for years of neglect when were of recent construction, and they were scarcely
the city grew unchecked by the authorities until the able in themselves to form an urban nucleus. At the
mid-1980s. The position of Bangkok as the center of end of the 19th century, just a few kilometers from
the manufacturing, trade and services sectors was the capital, malaria decimated the population and it
exacerbated at that time by the structural change of was not unusual to see elephants trampling over the
the Thai economy, with the balance of growth shifting paddy fields. A few decades later, urbanization began
from the primary sector to manufacturing. The major to destructure the rural fabric, which had been so
problems of congestion and lack of infrastructure then painstakingly created, with only a few small hamlets
became one of the government’s urgent priorities as developing. The particularly anarchic growth of the
economic globalization was putting a high premium road system, and thus the traffic problems that the
on the competitivity of major cities. To make up Thai capital suffers today are in part the result of
lost time, Bangkok became one of the biggest these features of the rural fabric (plate 60 Road
construction sites in the world: two mass transit lines system and motorization in Bangkok). Satellite
and one hundred kilometers of expressways have towns, often linked with industrial areas, were
been opened to traffic since 1987 and one subway tentatively created by the authorities from the end of
line is also expected to open soon. Yet the impact the 1970s. Their role has remained a very modest
of billions of dollars of investment has been greatly one, however, as they were too far away to become
reduced by the absence of any real planning policy metropolitan subcenters yet too small to become
and through political interference in the workings of regional centers.
the city’s bureaucratic machinery. Any coordination of
public action is highjacked by competitiveness, which The democratization of Thailand and the ever-
is rife in the different administrative departments. For increasing political involvement of the citizens in
the politicians who govern them, the fact that they the problems that affect their daily lives should lead
have been assigned to these departments for the the administration and political leaders to a more
public good seems of minor importance; they are rational management of the city. In this respect, even
interested mostly in the additional sources of income though public opinion would seem to be particularly
that their responsibilities can provide. concerned with problems of traffic, pollution and
flooding, it must be stressed that housing remains a
The legal and administrative means for a better constant problem. Since the Second World War, the
planning system do exist, but it is rare for a public slum population has fluctuated between one fifth and
official to dare to use them to oppose any person of one quarter of the city’s total population.
influence, or supposedly of influence. The means
are also lacking for recruiting qualified people. For
these reasons, the application of existing land and
building laws is hesitant. The first major plan for
the agglomera-tion was drawn up at the end of the
1950s, but it was not until 1992 that a document of
this type was approved by ministerial decree. Yet still
no specific plan has been drawn up to enable this
general plan to become operational.
152
BANGKOK: a PRIMATE CITY
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Behind the screen of tall buildings (hotels and condominiums) attracted by the proximity of the major transport axes, the
built-up density is still low and there are many detached houses, occupied by rich families. The densification of
residential zones close to the city center has been accompanied on the periphery by the development of private
housing estates for the middle classes.
7 - Bangkok and the Bangkok metropolitan region
H
istorically, the first rivals of the Chao Phraya province now contributes 5% of the national wealth,
and its tributaries, the railways, have not been although it contains only 1.7% of the population.
very influential in the development of the This strong focal point to the east and south-east
Bangkok metropolitan region. This development was of Bangkok is set to be strengthened by recently
centered for the most part around the three main completed and underway infrastructure (Nong Ngu
national roads, construction of which was begun in the Hao international airport at Samut Prakan, new Laem
1930s: Sukhumvit, Phahon Yothin and Peth Kasem Chabang container terminals), all to be connected
(see also plate 60 Road system and motorization or already connected to Bangkok by expressways
in Bangkok). These major axes were strengthened and motorways.The Chachoengsao and Chon Buri
by the presence of the Don Muang international provin-ces are now integrated into the orbit of the
airport in the north and of the port of Khlong Toey in capital just as much as the less distant provinces of
the south-east. The northern provinces of Pathum Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom. The definition of
Thani and Nonthaburi and the seaboard province what specialists used to call the Extended Bangkok
of Samut Prakan in particular have benefited from Metropolitan Region, now termed Bangkok’s Mega-
the proximity of the capital, and Greater Bangkok Urban Region, remains a little vague, however, with
was created from this entire area (4,717 km2). The some including the province of Rayong further along
western provinces of Samut Sakhon and Nakhon the Eastern Seaboard, or even provinces such as
Pathom, which together with Greater Bangkok make Ayutthaya to the north and Ratchaburi to the west.
up the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (7,758 km2) have
also been influenced by the capital, but for various With the exception of the Bangkok Metropolitan
reasons, their urban and economic development Area (BMA), the Greater Bangkok Area and the
have been limited. The city’s historic center is on the Bangkok Metropolitan Region are not represented or
eastern bank of the Chao Phraya and when the city managed by any elected body or specific administra-
turned towards terra firma, the river represented a tive entity. They are significant only for the planners.
major obstacle: the first railway bridge was opened The only competent authority in the field of regional
only in 1926 and the first road bridge six years later. planning is the state, via the Department of Town and
The advance of the urban front was hindered to the Country Planning (DTCP) and the National Economic
west by the high price of the land, cultivated under and Social Development Board (NESDB). The
market gardening, and the more fragmented layout province of Bangkok (BMA) has an unusual status,
of plots. in that under pressure from the Bangkok middle
classes, the government has democratized control of
Globalization and the influx of foreign industrial the Bangkok municipality and the Governor, elected
investment have in no way altered the preferred by direct universal suffrage since 1985, has an ever-
directions of development of the metropolitan region; increasing degree of autonomy.
on the contrary, these have been strengthened by the
proximity of the port and airport infrastructure which Inside the municipal body, a Department of
are of international standard. Thus when the major City Planning was created in 1995 which prepared
influx of foreign investment began in the second half quite independently a general plan, in force since
of the 1980s, a large proportion was concentrated July 1997. In terms of regional planning, however,
around Bangkok. Major manufacturing plants were the impact of this plan remains fairly limited, mainly
set up in the urban fringes and sometimes beyond because the urbanized area extends considerably
the limits of the metropolitan region itself, in the further than the limits of the BMA, even though,
industrial estates established at the instigation of after merging with Thon Buri in 1972, the Bangkok
the authorities. municipality gradually expanded to cover the entire
province, an area of 1,569 km². In this type of matter,
The policy of industrial deconcentration has conflicts of interest between the municipality and the
particularly benefited the coastal strip to the south- state will surely have a more and more marked effect
east, the Eastern Seaboard. Chon Buri province lies on the future of the metropolitan region.
about 100 km from Bangkok and is linked by major
motorways. With its industrial parks and two deep-
water ports (the main one being Laem Chabang where
the traffic is greater than in the Bangkok port), the ATLAS of THAILAND
154
URBAN and INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT around BANGKOK 58
Suphan Saraburi
Buri
Ayutthaya
ya
P h ra
Chao
Nakhon
Nayok Prachin Buri
Sa Kaeo
Pathum
Thani
Kanchanaburi
Chachoengsao
Khlong Toey
Samut
Ratchaburi Prakan
Samut
Sakhon
Samut Chon Buri
Songkhram
Si Racha
B AY
Phetchaburi Laem
Chabang
OF
B A N KO K Chanthaburi
Rayong
Map Ta Phut
Prachuap
Khiri Khan
Province centers Built-up areas
Airports
Main roads Bangkok Metropolitan Area boundaries (BMA)
Deep-water ports Railways Greater Bangkok Area boundaries (GBA)
Industrial estates Province boundaries Bangkok Metropolitan Region boundaries (BMR)
100% 100%
80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96
S
ince the 1980s the population density in the the end of the 1970s, in the residential areas around
areas surrounding the historic heart of Sukhumvit and Sathon avenues, the population
Ratanakosin has been decreasing. This area began to grow more dense; town houses and
has always been dominated by rows of long, narrow condominiums began to take the place of traditional
shophouses where the ground floor consists of a detached houses.
shop or workshop and the upper storeys are used
for living quarters. As floors were added and vacant The outskirts of Bangkok are still far from
areas filled in by slums, some very high population resembling a dormitory town. In the absence of
densities were reached (almost 90,000 inhabitants any monitoring of land use, factories are often
per km² in 1980 in districts like Pom Prap Sattru located close to houses, and workshops and small
Phai), leading to a very great deterioration in the businesses are sometimes set up inside houses in
quality of life. The well-off populations were the first the middle class areas. Along secondary roads the
to leave, followed by the middle classes. These areas, traditional rows of shophouses also create local
which for a long time made up the economic heart centers of activity. The functional specialization of
of Bangkok, have also lost their pre-eminence. As it urban space is, however, on the increase. More and
was impossible to renovate the fabric of the Chinese more shopping malls have appeared since the middle
shophouses, because of a very fragmented plot layout of the 1980s, located at intersections on the suburban
and congestion on the main streets, the much larger road network. For an ever-increasing proportion of
constructions associated with the modernization of Bangkokians, the commercial streets and markets
Thailand have been built to the north-east and the have now given way to air-conditioned shopping malls
south-east of the city, where the homes of well-to- and huge super-markets.
do families have been built on large plots of land.
These areas, like those served by Silom, Ploenchit The opening up by the private sector in the
and Witthayu avenues, which formed the original city 1980s of the market for low-cost condominiums made
suburbs, have undergone massive renovation. They up in part for the lack of public housing provision,
are now Bangkok’s Central Business Districts (CBDs) but given the very high rate of population increase in
where shops and office blocks have taken the place Bangkok, the number of people still in poor housing
of the detached houses. remains very high. These living conditions are both
the downside and one of the sources of Thailand’s
The business quarters also stretch out in “economic miracle”, which relied very heavily on
corridors along the main traffic routes. These have a low-cost labor. Far from being a simple product of
pronounced power of attraction, with Bangkok’s water- growth, the economic integration of this pool of low-
bound past making road access and frontage precious cost labor has been favored by the spatial distribution
commodities. Far to the north, around the complex of of the slums. Apart from the Khlong Toey slum, close
roads and motorways that lead to the airport (see also to the port (with several thousand inhabitants), the
plate 60 Road system and motorization in Bangkok) slums are all fairly small (about a thousand inhabitants
high-rise company headquarter buildings pierce the on average) and very scattered. Many are close
skyline and the imposing mass of the many shopping to areas of employment, despite the fact that their
malls is in evidence. The landscape is the same in location is subject to the centrifugal force of land
the area around Sukhumvit avenue, and to a lesser market pressures. The large amount of land left
degree along the rest of the main highways. inaccessible by road and the ability of the Thais to mix
together while yet maintaining their social distances
Behind these major roads today there are vast have played a key role in this opening up of urban
expanses of residential areas, whose inhabitants are land to the poor. Spatial and social segregation are
taking advantage of the more widespread use of the at work, however. Although the phenomenon may
car. These suburban residential communities (muban be much less pronounced than in the Philippines,
jatsan) are now developing in the peripheral districts gated communities, reserved for very specific social
of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA) and in the categories, are increasingly to be found.
neighboring provinces, which have recently enjoyed
the greatest population growth. Traffic problems,
however, have restricted this spread and the pressure
on land has also increased around the CBDs. From ATLAS of THAILAND
156
BANGKOK METROPOLIS DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS 59
Bangkok metropolis
Urban districts
Population density in 1996
inhabitants per km2
[ 27,000 - 41,600 ]
[ 14,900 - 27,000 [
[ 9,700 - 14,900 [
[ 4,200 - 9,700 [
[ 1,000 - 4,200 [
< 1,000
Urban organization
Peri-urban fringe
50 m
1967
1967 High-rise buildings 1995
1995
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Shophouses
D
uring the rush hour, in the streets of the more than 6 to 7% of the urbanized area, compared
business districts, cars move barely as fast with 20 to 30% in most western metropolitan centers.
as the pedestrians. It has been estimated that Moreover, in the absence of any planning provision,
cars in the capital city spend on average 44 days a it has taken on a very haphazard form. Apart from
year stuck in traffic jams. People who use one of the major roads (thanon), the streets (soi) have
the 10,000 buses provided by public and private developed without monitoring by any public body;
companies (one of the largest fleets in the world) are they are linked one with another according to the
scarcely better off. For those who want to go fast, whim of building operations and agreements between
motorcycles and moto-taxis are the most efficient property owners to obtain a right of passage, and they
means of transport, though they are uncomfortable very rarely link two major roads together. Moreover,
and dangerous. In order to reduce the amount of time the canals have blocked expansion in a number of
lost every day, some executives rent apartments in cases. Inside the gaps in the major road network,
the center of town close to their work-place, spending which on the outskirts of the city can be as great as
the weekends with their families in their suburban several dozen square kilometres, urban expansion
houses. Others convert their car into an office and is organized around interlacing residential streets,
deal with everyday business matters on their portable many of which are cul-de-sacs. The case of Lat
telephone. These are stopgap measures however, Phrao superblock speaks volumes. This is a suburb
only available to the better-off, and they are not of approximately 70 km², developed from the 1950s
sufficient to prevent hundreds of millions of dollars almost exclusively through a combination of initiatives
of work time being lost. The economic cost of this by local farmers and private developers, yet no major
congestion is such that it threatens the competitivity of road was built through this residential area until 1996,
the Thai capital. The people of Bangkok are suffering by which time the population had reached nearly half
on a daily basis from this situation: the time lost in a million.
travelling to and from work is in fact taken out of
leisure time and household chores. Children probably What is more, the number of vehicles on the
suffer the most: absent parents, long rides in crowded roads is increasing at a very fast rate and each new
buses, mealtimes disrupted. A study has also shown road provided is almost immediately saturated. After
that their intellectual development is impaired as a half a century of very rapid growth, the number of
result of the effects of the lead contained in exhaust privately owned vehicles registered in the province of
fumes. Bangkok alone is now almost two million. This growth
is probably far from over, as the rate of private vehicle
Since the mid-1980s, the government, under ownership is still low and varies considerably over
pressure from businesses and Bangkok public opinion, the different social strata, with a high level of multi-
has indicated that this matter was giving them cause ownership among the better-off households.
for concern. With the support of private foreign funds
attracted by Thailand’s economic miracle, Bangkok
has been transformed into one vast construction site.
Some important features, however are still lacking.
The city has survived right up to the end of the 20th
century without a mass transit system, and the 23
kilometres of overhead rails opened in December
1999 are still largely inadequate. Also, although the
expressways which now circle over the city make long
distance travel easier, long lines always build up at
the entrances and exits. The traditional public road
network, difficult to privatize and therefore unable to
benefit from foreign funds, remains not able to cope
with the steady streams of vehicles.
158
ROAD SYSTEM and MOTORIZATION in BANGKOK 60
N
a
Phra y
o
Ch a
Chaen
Motorization evolution (1955-1996) g Wa
tta na
in
oth
nY
Ra
m
aho
Int
hra
Ph
Outer Ring
Vehicle density (per 1,000 inhabitants)
Lat
Ph
VI
Vehicles rao
a
Motorization
Ram
2,000 300
250
1,500 VEHICLES
em
Ka s
200
on
P h et Sath
Suk
1,000 150
hum it
v
100
500
50
0 0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995
5 km
Expressways, motorways
Major roads BTS elevated train (Bangkok Transit System)
Secondary roads MRTA underground train, under construction
Under construction (Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority)
Railways Lat Phrao area
Motorcycle density (per 1,000 inhabitants)
200
Yo
on
ah
1,000 150
Ph
100
500
50
Suk
0 0
ha P iban 1
Streets (soi)
La
t P
Canals (khlong) hra
o
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
5 km
T
he North-East (Phak Isan) and the South (Phak population made up of Khmers and Siamese speak-
Tai) are two of Thailand’s three very distinctive ing Tai Khorat) or the principalities of Vientiane or
peripheral regions. The North-East is syno- ny- Cham-passak. At the beginning of the 19th century,
mous with the Khorat plateau, a remarkable natural Bangkok’s control over Isan was threatened and this
unit of almost 170,000 km2 bordered to the north and led to terrible wars with Vientiane which resulted in the
the east by the Mekong, to the west by the Phetch- deportation of a large proportion of the Lao popula-
abun Range and to the south by the Dangrek Range. tion on the plateau (and as far as the center of the
This is the largest region in the country, a little more country). The Kingdom of Siam then had sovereignty
extensive than the North but much more densely over the territories of the former Lao kingdoms which
populated (almost 21 million inhabitants compared it later lost to the French colonial empire (see plate
with 12 million), in fact one third of the country’s total 20 Changes in boundaries and frontiers (18th-20th
area and population. The South is the smallest of the century)).
three peripheral regions, with almost 71,000 km2 (14%
of the total national area) and little more than 8 million The Siamese penetrated earlier into the South
inhabitants (14% of the national total). This region (13th century), via Nakhon Si Thammarat, a flour-
extends over 600 km, from the very narrowest part ishing local center and outpost in the Malay world,
of the Thai peninsula between the Gulf of Thailand established as a province with a fairly high degree of
and Myanmar, to the Taluban Range. autonomy. The current eastern provinces of Pattani,
Narathiwat, Yala and part of Songkhla correspond to
In the way these two frontier regions are popu- what was at that time the Malay sultanate of Patani,
lated and in relations with their own culture and with an important center of Islam in South-East Asia,
the Thai nation, they still retain traces of their own which also included Kelantan and Trengganu, today
histories closely linked with those of the neigh-boring in Malaysia. Linked with Malacca, Patani was a flour-
countries. Although their histories have been different, ishing, cosmopolitan port that succeeded in fending
they coincide at the key points that resulted in the off attacks by the Siamese in the 17th century, before
later integration of these regions into the Kingdom giving in and recognizing the suzerainty of Bangkok in
of Siam. Today, these two peripheral regions are in 1786. Rebellions occurred sporadically, especially at
a position to connect together several areas at the the turn of the 19th century, which resulted in Muslims
level of continental and maritime South-East Asia from the region being installed by force in Bangkok
(see plate 6 Networks in Eastern Asia). and hundreds of Siamese families being settled
in Patani. The constant tension led Siam to divide
Under the influence of the Dvaravati civilization Patani into seven distinct principalities each with a
before the 11th century, the North-East came within Malay ruler appointed by the King, before grouping
the sphere of influence of the Khmers and the Empire them into four, then three provinces with Siamese
of Angkor, which declined in the 13th century, leav- governors. The Anglo-Thai treaty of 1909 legitimized
ing behind outposts and religious sanctuaries in the the incorporation of Patani into the Siamese nation
southern part and an established population south at the same time as it created, on the western side,
of the river Mun (see plate 10 Main ethno-linguistic the province of Satun, henceforward separated from
groups). In the 14th century, Buddhist populations from the Sultanate of Kedah which had passed into the
Laos were established to the north of the plateau and hands of the British.
there were outposts from the Lan Chang kingdom in
the center (see plate 21 Formation of the nation-state At the beginning of the 20th century, the ap-
territory). The influx from Laos of opponents to the plication of the provincial administration system the-
wars between kingdoms increased at the end of the saphiban to the North-East and the South, placing the
17th century and spread into the plateau as a result entire country under centralized control, gave rise to
of the expanding power of the Champassak princi- local resistance, sometimes violent, as was the case,
pality on the north bank of the Mekong. In 1778, the for instance, in the five predominantly Islamic south-
kingdoms of Laos recognized Siamese suzerainty ern provinces (see plate 12 Islam and Christ-ianity) in
which was at that time confined to the south-west relation to other measures including the “thaisation” of
edge of the plateau. The allegiance of the external education. From the 1920s, the policy of integration
provinces (hua muang) to the Kingdom of Siam was of these five provinces has varied according to the
then through Khorat (Nakhon Ratchasima, city with a governments and their view of international relations
161
(especially with Malaysia) and their assessment of the yet do not affect the significance of the whole.
scale of resistance move-ments made up of those
who call themselves the Melayu. The ethnic and The last three plates concern district level
religious identity, the awareness of a former politi- (amphoe). This scale level is better suited than the
cal independence, also make the South peninsular one used at province level to present the modalities
region a particularly sensitive area. The denigration of population distribution or specific agricultural and
of distinctive cultural traditions took on other forms industrial features in more detail. For industry in par-
(subordination of the local sangha to Siamese monks ticular, it shows the duplication of the center-periphery
at the beginning of the 20th century) in the North-East, phenomenon already observed between provinces,
suspected of separatist intentions and where, in the but now seen between districts within the provinces.
1960s and 1970s, communist guerilla movements For each theme, the map bases have been adapted
brought fears that a front was opening up in Thailand. (generally by grouping districts together) to adjust
The backwardness in infrastructure provision and in the statistical mapping to the administrative units
the economy, the poverty, all show another dimen- used by the body responsible for the data collection.
sion of the “northeastern problem” that robust rural Population distribution within the provinces (plate
develop-ment programs intended to alleviate: Accel- 63 Population in North-East and South) bears
erated Rural Development, widely backed by the USA witness both to the attraction of the urban areas and
who had military bases in the region; at the end of to the spread of settlement as the result of agricul-
the 1980s, Isan Khiao (Green North-East), launched tural colonization that has marked the history of the
by the army to reforest and install agricultural village country since the middle of the 1950s (see plate 19
infrastructure. At the same time, the raising of the Population distribution and demographic features).
level of education, the confrontation with the outside Crops have been selected both for their importance in
world (especially as a result of emigration) has helped each region studied and for the availability of statisti-
construct a regional identity for those who consider cal information at district level (plate 64 Agriculture
themselves Khon Isan. in North-East and South). Fruit trees and oil palm
trees are some of the perennial crops, other than
The physical environment also contributes to rubber, typical of the South (major or even exclusive
the very clear individuality of the two regions (see production at national level). Rice (white rice or glu-
also plates 7 Relief and hydrographical system and 8 tinous rice) is an important crop in the North-East
Environment and natural resources). The North-East which has strengthened its position as producer (see
is a hard environment with soils that are poor and of plate 33 Rice). The duplication within the provinces
variable fertility according to topography and vulne- of the spatial imbalances of industrialization refers
rable to salinity, rainfall that is uneven and irregular to a certain number of factors, among which are the
over time, causing flooding for several weeks (in the unequal availability of equipment and facilities, the
valleys) and extreme drought for the rest of the year. geographical position of the district, notably its dis-
In the South, which has a high rainfall and is widely tance from the center of the country, and the role of
open to the sea, the low eastern coastal side with local entrepreneurs (plate 65 Industry in North-East
its alluvial plains contrasts with the rocky, indented and South). These entrepreneurs, alone or with Thai
western side. The agro-ecological landscapes that or foreign participation, have been able to reach out
express the relationships between units of the bio- to national and international markets, not limiting their
physical environment and the social groups that operation to local or regional markets.
exploit them are the subject of case studies: one on
the Sakon Nakhon basin, one of the two physical sub-
regions of the North-East (plate 61 Land use in the
North-East: Sakon Nakhon province); the other on
the eastern side of the South region, between Nakhon
Si Thammarat and Phatthalung (plate 62 Land use
in the South: Pak Phanang watershed). Mapping
here is the result of a classification of information from
satellite images validated by direct observation. When
an analysis is carried out on two dates, differences in
interpretation of details can make validation delicate, ATLAS of THAILAND
162
REGIONAL SPECIALIZATIONS in the NORTH-EAST and the SOUTH
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
The production of natural rubber, 90% of it from the South, is mainly carried out by small farmers. The rubber tree
begins to produce after six years and yields depend on several factors, including tapping techniques. The natural
rubber is commercialized in three different forms: sheets, compacted into blocks, fresh and liquid. The sheets are hung
out to dry for 7 to 10 days.
8 - Two peripheral regions: the North-East and the South
T
he province of Sakon Nakhon in the far north- ions (rainfed rice). The second unit consists of cash
east, with an area of 9,606 km2, illustrates the crops or field crops (cassava, sugar cane, and others
form of agro-ecological landscapes in the such as maize, and kenaf in the past) in fields with
North-East that have resulted from the agricultural scattered trees on the well-drained pediment slopes
land colonization and the gradual diversification of or middle terraces: the gentle undulating topography
cash crops. The map represents the situation after allows for paddy fields in the valley bottoms or on
the rainy season (May to October), and enables us some slopes, creating a very delicate mosaic of dif-
to appreciate how farmers make the best use of the ferent crops and trees; on pasture-lands cattle rearing
land’s diversity, according to its position in the topo- is possible. A transition zone between these clearly
sequence, which conditions the nature of the soils agricultural areas and the first unit can be seen on the
and their moisture-holding capacity. slopes of the Phu Pan Range where the forest has
been degraded by tree felling in order to put in cash
Two main types of physical environment can crops: these coexist with forest remnants in clearings
be observed. In the south, the Phu Phan Range, strewn with charred stumps and tree trunks.
with forest, reaches its highest point in the extreme
south-east of the province at 666 m. A national park The third unit, at the junction of the middle
has been established here, which also extends over and low terraces, is characterized by rainfed paddy
the cultivated zones: as elsewhere (see plate 23 fields with tree cover; density is high to the north of
Defores-tation) there is a divergence between the the road axis, and cash crops can be established
conser-vationist logic and the survival of the rural above them in open fields. In the rainy season rice
populations (crops already established, collection of is the main crop, while in the dry season tanks allow
firewood and plants that traditionally form part of the diversification into small areas of vegetables and
diet). The rest of the area is occupied by the Song legumes (see also plate 64 Agriculture in North-East
Khram basin. The main course of the river passes to and South). Lastly, the fourth unit, the flood plain and
the north-east of the province, flows directly into the the low alluvial terrace concentrate paddy fields with
Mekong, and collects in the province the two main no tree cover (or with just a few sugar palms): here
tributaries (Lam Nam Yam and Huai Nam): their valley the principal crop in the rainy season is glutinous
is recognizable by the density and homogeneity of rice and irrigation of some fields makes it possible to
the paddy fields and by the large numbers of swamps produce a cycle of white rice or a vegetable/legume
and small tanks. The largest reservoir (Nam Un) was crop in the dry season. The highest rice yields are
created on the river Huai to regulate water supplies obtained in this area but they can be affected by salin-
to the paddy fields downstream, while the Nam Pung ity, especially on the low terrace. This zone also has
dam in the south-east serves hydro-agricultural pur- the longest established population and is the most
poses. The built-up areas are scattered across the densely populated (over 100 inhabitants per km2).
middle and low terraces, they also form strings along
the communi-cation axes and are grouped together At first, farmers took advantage of the great
in small towns, the largest of which have municipal- variety of landforms to increase the cultivated acre-
ity status: in 1999 Sawang Daen Din in the east ages: paddy fields, then from the 1950s, the slopes
has 11,000 inhabitants, Wanom Nivat in the north and uplands. Since the beginning of the 1990s, their
has almost 10,000. The provincial center, with over strategy has consisted mainly of increasing intensity
50,000 inhabitants, is next to the natural reservoir of of land use, by adopting seasonal crop rotations or
Nong Han. diversifying agricultural activities (cattle rearing) to
increase the productivity of family work and spread
Four agro-ecological landscape units can be the work more evenly throughout the year.
seen on this scale. The first two occupy the area
to the south of the diagonal formed by the Sakon
Nakhon-Sawang Daen Din road axis, bordered by
built-up areas. The forest unit consists of a mixed
deciduous forest on the highest areas and a clear
forest, mainly of dipterocarps. This natural landscape
has been encroached upon by pioneer crops on the
borders (cassava) and at the center, in small depress- ATLAS of THAILAND
164
LAND USE in the NORTH-EAST: SAKON NAKHON PROVINCE 61
20 km
Field crops
N
18 0N Nong Khai 18 0N
Sugar cane
Nakhon Cassava
Sakon Nakhon Phanom
Udon Thani
Degraded forests and cassava
Maha Roi Et
Dry dipterocarp forests
0
16 N
Sarakham Amnat
Yasothon Charoen
Bamboo forests
Phatthalung
Bushes and shrubs
Swamps
Built-up areas
14 0N
A
s a result of the wide diversification of primary Aquaculture experienced a boom from 1988
sector products in Thailand there have been onwards, which brought Thailand into the world
correspondingly significant changes in land shrimp market. Although on the face of it intensifying
use. The Pak Phanang watershed illustrates the evo- farming techniques led to a reduction in the amount
lution that has occurred in rural areas in the South, of land used, in fact the installation of shrimp and
with the development of aquaculture (especially fish farms was the main cause of the destruction of
shrimp farming) and rubber tree cultivation. Between the mangrove and the transformation of agricultural
1988 and 1995, the spatial expansion of these two land. In 1988, aquaculture was restricted to the end
productions, major users of manpower and important of the western promontory of Pak Phanang bay, but
foreign currency earners (see also plates 36 Rubber in 1995 it took over part of the mangrove forest at the
and 38 Recent breeding and shrimp farming acti-vi- bottom of the indentation and also assimilated coastal
ties), resulted in the advance of the agricultural front areas along the Gulf of Thailand and land areas along
causing damage to the forests, and in crop substi- the main rivers: in the latter areas, farmers attracted
tution. by the prospect of large, quick profits substituted
paddy fields or orchards for ponds. Some fairly large
Extending from a clear indentation on the areas of mangrove remain between the shrimp and
eastern coast of the peninsula to the mountain ranges fish farms and the bay, whereas formations in the
(up to 1000 m) in the southern part of the Nakhon Si south, and especially around the small town of Pak
Thammarat province, this tiny region is organized Phanang, are dominated by other plant species (Nypa
into three main units of agro-ecological landscapes. palm). The installation of ponds in the middle of the
The west, consisting of mountains, low and medium mangrove is a foretaste of future destruction in the
hills, is the area of evergreen rainforests, rubber eastern promontory.
plantations and, in the flattest parts of the watershed,
paddy fields. In the east, the area formed by the coast The spatial expansion of rubber cultivation
and the lowland plain is covered by a mangrove for- and aquaculture was accompanied by considerable
est, paddy fields and aquaculture, and is crossed by intensification of culture practices, mainly by small or
rivers. These two units also contain strips of settled medium producers with help from the state and large
and mixed cultivated areas. In the center, forming a private firms. Aquaculture, for example, was a tradi-
buffer zone, lies a swampy plain with bushes. The tional activity, an extensive system for farming a vari-
changes that occurred between 1988 and 1995 ety of species of fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The
produced very dif-ferent trends in these three major transition in the 1980s to poorly controlled intensive
units: homogeni-zation in the west, the opposite effect systems resulted in an impoverishment of the species
in the east, with the center remaining stable despite farmed, as well as the felling and degeneration of the
some encroachment at the edges by paddy fields mangrove, pollution (discharged water full of toxic
and mixed crops. waste) which has harmful consequences for coastal
aquaculture and for other users (farmers practising
In 1995, the rubber plantations in the western rice cultivation, market gardening or orchards, non-
part encroached on the forests, of which now only a farming fishermen). The resulting conflicts between
few traces remain. Whereas in 1988, the plantations users, the problems associated with the consumption
were situated on the lowest part of the watershed, of drinking water, are symptomatic of an inability to
they took over in the mixed zones (forest and rubber) manage the coexistence of a new production system
which formerly covered a large surface area. These with the other systems already in place. Moreover,
mixed areas still remain as small formations adjoining farmers in aquaculture whose farms are affected by
some paddy fields. During this period, rubber mono- pollution and the epizootic diseases that occur when
culture did not encroach much on the paddy fields, the density of larvae is too high, are forced to aban-
but it gradually eroded all the zones characterized by don this activity which, despite the high level of quick
the association of housing and fruit tree plantations. profit that it can provide, does involve a considerable
While the spatial expansion of the rubber plantations degree of risk.
is undeniable between these two dates, the rate at
which it advanced, in the Pak Phanang watershed as
elsewhere in the peninsula, slowed from the middle
of the 1980s. ATLAS of THAILAND
166
LAND USE in the SOUTH: PAK PHANANG WATERSHED 62
Paddy fields
Rubber plantations
Forests
Built-up areas
14 km
98 0E 100 0E 102 0E
N
10 0N 10 0N
Trang Phatthalung
Songkhla
6 0N
100 km
98 0E 100 0E
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
A
ccording to preliminary results from the 2000 muang of Ranong and Chumphon, and they reach
census, the North-East and the South have their highest in Surat Thani (600 inhab/km2); here the
20,759,899 and 8,057,518 inhabitants respec- mountains (Phuket Range in particular) have limited
tively, or 34% and 13% of the country’s total popula- the demographic impact of agricultural colonization
tion. These proportions have remained stable for over and fruit tree plantations (see also plate 64 Agriculture
five decades, with a slight drop in the North-East and in North-East and South). South of the diagonal, the
a similarly small increase in the South, which ac- east/west contrast predominates. From the frontier
curately reflect their respective demographic growth with Malaysia to Pattani, from Songkhla to Hat Yai
rates between 1947 and 2000: 2.3% and 2.5%, for a and around Nakhon Si Thammarat, the continuum
national annual average of 2.4%. Somewhat different of high densities in these eastern districts, especially
demographic (see plate 14 Demographic characte- on the coasts, bears witness to a long-established
ristics) and migratory behavior patterns (see plate 17 settlement (rice-growing) and nuclei that have been
Inter-regional migrations) account for the difference active historically (port trade, political influence in
in the rates for the two regions. In the 1990s, growth the penin-sula in some cases: Pattani, Nakhon Si
in the North-East was lower than the national aver- Thammarat). In the west, despite settlement linked
age, although it had been higher between 1960 and with the rubber plantations, densities are still below
1980, whereas the growth rate in the South remained 165 inhab/km2 except around Trang.
higher than the national average, and this difference
has become more marked since 1970. In the North-East, a different spatial configu-
ration contrasts the area surrounding the Khorat
With 122 inhabitants per km 2, population plateau, where densities are lowest, with a more
density in the North-East is higher than the national densely populated central zone with a pronounced
average of 110 inhab/km2, whereas the South, with hierarchy in density levels. This picture has to be
108 inhab/km2 is much closer to it. In both regions adjusted slightly, however, as in some districts there
densities are very uneven between districts, reflecting are densities (excluding the amphoe muang) of over
the relationship between population distribution and 90 inhab/km2 along the Mekong (effect of population
the physical environment, the duration of land deve- deportation from Laos in the 19th century) and on
lopment and the size of the administrative meshes. certain southern edges of the plateau; conversely,
The spatial distribution of these densities is thus we note some low densities in some of the inland
based on configurations specific to each regional districts (Phu Phan Range, west of Udon Thani).
space. A comparison of the extreme density values From the 1950s, following the possibilities opening
reveals a much higher occurrence of these in the up for cultivating the high and middle terraces (cash
South, reflec-ting the much wider disparities between crops), the population spread in an uneven fashion
settlement levels here. Hence five districts with pro- from the center of the plateau and the rice-growing
vincial centers (amphoe muang) belong in class 540 valleys of the Mun (from Kalasin to Yasothon) and the
to 1,000 inhab/km2 (Pattani in first position), all situ- Chi (from Ubon Ratchathani to Nakhon Ratchasima).
ated on the eastern side, except Phuket (in-migration The size of the administrative meshes, which cover
linked with tourism), while in the North-East, Nakhon popula-tion zones with settlement densities ranging
Ratchasima is the only one, but with a population in from dense to low, accounts for the very variable
absolute terms four times that of Pattani. Both regions densities in the valleys. Today, the communication
have the same number of districts (65) with a density routes are the determining factor in accounting for the
lower than 90 inhab/km2, yet these represent 45% densities of 230 to 300 inhab/km2 that can be seen
of mapped districts in the South and only 22% in the in the corridor in the south of the plateau and in the
North-East, where more than half the districts are in north-south corridor where several amphoe muang
the 90 to 165 inhab/km2 class. stand out: Nakhon Ratchasima, and also Khon Kaen
and Udon Thani (over 300 inhab/km2), where growth
The South has a double dissymmetry in its is strong.
settlement pattern: contrast between the north and
the south, and between the eastern and western
sides. North of a diagonal running from the island
of Ko Samui to the bay of Krabi, densities are no
greater than 90 inhab/km2 except in the amphoe ATLAS of THAILAND
168
POPULATION in NORTH-EAST and SOUTH 63
Population density
53%
[ 540 - 1,000 ]
0.3
[ 300 - 430 ]
[ 230 - 300 [
[ 165 - 230 [
[ 90 - 165 [
[ 14 - 90 [
45.2% 100 km
13.7
100 km
3.4
NORTH-EAST
State frontiers
Province boundaries
District boundaries
Road network
to Prachuap Khiri Khan SOUTH
Bangkok LAOS
MYANMAR
to Vientiane
Me
g
Province centers Loei Nakhon
Udon Thani Phanom
Ranong Main roads Sakon Nakhon
Railways
Nong Bua
Bridges for international traffic Lam Phu
to Phetchabun
Krabi Nakhon Sawan Ubon Ratchatani
Ratchathani
Lop Buri
Phuket Nakhon Ratchasima to Muang Khong
Phatthalung Si Sa Ket
Trang
Buri Ram
Surin
Songkhla
Pattani to Saraburi
Bangkok
to Kota Bahru
100 km
to Georgetown MALAYSIA
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
I
n the South, the contrast in the distribution of fruit or irrigable in some parts, of the Mun and the Chi
and oil palm trees is very clearly defined and and their tributaries, from Ubon Ratchathani to Maha
expresses the duration of agricultural land use. Sarakham and Nakhon Ratchasima, the very heart of
Following the major lines of population density (see rice cultivation. There are other areas where densi-
plate 63 Population in North-East and South), the fruit ties are as high, though across a less extensive area
trees are concentrated on the east side, in the low, flat and linked to the potential of irrigation (see plate 32
coastal districts from Chumphon to Surat Thani, from Irrigation), around Nong Khai to the north and Sakon
north of Nakhon Si Thammarat, and from Pattani to Nakhon to the north-east. The lowest densities are
the border with Malaysia. On the other side, some of found on reliefs of over 200 m in the vast Loei unit.
the districts of Ranong and Phuket stand out. If other The intermediate densities can be found on the relief
fruit trees were taken into account, in addition to those slopes and on the western side of the plateau. Farm-
represented here (e.g. rambutan, longan, mango- ers make use of the tiniest patches in the micro-reliefs
steen, coconut, cashew, durian), this would confirm to plant rainfed paddy fields where productivity is
the east/west imbalance, while still empha-sizing the necessarily precarious; they attempt to make up for
role of tree cultivation in certain districts: Songkhla any shortage of rainfall by controlling water with indi-
(orange trees), Nakhon Si Thammarat (lemon trees). vidual pumps. Planting methods are adapted both to
Of the rich variety of fruit that benefit from the pen- the natural environment and to the shortage of labor
insular climate, rambutan and mango-steen, both at village level: direct seeding, sometimes along with
fresh and processed, are exported. Co-operation transplanting, has developed since the beginning
between the Ministry of Agriculture and industrialists of the 1990s. Depending on the local water supply,
has largely contributed to the develop-ment of this market gardening crops are cultivated on small plots
type of production and processing, with the result that of paddy fields in the dry season.
trees are now concentrated into veritable orchards,
whereas production was tradition-ally as varied as At regional level, about half of the area is
it was fragmented, in a multitude of farms (except planted with glutinous rice (“Japonica” varieties): the
coconut plantations). contrast between the south, planted with white rice
(“Indica” varieties), and the rest of the plateau reflects
Oil palm tree cultivation has developed on food habits inherited from a different established
the western side as far as Satun, extending into the population, as the Lao traditionally eat glutinous rice
provinces of Chumphon and Surat Thani where it (see also plate 10 Main ethno-linguistic groups). The
becomes fairly dense around the reliefs. Densities cultivation of white rice advanced from the end of the
are highest in the same physical environments to the 1970s, at the expense of acreages under glutinous
north and west of Krabi; they decrease in the coastal rice, especially in zones that benefited from irrigation.
districts, especially on the slopes of the Nakhon Si Improved yields increased the production of glutinous
Thammarat Range and pick up again in the northern rice destined particularly for family consumption, and
districts of Satun. The oil palm, exclusive to the South, thus a larger area was planted with white rice which is
has expanded since the middle of the 1970s in the sold to meet the farmers’ monetary needs. Glutinous
context of agricultural colonization, particularly after rice combined with grilled chicken and papaya salad
forest clearing or as a substitute for rubber trees, may have become popular in the rest of Thailand
which are less profitable. In addition to small peasant and be exported in small amounts, but it remains a
farms, large palm plantations and oil refineries have limited market compared with that of white rice, which
been set up by local companies or with associated is also eaten more than before by the city dwellers
foreign capital. Production is supported by the state of the North-East.
(investment promotion, price support, tariff protec-
tion), but does not meet domestic demand and is
very vulnerable to trade liberalization: such low pro-
ductivity exposes it to competition from Malaysia in
the context of AFTA.
170
AGRICULTURE in NORTH-EAST and SOUTH 64
19.3%
30.4
14
[ 20 - 35 [
[ 10 - 20 [
< 10
49.6%
[ 35 - 55 [
< 35
NORTH-EAST
State frontiers
Province boundaries
District boundaries
14%
11.2 26.3
[ 15 - 45 [
[ 5 - 15 [
<5
50.7%
[ 25 - 50 [
< 25
T
he distribution of industrial employment by
province reflects the considerable spatial In terms of the comparative advantages of
imbalances revealed in industrialization in the these two regions, the transformation of raw materi-
peripheral regions. als is important: agricultural products and wood,
non-metallic minerals, and produce from the sea for
Some central provinces emerge as a result of the South. The map showing the dominant sectors of
the attraction of infrastructure availability and invest- employment reflects in part the district specialization,
ments in some major regional poles. The imbalance by focusing on the dominant sectors. Rice mills predo-
appears to be less in the South where half of regional minate in the North-East, whereas they are of more
employment is to be found in the three provinces limited importance in the South (eastern side). In the
of Songkhla, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat North-East, the importance of the cassava processing
compared with only two provinces in the North-East: plants gives an image that is the reverse of that of the
Nakhon Ratchasima, close to the Bangkok metropoli- paddy fields (except Loei; see plate 64 Agriculture in
tan region, and Khon Kaen. North-East and South). In the South, rubber process-
ing is vital for employment. Other agro-based industry
In the provinces, “empty” districts are juxta- covers a wide range of fields: in the South there are
posed with districts where there is a concentration the oil mills in Krabi, Trang, Chumphon where there
of industry. The proportion with less than 5% of pro- are also fruit canneries, units for packaging produce
vincial employment is the same in both regions but from the sea and from aquaculture at Songkhla/Hat
it is higher for the 55-87% class in the South (5.4% Yai; in the North-East, there are fruit and vegetable
for 2% in the North-East). Generally speaking, the packaging plants at Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen and
districts of the province centers (amphoe muang) also sugar mills at Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani,
have the highest ratio: a third have over 55%, 40% canneries and agricultural product processing (cotton,
have 35 to 54% and a little under 30% are in the 20 to tobacco, leather) at Nong Khai, Ubon Ratchathani.
34% class. The concentration of employment in these The wood sector touches a large number of districts
districts where the facilities are better, and which are in the South, whereas in the North-East it predomi-
administratively and economically central, appears nates in only a very few districts (paper manufacture
stronger in the South where 40% are in the highest at Khon Kaen). The exploitation of non-metallic min-
class, whereas in the North-East this proportion re- erals also touches districts in the South more (tin at
lates to the 20-35% class. The highest concentrations Phangnga) while the North-East has developed the
are to be found in province centers where industrial textile sector by relying on traditional productions (silk,
employment levels are low, limiting the true impact of and to a lesser extent jute) and expanding into new
employment in these districts: over 80% in Mukdahan areas (synthetic fiber spinning, fishing nets; Nakhon
in the North-East and in Satun in the South. Ratchasima, Khon Kaen).
Conversely, the rates for Nakhon Ratchasima Whereas industry in the South remains largely
and Khon Kaen, for Surat Thani and Nakhon Si dependent on primary resources, the basis of industry
Thammarat, with 30 to 50% of provincial employ- in the North-East is more diversified; this is clearly
ment, convey both the importance of employment seen from the predominance of the other sectors in
in the central districts, given the mass at province certain districts and is masked by the importance of
level, and the spread of industrialization into one the dominant sector in other districts. New, strongly
other or several other districts (Nakhon Ratchasima), labor-intensive sectors (electronics, machinery, plas-
generally adjoining. Two cases are the exception to tics) have been developed, especially with support
the rule of the primacy of the province center district, from the Board of Investment. In the South, the Board
for different reasons. Almost 60% of employment is has given its support to a diversification of products
concentrated in Hat Yai, whereas the proportion in within sectors that were already established (products
the central district of Songkhla is only 20%: this is
a very small district and enterprises have to settle
in the neighboring district. Concerning employment
figures that are clearly much lower, the proportion in
Phangnga is only half that of the other two coastal
districts, a result of their more labor-intensive indus- ATLAS of THAILAND
trial specializations.
172
INDUSTRY in NORTH-EAST and SOUTH 65
Industrial employment
63.3%
[ 5 - 20 [
<5
63.6%
Province employment (1993, 1994)
28,000 to 68,000
5,300 to 9,600
3,600 to 5,000
< 3,500
NORTH-EAST
State frontiers
Province boundaries
District boundaries
Industrial sectors
SOUTH
Dominant sectors
of employment (1993, 1994)
Rice
Cassava
Rubber
Non-metallic minerals
Textiles & associated
Others
A
t the dawn of the 21st century, in the world from 1976; they were then revised in 1994 by the
classification of countries by Gross National NSO to take into account changes in the consumer
Income per capita in Purchasing power par- price index, population structure, nutritional needs
ity, Thailand (at over 6,000 US$) is in the middle and consumption patterns. The new lines reveal a
income group (see also plate 4 Population and higher incidence of poverty, though without contra-
human development in Eastern Asia), a long way dicting the general downward trend: for the Kingdom
behind Singapore (almost 23,000 US$) and Brunei, as a whole, the proportion of the population below
behind Malaysia (about 8,000 US$), but nevertheless the poverty line fell from 29.9% in 1988 (23.7%
a long way ahead of the other ASEAN countries. Still according to the former line) to 14.3% in 1994 (for
according to the World Bank, Thailand is on a par 9.6%). Estimating incomes and poverty still comes
with Malaysia with 2% of the population living below up against certain obstacles: unsatisfactory defini-
the international poverty line, clear evidence of the tion of “urban”, over-registration of the population in
beneficial effects of economic growth and of some of rural areas, under-recording of remittances received
the policies conducted in the country. The inequality in from emigrants, difficulty in assessing the situation
income levels, however, is greater than in a number of in-migrants in the Bangkok metropolitan region.
of South-East Asian countries and in a world context Reducing inequalities is a theme that is regularly
Thailand ranks high. According to national estimates, brought up at the planning stages but few redistribu-
the income share of the poorest 20% of households tion policies have actually been imple-mented. While
is barely 4% of national income compared with 60% the public authorities see poverty as an essentially
for the richest 20%. rural problem, reducing regional dispa-rities is seen
in terms of urban-based industrial deve-lopment and
There has been sustained improvement in stimulating provincial growth, in addition to the provi-
income levels from the middle of the 1980s: with sion of basic infrastructure (see chapter 3 The state
annual growth rate at about 15%, income per capita and the construction of the territory).
for the whole Kingdom almost tripled between 1987
and 1996. The general increase has spread but with The magnitude of the social impacts of the
major disparities which the map of income levels by 1997 crisis is difficult to evaluate. A study carried
province demonstrates in spatial terms, although out by the Thailand Development Research Institute
the picture is only partial since intra-provincial areas (TDRI) between mid-1997 and 1999 identified as the
(municipalities, sanitary districts, villages) cannot be main reasons the inadequacy and poor quality of
differentiated (plate 66 Income and consumption social observations made beforehand (which would
indicators). Household incomes are shown (cash in- have made before and after comparisons possible),
come and income-in-kind), determined by the Nation- the time lag between the economic upheaval and
al Statistics Office (NSO) based on socio-economic its effects, which may only be felt in the longer term.
surveys on a sample of the population. This source The aggregated indicators for poverty or income level
seems to be a more appropriate indicator for repre- reveal no major change between 1996 and 1998 (14%
senting levels of household or individual income than and 14.3% of the population respectively below the
the Gross Provincial Product per capita, an indicator poverty line) but the repercussions of underemploy-
that shows overall economic achievements by giving ment and unemployment are clearly differentiated
the value added of production. Among indica-tors of between socio-professional groups and areas. The
consumption levels, residential electricity consump- incidence of poverty that touches the rural popula-
tion is interesting since there is a good electricity tion gives a rate of 18%; poverty has increased in all
supply in both urban and rural areas. regions (including Bangkok) with the exception of the
North: the North-East is always in first position (24%
Despite the differential effects of increased of the population below the poverty line) followed by
incomes in space and in society, the incidence of the South (18%). Economic modernization has not
poverty has declined, wherever the poverty line is set. generally been accompanied by the establishment
The first poverty lines were defined in 1974 when the of mechanisms for social solidarity. In the wake of
Thai government wanted to use some cut-off income the crisis, some emergency measures were taken
level to determine a minimum legal wage and assess (health, education, job creation), with aid notably from
the degree of poverty in the country. Poverty lines the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to
defined by the World Bank were used extensively cushion social impacts and the effects of the 1998 and
175
1999 budget cuts on public health, social services, marked by a long history. The permanence of inequal-
education. As a result of the social decline exper- ity, whether in economic activities, infra-structure,
ienced by some groups, other populist programs social services, or even individual incomes or value
have been launched more recently: moratorium added, has shaped a country in which Bangkok, in
on debt repayment for farmers, universal coverage the middle of the 19th century, was already the place
healthcare, village revolving funds. where activities and wealth were concen-trated. The
durability and disproportion of its pre-eminence, the
Among the immediate effects of the crisis ob- contrast with the peripheral regions, have given rise to
served in the TDRI study are the numbers of young depictions which, though not without foundation, are
people leaving the school system, visible phenomena nevertheless exaggerated in what they concealed of
of social distress but which cannot disguise the short- the dynamics at work and the transformations under-
comings endemic in the public education system. way. New regions have emerged; the structuring of
Although the literacy rate of the population is a clear the territory into three major peripheral regions con-
success (the highest rate in South-East Asia), the tinues, but their varied dynamics and their internal or-
education system has seen a significant drop-out ganization are proof that there is a diffusion of change
rate in school attendance after primary school (cor- and growth, although indeed spatially uneven. The
res-ponding to the 6 years schooling that were com- primacy of the central region is confirmed, however
pulsory until 1999) with many giving up their studies with its outlines expan-ding and poles and corridors
at the first level of secondary school. Thus Thailand of development emerging in the peripheral regions;
is lagging behind all the other countries of South-East the highly unbalanced urbanization pattern remains
Asia for levels of enrolment in secondary education. obvious, despite the expansion of municipalities along
In addition to this overall characteristic there are the communication axes. Agricultural diversification
specific spatial differentiations (plate 67 Education and intensification have led to inter- and intra-regional
at primary and secondary levels). Confronted as it specializations which bring pockets of prosperity into
is with spatial imbalances, due in part to the location close contact with areas that lag behind, and where
of teaching establishments and employers, the higher the future of the rural population is no longer inexo-
education system, universities and vocational insti- rably and exclusively associated with agriculture. De-
tutes, has been unable to adapt to the rapid changes velopment in Thailand remains uneven in the spatial
that have come about in society and the economy, dimension, as it is in society, but the inequality has
and in particular it has not responded to the demand become more complex. The last two plates present an
for professional qualifications (plate 68 Higher edu- assessment of this spatial complexity and inequality
cation). This problem of qualifications lies at the heart based on analysis of the atlas maps. The first (plate
of the education system reform promised in the 8th 69 Spatial organization) relies on a cartographic
plan (1997-2001). The Education Act of 1999, and interpretation while the second (plate 70 Spatial
the Vocational Education and Training Act, should model) is a synthesis that suggests the dynamics of
provide a new basis for vocational education and the way in which the structure of the national territory
further education by emphasizing links with industry. has developed. The different graphic representations
At the same time, compulsory schooling has been match and complement each other.
extended to 9 years and the minimum legal age for
work has risen from 13 to 15 years old. By compar-
ing two age groups, a clearer picture emerges of
the changes that have occurred in secondary and
higher education. The definition of the younger age
group has reconciled those normally eligible for the
different study levels with the age brackets for which
information is given in the 1990 census results; the
35-44 group corresponds to individuals who are still
working.
176
VILLAGE LIFE and CITY ASPIRATIONS
Emptying a pond (bo) before the first rains (Nakhon Ratchasima province)
Enjoying the last days of respite before the ground has to be prepared for the sowing season, a family has got together
in the open air to harvest and enjoy the fish from their artificial pond. The intensification of contacts with the outside
world (development of communications routes and the media, emigration, exchanges through trade) and the
improvements in education have altered the rural dwellers' knowledge of the world, and particularly of city life.
© IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
The system is very elitist, obtaining a higher education diploma is considered by the families as a sign of great social
advancement. Education enjoys prestige and a high position in a society which also values rich businessmen. The
wealthiest families send their children to study abroad: thus many Sino-Thai entrepreneurs have obtained their
management diplomas in the United States.
9 - Social imbalances and spatial organization
I
n Thailand, a sustained increase in incomes and the influence of regional capitals (Chiang Mai,
(almost 10% per year in the 1990s) has been a Songkhla) bring some provinces up to an income level
reality since the second half of the 1980s. It was within the national average. The map of saving depos-
stimulated for the most part by the economic growth its confirms the situation presented in the earlier one,
associated with the 1987-1996 boom, and it is getting and indeed emphasizes it even further: 9 provinces
moving again after the slowdown of the 1997 crisis. are in the three highest levels and 27 in the lowest
While the urban population was the first to enjoy this level, compared with 3 and 22 respectively. Greater
general increase in incomes, the rural population also Bangkok, with Phuket, is once more set apart, like-
found their situation improved and consolidated in a wise the peri-metropolitan ring, in the top two levels;
trickle-down effect of economic expansion, especially the grouping of 52 provinces in the lowest two levels
at the end of the 1987-1996 period. This decline in indicates the low saving capacity of the middle and
rural poverty can also be explained by higher pri- low income groups; immediately above them we find
ces of the main agricultural products (rise in world the urbanized provinces of the North and the South
prices, removal of domestic tax on rice production), and the metropolitan peripheral area.
control over inflation and the effects of investment
and industrialization policies in the peripheral regions For residential electricity consumption, Greater
which have provided opportunities in non-agricultural Bangkok, and Phuket, then the Eastern Seaboard,
employment. remain, as is to be expected, in the lead in the top
two levels. The intermediate level contains 15 prov-
National averages mask major disparities both inces where the relatively high consumption can be
between regions and also within regions between explained by the frequent presence of family-run
urban and rural areas. In 1996, the national average workshops, businesses or services (Chiang Mai,
monthly income per capita is about 2,900 Baht, but Songkhla, central region around Bangkok). The low
the figure is 6,900 for Greater Bangkok (Bangkok, domestic consumption in the bottom two levels is a
Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan), 3,000 feature of the rest of the country; it is particularly low
for the Center, around 2,500 for the North and South, in the North-East and some provinces on the border
and 1,850 for the North-East. In the cities of the four fringes in the North and the South.
regions, it fluctuates between 4,700 in the South and
5,400 in the North, and varies between 2,600 in the Lastly, the map of motorization densities in-
villages in the Center and 1,600 in the villages in the troduces some interesting variations on the earlier
North-East. Throughout the 1990s, the annual income general picture. While Phuket and Bangkok are still
growth in the peripheral regions was higher than the at the top with the highest level, the other provinces of
national rate of 9%: 11% for the North-East and the Greater Bangkok and the first peripheral ring fall into
Center, 10% for the North and the South. the lowest two levels, below the Eastern Seaboard
and the rest of the central region which are in the two
Although the maps do not convey intra-provin- intermediate levels; this apparent paradox is due to
cial differences, especially between municipalities, the fact that motorbikes have the predominant role
sanitary districts and villages, they do give an indica- in calculating the index (the map of private cars is
tion of these disparities. The map of income levels per different). The motorization density in the rest of the
capita clearly shows the differences from the national country appears to be very varied, with the provinces
average income. For incomes above ave-rage, we distributed widely across all levels except the high-
find a large part of the Bangkok metropolitan region est (32 provinces in the intermediate levels). The
(the two upper levels), then the peri-metropo-litan widespread use of motorbikes and pick-ups, which
ring, which includes the Eastern Seaboard; also in is one of the effects of modernization, is proof of the
this group are a few provinces like Phuket, Surat improvement in consumption levels in small towns
Thani and Trat (mainly due to tourism). For the lowest and in some rural areas where activities are diversi-
incomes, these can be found throughout almost all the fied and dynamic.
peripheral regions, especially the entire North-East
because of the large rural population who occupies
the lowest two levels, and in the majority of the bor-
der fringes in the North and the South. In these latter
two regions the more diversified economic dynamics ATLAS of THAILAND
178
INCOME and CONSUMPTION INDICATORS 66
33.8%
38.7%
17 16
4 1.3
38% 33%
20.5
21
2.8
2.7
[ 78 - 140 [ [ 84 - 160 [
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
T
he illiteracy rate in 1990, 6.9% for the population double that of 35-44 year-olds (31.9% compared with
as a whole, is the result of a solid system of 15.4%), these figures are still modest. In the 1980s,
compulsory education (since 1960 the rate there was no major improvement in secondary edu-
of attendance at primary school has been more cation attendance and it was only from 1992 that we
than 80%) and an effective policy against illiteracy, can see numbers rising (rates of schooling stabilize
in particular the work carried out since the 1970s at around 29 to 30% between 1980 and 1990, then
by the Department of Non-Formal Education with rise to 57% in 1996; see graph plate 68 Higher educa-
adults from ethnic minorities and underprivileged tion). For the 35-44 year-olds there is a great divide
groups. The numbers of adults having completed the between Bangkok-Nonthaburi and their surrounding
first four years of primary education (Grade 4) and provinces and a similar split with the rest of the coun-
who are able to read and write simple Thai reached try where those who attended secondary education
94.2% in 1995. There remain, however, 2.5 million are concentrated in the urban centers (Chiang Mai,
adults who are illiterate, of whom 70% are women. Songkhla/Hat Yai and Phuket and to a lesser extent
Despite programs like the Hill Area Education Project Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima). The South
or the educational role conferred on the Border Patrol stands out with its higher than average levels which
Police, the mountain provinces on the border with are not confined to the most urbanized provinces.
Myanmar (Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Tak) and the The low levels in the North-East are very noticeable,
mainly Muslim provinces bordering Malaysia (Pattani, where provinces have 90% of the population attend-
Yala, Narathiwat) have a much higher illiteracy rate ing primary school, yet less than 15% carrying on into
than the rest of the country. secondary education.
Schooling at primary level is now well-estab- Access to secondary education for young
lished, both in numbers attending and across the people aged 14 to 18 has improved considerably
country. According to the National Statistical Office, throughout the country. However, strong regional
in 1990 the primary level of education was attained differences remain. The dominance of Bangkok is
by 90.8% of the total population aged 10 years and strengthened and extends to part of the central region.
over: distribution into two age groups testifies that In the North, the Chiang Mai-Lampang center pre-
this was not a recent achievement: 96.1% for 18-29 dominates, while the low levels in the North-East are
year-olds, 93.2% for 35-44 year-olds. In three-quar- more and more obvious. These variations between
ters of the provinces at least 90% of inhabitants have provinces according to the degree of urbanization
attended primary school. Only the extreme south of are very clear. The cost of education remains a ma-
the country and the mountainous regions of the north jor limiting factor for passage from the primary into
fall below these figures, reaching the lowest level in the secondary level for young rural inhabitants. The
Mae Hong Son province where almost 50% of the focus placed by the state on primary education since
population have not attended school. These are the the 1950s and then on higher education between
regions that are the least well integrated into the 1970-1980 has left secondary education as the poor
Thai socio-economic system, with firstly the northern relation of the educational system. This situation limits
provinces with the mountain-dwelling ethnic groups fundamentally the num-ber of people able even to
and their many refugees. The remarkable situation acquire a professional qualification and thus weighs
in the North-East, with the highest rates of primary heavily on the country’s ability to modernize. The de-
schooling in the country, culminating in Yasothon with mand for extensive reforms in the educational system
97.6% of the population, has to be seen in the light is becoming more and more loudly expressed. The
of the development programs implemented in the fact that the 1997 Constitution included the right of
1960s and 1970s to combat communist uprisings; every individual to a “minimum of 12 years of good
mastering the Thai language was an integral part of quality schooling” is an indication of the awareness
this policy. of the need for a broader-based, universal schooling
system.
The collapse in school attendance between
primary and secondary school remains a major prob-
lem. In 1990, only 21.8% of the population aged 14
and over had attended secondary school. Despite
the fact that the proportion of 18-29 year-olds is now ATLAS of THAILAND
180
EDUCATION at PRIMARY and SECONDARY LEVELS 67
49.3% 63%
15 19.2
8.2 8.2
[ 9 - 15 [ [ 90 - 95 [
[ 5- 9[ [ 80 - 90 [
[ 2.5 - 5 [ [55.8 - 80 [
38.4% 33%
28.8
22
17.8
2.7
[ 13 - 24.6 [ [ 13 - 24.6 [
[ 9 - 13 [
[ 5.5 - 9 [
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
I
n 1996, 855,000 students were enrolled in not been matched by the development of a sufficient
universities overseen by the Ministry of University number of suitably adapted routes into the work
Affairs, of whom 20% were in the private sector. market. Standards of technical teaching still vary
In all higher educational establishments under the considerably and there are too few students qualifying
Ministry of Education, including institutes for profes- in science and technology. Although the number of
sional qualifications, there are a total of 1,330,000 qualified engineers has doubled in 10 years (7,700 in
students, 24% in the private sector. The growth in 1996), there are still not enough to meet the country’s
access to higher education is a recent achievement: needs. Improvements in secondary education have
there were 1,284 students per 100,000 inhabitants in done little to develop professional qualifications at
1980, 2,009 in 1985 and 2,096 in 1995. The sharp rise intermediate level, as there are not enough suitable
in the number of students between 1970 and 1985 courses and because most of the students prefer
brought the rate of university education up from 2 to to study at university level. Industry in particular is
19%. This coincided with the creation in 1971 and suffering from an acute shortage of technicians: in
1978 of two Open-to-all Universities, which require 1999, only 12% of salaried workers had training up to
no entrance exam and do not limit their numbers, and school-leaving or technician level. Ongoing debates
thus access to university education expanded rapidly: on the reforms needed in the education system relate
in 1996 these universities had a total of 477,000 to changes in teaching methods, which are too firmly
students, or 70% of public sector students. However, based on rote learning, and to reforming university
the elitist university tradition, characterized by a high entrance exams. This concern for change obviously
level of selection and limited numbers of entrants in presupposes the need to improve teacher training,
the traditional universities, is still very much present. and the status and pay of teachers, but also inevita-
The steady increase in the rate of students in higher bly comes up against strong budgetary limitations.
education was not maintained in the 1990s. In response to this problem, the state envisages an
increased degree of autonomy for universities and is
Regional differences confirm the inequali- encouraging the private sector to invest more heavily
ties observed for secondary schools (see plate 67 in the education sector.
Education at primary and secondary levels). The
dominance of Bangkok is increased and extends to For those in employment, there is still little op-
all the provinces of the metropolitan region: 27% of portunity for vocational training, as there are no legal
young adults aged between 18 and 29 have attended obligations on companies to provide this. Existing
higher education in Bangkok, compared with 7 to incentives for companies and salaried workers are
12% for provinces with main regional cities and less not often taken up. This type of further education,
than 5% in most rural provinces in the North and the organized by the Ministry of Education and the Min-
North-East. However, the urban centers and regional istry of Labour, concerns about 700,000 people per
uni-versities, chiefly Songkhla/Hat Yai and Phuket, year. Non-Formal Education, on the other hand, with
then Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok are asserting them- priority given to underprivileged social groups and
selves. In the North-East, Khon Kaen stands out in ethnic minorities, is a very well developed sector.
a region where few obtain higher diplomas. This is This applies to a growing number of people (nearly
the result of university decentralization in the 1960s 5 million in 1996), thanks to the existence throughout
and, to a lesser extent, of the later move to create the country of Non-Formal Education Centers and
provincial universities and scatter campuses away numerous offers of training schemes: mainly Adult
from the principal universities (see plate 27 Schools Continuing Education, with the aim of helping adults
and health facilities). A comparison of the two maps to catch up on elementary and secondary level educa-
shows the trend of the improvement: whereas the tion that they may have missed out on, also vocational
two lowest percentages of the population to have
received higher education relate to 65 provinces for
the 35 to 44-year-olds, they cover 49 provinces for
the 18 to 29-year-olds. All the provinces that remain
in the lowest category have nevertheless seen their
ratios improve.
182
HIGHER EDUCATION 68
34.2% 52%
35.6
26
6.8 4
[ 7 - 12 [ [ 7 - 12 [
[ 5- 7[ [ 5- 7[
[ 2.5 - 5 [ [ 2.5 - 5 [
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
1950 1960 1970 1975 1980 1985 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Note that primary school figures for the period 1980-1992 are higher than for other years. This is because in other years,
pupils who were behind for their age and those over the usual age limit for this level were excluded. Between 1980 and 1992, however,
these pupils were included in the statistics, giving an over-estimation of the proportion of children attending primary school.
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
T
he diversification of Thailand’s territory is the to very dynamic (especially Lamphun for industry).
result of the long history and the uneven spatial 7- Two zones of unequal area size in the
diffusion of recent vigorous growth associated North-East (population dense and long-established).
with the country’s integration into the world-system. Dominant rice-growing in diversified agriculture
with low growth dynamics. Population and crops
1- Center (density of population and activities spread out from the heart of the southern zone from
very high). Primacy of Bangkok since the 19th century; the middle of the 20th century. Variety of physical
dynamic of growth towards Samut Prakan then into environ-ments: market gardening produce on the
contiguous areas of the other provinces at the end of lowlands, upland crops (cassava, sugar cane, cattle
the 1970s. Very strong economic growth in the west- rearing) on the terraces supplying urban areas and
ern provinces from 1989 to 1996; growth dynamics agro-industry.
average or stable in provinces already industrialized 8- Uplands on the Central Plain and North-
(development of the tertiary sector). East fringes (population density average to very
2- First peri-central ring. Very strong urban- low). Dominant upland crops in diversified agriculture
ization and industrialization dynamics, but with east/ with heterogeneous growth dynamics. Areas of more
west imbalance. Vigorous industrial growth in the arc recent colonization, with uneven dynamics of diver-si-
from Ayutthaya-Saraburi (major communication axes fication and intensification (productions integrated into
and crossroads) to the coastal area of the Eastern the industrial sector). Growth in agriculture stronger
Seaboard (deep-water ports, industrial estates). in northern part.
3- Second peri-central ring (population densi- More dynamic economic growth in the main
ty high). Industrialization and urbanization underway. north-south corridor opening into Laos, developed
Intensive and diversified delta agriculture: irrigated under pressure from the Center and the Eastern
rice predominates, tree crops, market gardening Seaboard, strengthening the position of the two main
produce and breeding (for the metropolitan market), poles. Another corridor emerging to the south (small
sugar cane (agro-industry). Growth average to dy- towns and secondary pole at Ubon Ratchathani)
namic, according to importance of industry. and transverse axis further to the north with good
4- Non-deltaic Central Plain (population den- development potential (exchanges with neighboring
sity average to low). Rice-growing and upland crops countries).
with very variable growth dynamics; on the fringes, 9- Eastern side of peninsula (population
cleared between the 1950s and the 1980s, cash crops dense and long-established). Dominant tree crops
(tree crops, sugar cane, maize, soybean, cassava). (fruit and rubber trees for industrial units) and shrimp
Rurality split by the development of industry and ser- farming highly developed, both with very strong
vices in the poles and the north-south corridor from growth dynamics; limited rice cultivation in the coastal
Phitsanulok to the Center and in the south-east (East- alluvial plains. Corridor disconnected from the Center
ern Seaboard effect) with more dynamic growth. but open to Malaysia with urban poles of varying
5- Mountain areas (population density low to impor-tance. Growth dynamics within the average
very low). Encroached forests and extensive crops; (more industrial in Songkhla/Hat Yai; tourism in Surat
low growth dynamics throughout most of the North, Thani).
along the border with Myanmar and some reliefs 10- Western side (population density low).
in the North-East and South. To the north and the Predominant tree crops (little rice cultivation, peasant
west, irregular modification of cropping systems by plantations of rubber trees and oil palms) with strong
ethnic minorities (penetration of market economy and growth dynamics; shrimp farming developing. Recent
programs to substitute poppy cultivation). Insecure active colonization. Very small scale urban network;
border zone (Burmese issue). industrial activities and revenue from tourism concen-
6- Basins in the North (population dense trated in Phuket. Growth rates variable.
and long-established). Intensive, diversified crops Strong contrast between the two sides, coupled
(vegetables, soybean, tobacco, tree crops) to supply with differentiation between north and south (delayed
agro-industry. Rural cottage industries revived and integration, sporadic clashes over the cultural identity
tertiary sector developed in the towns as a result of border areas).
of the growth in tourism. Chiang Mai-Lamphun, the
principal pole, linked to Lampang to form corridor;
axis with Chiang Rai with high development potential ATLAS of THAILAND
(opens into neighboring countries). Growth from low
184
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION 69
Uneven development
Me k o n g
Chiang Rai
L Capital
Nan
Main corridors
S
Nong Khai Emerging corridor
Phitsanulok
Khon Kaen Kalasin
Mukdahan
M
Pas a k
Maha ko n
e
A
g
Ban Phai Sarakham
Roi Et
Chaiyaphum
Nakhon Sawan Ch
i
Mun
Uthai Thani
N
C
Ubon Ratchathani
Lop Buri Surin Si Sa Ket
ha
oP
Nakhon Ratchasima
h
r aya
Suphan
Pak Chong
M
Buri
C A M B O D I A
Bangkok
A
Phetchaburi
R
ANDAMAN
Hua Hin Evolution of economic activity per capita
(1989-1996)
SEA
GULF OF THAILAND
5
Surat Thani
6
Nakhon Si 7
Thammarat
8
Phuket 9
Trang Phatthalung
10
Strongly dynamic
Songkhla / Hat Yai
Pattani
Very dynamic
0 100 200 km
0 60 120 miles
100 km
C
9 - Social imbalances and spatial organization
T
he choice of a semi-circle as the basic figure represents the cradle of power of Siam, the place
for the graphic model emphasizes two hypo- from which historically, the capital was transferred
theses relating to the role of the core-periphery down-stream towards the delta; the opening of the
dynamics and the fact that the country is closed to North-East onto neighboring Laos; Malay and Muslim
the west, yet open onto Indo-China and the South influences for the peninsula; the Gulf of Thailand as
China Sea. “mare nostrum”.
Two basic models (choremes) are combined The urban network is organized according to
to form the main components of the structuring of the the urban gravity model with its orbital arrangement.
territory: an organization of concentric rings around a The largest cities form two main orbits. The one
powerful center and a division into “regional” quarters. which is further from Bangkok corresponds to the
Three more models qualify or diversify this overall regional capitals: Chiang Mai (and Lamphun), Khon
framework: the organization of urban gravity, the ef- Kaen, Songkhla/Hat Yai; the second, which is closer
fect of dissymmetry, and the corridor effect; and to to Bangkok, brings together cities with a strong dyna-
complement this, the action of barriers and synapses mism, with the role of intermediary centers: Nakhon
between Thailand and the neighboring countries. Sawan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Surat Thani and
Nakhon Si Thammarat. Other centers form regional
The organization of the territory into concentric orbital arrangements: towns in the North-East, in a
rings and according to the core-periphery model cor- peripheral situation around Khon Kaen; towns in the
responds to a combination of two distinct shapes of south of the peninsula, around Surat Thani. Physical
significance and period of time. The first, inherited factors (large valley, coast) or a corridor effect give
from a time long ago, reveals the power relations and rise to a linear axial arrangement.
the organization of the Kingdom of Siam in the 19th
century (a royal domain under direct administration The dissymmetry of Thailand’s core region, on
and two concentric rings where there was a grada- either side of the axis formed by the river Chao Phra-
tion in the autonomy of the administrative units). The ya, derives from the autocorrelated effects of several
second, functional and contemporary, is a traditional dynamics: in the west, a narrow, predominantly rural
example of the core-periphery model of political and area, closed along the frontier with Myanmar; in the
economic organization from the second half of the 20th east, a predominantly urban and metropolitan area,
century, in a context where the nation-state is consoli- the Eastern Seaboard effect (industry and port), open-
dating itself, where urbanization and industria-lization ing up towards the north-east and the Indo-Chinese
are spreading (with specific emphases introduced peninsula.
by the wide opening up of the country to the outside
world or the effect of urban primacy). Around a core Corridor phenomena of differing size and com-
region largely dominated by the metropolitan region of plexity emerge, with the largest mainly rooted in the
Bangkok and its immediate periphery, the rest of the central region, as a result of the structuring effect of
country forms a vast peripheral ring which includes all the major communication axes combined with the role
the other regions; certain territorial marches (frontier of the strings of hierarchized towns to which they give
effect, presence of ethnic minorities, periods of local rise. This is the case in the lower valley of the Chao
insecurity) form a second ring of limited and discon- Phraya, upstream from the delta, along the Chiang
tinuous extension. Mai-Lampang axis, along the Bangkok-Vientiane axis
and, in the North-East, in the corridor that is currently
The division of the country into four regional emerging towards the south of Laos and towards
quarters is based primarily on characteristics of the Cambodia; the coasts of the Eastern Seaboard and
physical environment (specific physiomorphemes): of the south-east of the peninsula can also be seen to
the drainage basin of the Chao Phraya (valleys and have clearly defined characteristics. Synapses (cols
mountainous periphery); the plateaus and valleys of and passes through the mountain ranges, bridges
the North-East along the Mekong river; the southern over the Mekong), dotted at intervals along the fron-
peninsular region and the two coastal sides; the Gulf tier, are focal points for international communications
of Thailand (specific economy, opening onto interna- with neighboring countries.
tional shipping). The socio-cultural and economic
dimension is also present: the great valley in the North ATLAS of THAILAND
186
SPATIAL MODEL 70
iphery
pe r
core
march
N NE
Gulf of
S
Thailand
center of Core
center of Periphery
Main corridor
Small town State frontier
March
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
Orbit of gravitation
C
Methodology appendix
The base maps of the provinces and the dis- Given the concentration of industrial activities
tricts in the central provinces, which are the smallest spa-
tial units, a separate inset in chapter 5 on Industry
When studying the spatial organization of Thai- presents 10 of these provinces in such a way that the
land, the politico-administrative unit that we primarily symbols are legible.
used was the province. In 1992 the number of prov-
inces increased from 73 to 76. With most provincial
statistics we were able to include these three most Processing and cartographic representation of
recent creations and produce maps of 76 provinces the statistical information
for 1996 or 1995. The older 73-province mesh was
adopted systematically in three instances: maps in This atlas obeys the rules of cartography. Abso-
the Population chapter, based on population and lute values are represented by symbols and relative
housing figures from before the 2000 census; most values by shading patterns, with graded series from
of the maps that show evolution between two dates, pale to dark as the phenomenon intensifies. The size
whatever the statistical sources used, and lastly maps of the symbols is usually proportional to the measure-
showing ratios based on the number of inhabi-tants ment or count at a particular point or, less frequently,
from population and housing census figures (popu- organized into classes: each size of symbol then cor-
lation density, level of facility provision, income and responds to a defined range (e.g. Evolution of forest
consumption indicators per capita,...). The dif-fer- areas on plate 23 Deforestation).
ence in the base maps (according to the statistics)
is indicated by a different outline: in black, when the Concerning relative values, the series of spatial
statistics specify the three provinces of Nong Bua data were split into classes. Thus, different methods
Lam Phu and Amnat Charoen in the North-East, Sa of discretization were used, according to the hypoth-
Kaeo in the east; grey when these three provinces eses that were put forward and the spatial structures
are statis-tically associated with their province of that it seemed relevant to highlight. This is a complex
origin (Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Prachin Buri and delicate operation, since the mapping has to be
respectively). not only an exact restitution of the phenomena but
also a legible representation of the reality being ana-
So as not to lose too much information by lyzed; to facilitate the process we used the statistical
referring to even older provincial boundaries, three mapping software Cabral, developed by scientists at
provinces created in the 1970s were the subject of the IRD. Principal component analyses were carried
specific treatment relating to population dynamics out using SPSS software. Maps showing flow were
between 1970 and 1990: Phayao, Yasothon and Muk- produced with MapInfo.
dahan created from Chiang Rai, Ubon Rat-chathani
and Nakhon Phanom respectively. While the popula- In order to inform the reader as to the choices
tion of each, in absolute terms, is shown for 1990, the that were made when dividing statistical data into
rate of population growth between 1970 and 1990, classes, all the maps are accompanied by an explana-
shown by shading in the circles, refers to the rate in tory figure, a histogram or a ternary diagram (see
their original province. The same system was used plate 71 Examples). The synthesis maps, based on
for Mukdahan on the maps of agricultural evolution a principal component analysis, are accompanied by
which were based on 1976 data. a linkage tree and a legend table.
189
Methodology appendix
units, the class with the fewest spatial units and an method (ascending hierarchic classification). The aim
intermediary class. The distribution given by the his- is to identify classes that are relatively homogeneous
togram is that of the complete statistical series even based on characteristics (the variables) defined by
when the map has been cleaned up from symbols an algorithm which begins with each observation (the
below a certain threshold which are too small to be provinces) in a separate class and groups the classes
easily legible. together until only one remains. Ward’s method is a
method of hierarchical classification based on analy-
2 - Ternary diagrams sis of the variance to evaluate the distances between
the groups formed, seeking to minimize the sum of the
These appear on some structural maps to squares of the distances within each possible group.
assess groups that are straightforward but significant. It is considered to be effective, tending as it does to
The diagram combines three variables with the create groups that are small in size, which can then
total representing 100% of the phenomenon under be mapped directly. In the example on plate 71 (from
analysis. Each side of the equilateral triangle is plate 57 Tertiary sector facilities and activities), the
allotted to one variable and is graduated from 0 to classes that are closest together are 8 and 9: they
100% by lines parallel to the preceding side. Each would form a single class if we decided to present only
spatial unit (the small circles) is pinpointed according 8 classes in all. The subsequent grouping concerns
to the coordinates of the three variables that define classes 5 and 6, then class 3 which attaches itself to
it. Classes are created according to the groups that this last group, then class 4 which joins the cluster
are formed. In the legend, a table gives the ranges (3, 5, 6), then 7, then 2. The two clusters (8, 9 and 2,
of percentages for each class: to facilitate reading, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) then join together. The last stage groups
the values of the predominant variable or variables together class 1 (Bangkok) with all the other classes;
are shown in bold. this gives some indication of the very unusual features
of this province.
3 - Synthesis maps
The legend tables were produced by analyz-
These combine a large number of variables, ing class averages for the most significant variables.
some that have been represented in the atlas (on They present in schematic form the relative values
analytical maps) and others that have not. One syn- of these averages, compared with the average for
thesis map can be found at the end of most chapters all the provinces. In the example, access to water
as a conclusion or for some specific themes (Main supply via a public well is very much lower than the
religions, Characteristics of tertiary product, etc.). average for all the provinces in classes 1 and 2, a
They represent characteristic territorial structures and great deal lower in classes 3 and 5, and even in 6,
dynamics for every aspect of economic and social equal to average in 4 and 7 and very much higher
life in the country. Most of these analyses cover 73 than average in 8 and 9. The “ + ” signs are not a
provinces, rather than 76, as it is difficult to use miss- mechanical indication of the development. Thus, the
ing values in this type of data processing. number of inhabitants per post office is very high for
classes 8, 9 and even for 2, average for 1 and 4 and
As a general rule, a principal component analy- very low for classes 3, 5, 6 and 7, which are thus the
sis (PCA) was carried out, followed by a hierarchical best equipped in this matter.
classification in order to define clusters of provinces.
The PCA defines factors determined to best illustrate 4 - Graphic models
the selected variables (on average 75 to 85 % of the
total variance). By synthesis analysis, the provinces The purpose of a graphic model is exactly the
are then defined by their coordinates in relation to same as that of spatial analysis based on statistical
these factors, according to the variables that they data processing. It is produced to understand the
illustrate. In this way similarities and differences, as- organization of a given area and the rules that
sociations and oppositions between variables can be structure its spatial differentiation. The premise of the
determined. The hierarchical classification is based method is that the geographical space is produced,
on these principal components. organised and structured by society (though without
ignoring the role that physical conditions have to
Linkage trees were prepared using Ward’s play). It is therefore possible to define elementary
190
EXAMPLES 71
0%
0
10
43.8%
28.8 1
lds
Tre
fie
e
3
cro
dy
2
ps
2.7
Pa
5
percentage of urban population 4
10
6
0%
in total population
0
100% 0
[ 60 - 100 ] Other cultivated lands
Factors Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Water supply sources Piped water + + + + + ++ = - - ++ -- --
(% household users, 1995) Public wells - - - - - - -- = -- - = +++ +++
Telephone lines
/ 1,000 inhabitants (1996) +++ ++ ++ - = - -- --- ---
Inhabitants / post office = ++ --- = --- -- --- +++ ++
Classes (1996)
Inhabitants / hospital bed - - - - -- - - = - ++ +++
9 Communications, (1995)
health, % Private hospital beds + + + + + + + = + -- --- -- ---
8 (1995)
schools
Evolution hospital
7 beds (1987-1995) --- +++ -- - ++ -- = ++ -
Pupils / class
6 (1996) +++ ++ + = = = --- = =
5 Hotel rooms +++ --- ++ - = --- - --- ---
Hotels (1996)
3 Rooms / hotel +++ + ++ = = - --- = -
(1996)
4 Inhabitants / bank
Commercial (1996) - - - -- -- = -- = - +++ +++
2 banks Evolution inhabitants
= = - = = = ---
/ bank (1986-1996) + + ++
IRD-CNRS, REGARDS
ATLAS of THAILAND
1
C
Methodology appendix
structures or choremes (Brunet, Roger. 1980. “La registered provincial populations (voluntary formal-
composition des modèles dans l’analyse spatiale”, ity by residents). These estimates are by no means
L’Espace Géo-graphique, n°4: 253-265) and examine perfect, and the same is true for the censuses, since
how they combine together; in other words, find the for example, migrants working and living away from
structure of the structures. home in another province declare their residence to
be in their village of origin.
The choreme is a dual figure:
1) it is a fundamental arrangement of objects The multiplying coefficient of the number of
in a given space, an elementary structure like, for industrial units between 1986 and 1996 was calcu-
instance, the gravitation of secondary centers around lated as “the number of units in 1996 / the number
a main center (conceptual dimension); of units in 1986”. This ratio seemed clearer than a
2) it is the representation of this concept by a proportion for expressing the spatial dynamics of
hierarchy of points and an orbital circle (graphic di- industrialization.
mension). The graphic representation of the choreme
is the layout of the conceptual structure and not a The conversion rates used were:
simplified map. - for areas, from rai into ha: n rai x 0.16
- for money, the exchange rates from Baht
In graphic modeling, an experimental method into US$ established by the Bank of Thailand for the
governed by a series of hypotheses, we must decide
in a rational manner how to represent as clearly as
possible a spatial organization as a combination and
composition of elementary structures or choremes.
There are five stages:
1) look for the significant elements in the com-
plexity of reality;
2) analyze them and see how they inter-re-
late;
3) control the representation techniques;
4) suggest a logical and coherent whole;
5) reach a degree of generalization so that a
comparative analysis can be carried out.
192
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209
Atlas of Thailand
This atlas portrays Thailand’s spatial structures and presents the country’s
social and economic development in a territorial context. The Kingdom
of Thailand has undergone many changes throughout its long history, and
Spatial structures
most recently during its vigorous growth from the middle of the 1980s.
and development
Atlas of Thailand
The maps and text give a comprehensive interpretation of Thailand’s
internal dynamics as well as its regional and global integration.
This is the first atlas of its kind for Thailand. It includes a wide range of
spatial information and maps using various computer-assisted techniques.
Seventy plates of maps, accompanied with commentary, cover significant
topics such as: Thailand’s relation to the world-system, its place in Eastern
Asia, and its population, infrastructure, urban network, production,
income, education, intra-regional dynamics.
Doryane Kermel-Torrès
Cover design‑: David Lee Fong