Thailand aims to become Modern Agricultural Hub

[Dumbastheycome]

2 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Your comment is most thought provoking, would you care to elucidate?

Ok. I will attempt it.

Rural Thailand and the original generation of "farmers" were the  base core of the Thai economy in terms of  sufficiency. Still heralded is the era of rice production at a time when Thailand began to emerge as a developing  nation. That began  with land allocation to people whose origin is almost completely unknown to the next generation and of little actual interest. In that I refer to areas such as the  north east, north and west. That allocation was  based on occupancy usage rather than legitimate title. As such  it still can only legally be "inherited" by immediate family. There is a process to achieve "title" which in most cases  takes  many years and at a cost which limits that achievement.

Statistical records of rural farmland shows that a  very significant proportion of land is  still in the "allocation" status and is utilized by a percentage of immediate family offspring of the original.

In the current development  and emergence of Thailand as a developing nation and the rapid attraction to urban opportunity by the remnant second and  now third and  fourth generation upwards  of  60% of farming land is farmed  by aging and relatively uneducated people.

A sad fact is that the following urbanized  generations who commit to unsustainable credit obligations for items such as unnecessary vehicles call upon the elder generation to "save  face" by selling or mortgaging land legitimately if in possession of title or illegitimately if  not. Often a preferential family member such as  an eldest son makes such a call even though his eventual "inherited" entitlement would be a fraction of that if has many siblings.

Indeed it is that fractionalization of  small holdings  that multiple offspring view as of little individual value rather than a valuable collective family asset.

In the  case of illegitimate sale to loan sharks  some have been off set  by Government assisted loans.

Ultimately the entitlement is incrementally moving into the hands of  financial entities who are eventually at liberty to sell .

Increasingly the buyers  from financial institutions are Corporate entities which have resources to develop large scale commercial agricultural production such as is  very evident in the north west.

In Thailand a small percentage are  also resident on farmland and so are not displaced from village life where even there many are occupying inhabitants  without legitimate title.  But they are deprived of  employment and most local economic off spin.

That in itself promotes  further urban drift to the larger centres where satellite Industrial Corporate  entities can capitalize on dependent cheap labor.

"Development" can be described and construed in various ways.

 

What I state here should  be considered my considered opinion being based on easily obtained statistics, socioeconomic data, and personal observation.

 

 

 

 

[Thongkorn]

16 hours ago, expatfromwyoming said:

Thai Rice Standards Create the Global Confidence in Quality of the National Crop -from the masters of illusions - Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce

http://www.thinkricethinkthailand.com/ ????

We buy Cambodian Jasmine rice. a lot cheaper and the same rice.