CHAPTER IV

NON-AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
Introduction Lop Buri province is located in the upper part of the central region of Thailand, group 2, with the region also containing other provinces such as Sra Buri, Lop Buri, Singh Buri and Chainat. It is approximately 150 kilometers north of Bangkok, covering an area of 6,641.859 km2. The district under consideration in this study is Khok Charoen, in the North of Lop Buri province. The area is connected to Nakhon Sawan province (Tak Fa district and Ta Kle district), and Phetchaboon province (Sri Thep District). The nonagricultural sector consists of three major sub-sectors: industry, trade and commerce and tourism. Table 4.1 below shows the economic structure of the Lop Buri province. Here one can see that non-agriculture sector is a very important part to the provincial economy, with industry and trade and commerce holding 36.88% and 14.11% of the provincial GPP respectively. Tourism which is another area under consideration in this sector may be part of Others showed in the same table. Similarly, table 4.2 shows the absolute values of the income generated, segregated into different sectors; again the percentage share of each sector is shown. Table 4.1 General information of Lop Buri province.
Population (200 5) Area Number of dis tricts Gros s Prov incial Product (GPP) (200 4) Indus try Trade and Commerce Ag riculture Trans port Cons truction Others Av erage income per pers on (2 54 7) 73 7,89 1 people 6,64 1.85 9 s q. m. 11 dis tricts 66 ,5 04 million baht 36 .8 8% 14 .1 1% 12 .5 2% 3.29 % 3.14 % 30 .1 6% 80 ,6 25 baht

Source: Provincial employment statistics (2004)

Contrasting the case in provincial level, the non-agricultural sector is not a primary sector engaged by the people of Khok Charoen district like the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, this sector has a role to play in the economic development of the district as it can still be regarded as additional employment opportunities and income for the local people Table 4.2 Breakdown of income generated by sector.
S ector Indus try Trade and Comme rce Government Ag riculture E ducation Cons truction Trans port Re al e s tate E lectricity and water s upply Bank ing Hotel and res taurant He alth and s oc ial welfare Community, s ocial and pr iv ate s erv ice Fis hery Mining Hous e maid Monetary v alue s (million baht) 22,22 9 8 ,2 91 7 ,5 71 7 ,4 33 2 ,9 66 2 ,0 88 1 ,9 19 1 ,6 85 1 ,5 67 1 ,4 19 1 ,2 98 1 ,2 03 6 35 2 12 1 13 33 S hare (% ) 3 6.63 1 3.66 1 2.47 1 2.25 4.89 3.44 3.16 2.78 2.63 2.34 2.14 1.98 1.05 0.35 0.19 0.05

Source: Provincial employment statistics ,2004

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To give a picture on the employment status within Lop Buri province, one can see from Figure 4.1 that roughly equal shares of the population are employed in agriculture and non-agriculture, at 46%. Non-agricultural, however, comprises of many economic activities and the breakdown of this is shown in Figure 4.2.
Figure. 4.1 Employment status at provincial level. Source: Provincial Employment Statistics (2005)
Others, 1.34% Public sector, 6.50% Agriculture, 45.92% Non-agriculture, 46.24%

Source: Provincial Employment Statistics (2005)

Figure: 4.2 Breakdown of employment by sub-sector in Lop Buri (in number of worker)
Others Trans port and cargo Government, arm y and other public services Education Hotel and restaurant Construction Wholes ale, retail, car and motorcycle repair, domes tic product Factory production Agriculture, hunting, and fores try 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 21180 6,772 10,079 11,595 20,639 26,971 55,360 78,795 196,469 200,000 250,000

Source: Provincial Employment Statistics (2005)

Overview of non-agricultural sector in Khok Charoen district Khok Charoen is one of the less prominent districts in the Lop Buri province whether in terms of area, population, level of development or the income generate to the province. It is well-evident that this is not the most appropriate area for the development of the nonagricultural sector; this is noticeable in the vision of the district office to develop Khok Charoen as an organic agricultural source. Nevertheless, the non-agricultural sector has a role to play in the development of the district, as well as the improving the well-being of its people. Table 4.3 shows a comprehensive picture of non-agricultural sector in Khok Charoen district. In terms of industry, there is little variety in terms of type of industry and there are very few industrial developments within the area. Tambon Yang Rak has the highest density per 10 km2 with 1.52. The levels of industrial development in Khok Charoen and Khok Samae San as measured by level of density are of similar scale at 1.24 and 1.42 129

respectively. There is only one unit of industry in Nong Makha and none in Wang Thong; indicating obvious areas that can be improve.
Table 4.3 Comprehensive picture of Non-agricultural sector in Khok Charoen district
Indicators/Tambon Area (sq. km) Population (person) Number of cottage industries per 10 sq. km Number of OTOP per 10 sq. km. Number of market per 1000 population Number of service and repairing units per 1000 population Number of wholesale and retail shops per 1000 population Khok Chareon Yang Rak Khok Samae San Wang Thong Nong Makha 72.94 65.71 42.34 25.34 110.81 7296.00 7783.00 3231.00 2638.00 3509.00 1.23 1.52 1.42 0.00 0.09 1.51 0.27 5.21 9.87 0.15 0.51 0.26 8.87 1.89 0.31 1.24 10.83 0.00 0.38 0.00 13.27 0.27 0.28 7.69 13.68

The number of OTOP projects in Khok Charoen is of fair level. However, these OTOP projects are clustered in 3 sub-districts in Khok Charoen and Khok Samae San, with the density indicator showing 1.51 and 1.89 respectively. Yang Rak and Nong Makha have little development in this area and again there is nothing in Wang Thong. Looking at trade and commerce, the indicators shown here are based on number of market, number of service and repair units, as well as number of whole and retail shops; they are shown in terms of density per 1000 population. Here one can see that the population in Yang Rak is most accessible to market places, with the market density of 0.51 per 1000 population. On the other hand, although Khok Charoen is one of the largest sub-districts in terms of population, there exists only 2 market places; hence the density being the lowest at 0.27. Nong Makha performs the best in our service and repairing unit indicator with 7.69 shops per 1000 population. This is closely followed by Tambon Khok Charoen with 5.21 units per 1000 population. An area of concern is Wang Thong where no service providers are located at all. Lastly, the number of retail and wholesale shops are most readily available in Nong Makha where there are 13.68 shops per 1000 population. Wang Thong also performs very well in this indicator with the shop density of 13.27. The sub-district which performs the worst here is Yang Rak. However, this may due to the fact that it has the largest number of population. According to the overall picture generated from these indicators, one can give an initial conclusion that Khok Samae San is the most developed in the non-agricultural sector, followed by Nong Makha, Yang Rak, Khok Charoen and Wang Thong respectively. It should be mentioned that this is only a brief screening process to give an idea of the overall situation of the non-agricultural sector in Khok Charoen district. In terms of tourism, it may not be too much of an exaggeration to say that this is almost unheard of in Khok Charoen district. There is no recorded number of visitors in the area and there is no obvious existing tourist attraction.

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4.1 Industrial Sector 4.1.1 General information The location of Lop Buri is suitable to the development of industry. Overall, Lop Buri has good level of infrastructure development in terms of road network, communication, irrigation system and power supply. It is also close to Bangkok, being around 155 km away. 70 per cent of the area is hilly and mountainous, commonly known for the rich availability of minerals and ores such as copper, limestone and pyrite. The other 30 per cent of the lying in plain area are suitable for agricultural activities such as paddy, sugarcane, maize and cassava. According to the data from the Provincial Industrial Office, there are in total 583 industries in Lop Buri in 2008. The majority of industrial development in Lop Buri is in the form of agro-processing, constituting 25 per cent of provincial total. Other industries which are prominent in the province include: machinery and equipment (13%), food and drink (11%), non-metal (9%), transport (8%) and metal (7%). The industries which have grown the most over the last few years are agroprocessing, machinery and equipment, and metal. 4.1.2 Major institutions supporting industries and OTOPs Table 4.4 Summary of supporting institutions of industries and OTOPs
No 1 2 Major institutions BOI Provincial Industry Office Consultancy for funds (linked with different banks) Promotion for projects 3 Chambers and Commerce Office Policy support Promotion of Industries Consultancy for business operation Information for business Mediator between government and private sector 4 5 VDF Fund Community Development Office Policy support Training Project promotion (OTOPs) Fund 6 7 Non-formal Education Office Training Provincial Labour and Welfare Office Labour rights Welfare 8 Pollution Control Department Pollution control measures and support 131 Different Industries Labour of different industries Occupational groups OTOPs, SMEs, other cottage industries Different types of industries and business organizations Type of support Policy and consultancy Organizations to get the support Registered industries Registered industries

OTOPs, SMEs, other cottage industries

Board of Investment (BOI)

Lop Buri is located in Industrial Zone 3 in the Policies and Criteria for Investment Promotion established by the Thailands Board of Investment. With this, come a maximum number of economic incentives allocated to different geographic zones, including: Exemption of import duty on machinery Corporate income tax exemption for 8 years provided that a project with capital investment of 10 million baht or more (excluding cost of land and working capital) obtains ISO 9000 or similar international standard certification within 2 years from its start-up-date, otherwise the corporate income tax exemption will be reduced by 1 year Exemption of import duty exemption on raw or essential materials used in the manufacturing of export products for 5 years. Deduction from net profit of 25 percent of the project's infrastructure installation or construction costs in addition to normal depreciation, and such deductions can be made from the net profit of one or several years within 10 years form the date of first revenue derived from the promoted activity

Figure: 4.3 Industrial Development and Planning Zone of Thailand

Source: BOI ,2008

Provincial Industrial Office The direction of regional development in Thailand follows a top-down approach, stemming from the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), then through national policies laid by ruling government before it comes down to provincials strategies. For the period between the years 2009-2012, the overall plan for the provinces in the upper part of the central region group 2 has put emphasis on restructuring the process of producing safe food. The Ministry of Industry has also laid 132

policy on 1 Province 1 Agro-Industrial Product to be promoted in all of the 75 provinces from the year 2007. In respond to this, the provincials strategy is to develop Lop Buri as the largest agro-processing industry unit among the 4 associated provinces within this region. The Industrial Office has three main responsibilities. First of all, it has a duty to monitor, control, support and act according legislations on industry, mining, royalty, regulation of minerals, industrial product standard and other related laws. Secondly, it should develop and cooperate with development plan to support industrial development at provincial level, as well as to cooperate in the implementation and evaluation of the planned strategy. Lastly, the PIO needs to cooperate or support the operation of other relevant organizations. Provincial Community Development (CD) Office Concerning the industrial sector, the CD office is responsible for promotion and support of community enterprise particularly in the form of OTOP projects. Other responsibilities include formulating community development plan, to develop potentials of the local population through participatory approach with the view of achieving selfsufficiency etc. Provincial Natural Resources and Environmental Office The Natural Resource and Environment Office has two major functions. First, its role is to implement waste treatment and disposal system and enhancing waste disposal capacity of local administrative authorities for environmental protection. In addition, it has the responsibility to promote the role of private sector in research and development for energy conservation, environmental management, recycling of raw materials and clean technology. However, this has not been necessary in Khok Charoen district as the poor level of industrial development in the area has meant that the problem of pollution is minor. Provincial Labour and Welfare Office

The objectives of the Labour and Welfare Office are laid down as follow: Promotion for the private sector to play a part in developing labour skills and expertise in order to improve the quality and skills of the labour force, Implementation of adequate social security measures. Promotion in the creation of a labour relation system that will provide opportunities for all sides concerned to participate in the resolution of labour problem as well as to develop and protect labours in an efficient and just manner. Protection of Thai laborers living overseas from being exploited by employment brokers and employers. To stipulate appropriate measures for dealing with foreign labour, taking into account the private sectors need for labour as well as the requirements of maintaining order and internal security and the need to develop domestic labour as replacement in key areas. 133

4.1.3 Current situation in Khok Charoen According to the data provided by the Provincial Industrial Office, the total number of industries in the province of Lop Buri amounts to around 600 units. The distribution of these industries among different districts within Lop Buri can be seen in table 4.4. Here one can see that Khok Charoen district is the least developed with only 3 existing industries in the area. This constitutes around 0.51% of provincial total. The same conclusion can be reached when comparing industries in Khok Charoen to other districts according to the amount of capital invested, number of workers and the production capacity (as measured in horsepower). From this, one can see that the combined capital invested in Khok Charoen district is valued at 1,170,000 baht out of the total of 8.1 billion baht for the whole of Lop Buri province (0.014%). In addition, there are only 3 industrial workers registered in Khok Charoen out of the total 12,115 for Lop Buri (0.025%). Lastly, the combined horsepower for industries in Khok Charoen district is 48, compare to 267,200 hp for Lop Buri (0.018%). It must be mentioned that this analysis is purely based on the data given by the Provincial Industrial Office, whereby one must remember that this is not necessarily a realistic practical data but rather the data used for the purpose of registering the industry. Therefore, this may not be an unrealistic representation of the industry situation within Khok Charoen. This is most noticeable when looking at the number of workers in which in Khok Charoen there are only 3 people. To further elaborate on this, from our primary data collection from different Tambon Administrative Offices (TAOs) as well as an overview of the latest NRD2C in 2007, we have found that there are in fact a minimum 26 industry units within Khok Charoen. These units are all rice mills. In Thailand, based on the amount of invested capital, industries are divided into three categories: cottage, small and medium, and large industries. Industries with invested capital of less than one million baht are classified as cottage industries, from one to one hundred million baht are small and medium industries and more than one hundred million baht are large industries. Based on these criteria, Khok Charoen district comprises of only one type of industry: cottage industry. In addition, from our field visit to the area, we have found that there is at least one extra home-based industry in Khok Charoen in the form of cassava drying field. The capital invested here was 10 million baht and thus it can be classified as a small to medium industry. It is also worth mentioning that there exists a large scale sugar factory in Sri Thep district of Petchaboon province which is very near to Khok Charoen and has a large influence on the local population where the primary occupation is based in agriculture. Table 4.5 Industry situation in Lop Buri province
Di strict M uang Chai Badarn Pattana Nikom Khok Samrong Ban M i Tha Wung Nong M uang Sra Boas t Tha Luang Lum Sonthi Khok Chareon Num be r of industrie s 194 96 82 63 53 36 21 17 13 5 3 P e rce nta ge sha re 33% 16% 14% 11% 9% 6% 4% 3% 2% 1% 1%

Source: Provincial Industrial Office (2008)

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Table 4.6 Current situation in Khok Charoen district

Type Sub-district Capital input (baht) 420,000 400,000 350,000 1,170,000 8,110,385,130 0.014 Number of worker 1 1 1 3 12115 0.025 Horsepower 16 16 16 48 267200 0.018 Rice mill Khok Chareon Rice mill Khok Chareon Rice mill Khok Chareon Total in Khok Chareon Total in Lop Buri % share

Source: Provincial Industrial Office (2008)

Looking at the distribution of these cottage industries among different sub-districts (as shown in Figure: 4.4), one can see that the areas with the largest development of industry are Yang Rak and Khok Charoen, with the percentage share of 38 and 35 per cent respectively. 24 per cent of these industries exist within Khok Samae San. There is only 1 cottage industry in Nong Makha (4%) and no industry exists in Wang Thong. Note that the cassava drying field which is classified as a small and medium scale industry is not included here; for reference it is located in Tambon Khok Charoen.
Figure: 4.4 Percentage distribution of cottage industries by location/tambon

6, 23%

0, 0% 9, 35% Khok Chareon Yang Rak Nong Makha

1, 4%

Khok Samae San Wang Thong 10, 38%

Since all of the industries mentioned (rice mills) can be classified as agro-processing industries, it is interesting to relate this to the number of households partaking agricultural activities; this is shown in table 4.4. Since Wang Thong has no industry at all, it has been excluded from this analysis. Nevertheless, a conclusion can be reached here that Khok Samae San is the most advanced with 58 households to one industry. This is followed by Yang Rak, Khok Charoen and Nong Makha respectively. Table 4.7 Number of agricultural household per one agro-processing industry
Indicator/ Sub-district Khok Chareon Yang Rak Nong Makha Khok Samae San Wang Thong Number of household working in agricultural sector 844 647 191 345 391 Number of agro-processing agro-processing industrt 9 10 1 6 0 Number of household per one industry 94 65 191 58 NA

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Figure: 4.5 Distribution of cottage industries (rice mills)

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4.1.4 Rural Industry - OTOP Khok Charoen district relies heavily on agricultural sector providing primary occupation. However, local people have indigenous skills and other trained skills by local government agencies which can be utilized in the non-agricultural sector to create more employment and income. The target group is mostly females who are willing to take an additional employment to support their work in the agricultural sector. Because of the availability of raw materials and skilled labour, the Royal Thai Government (RTG) introduced a program called One Tambon One Product (OTOP). OTOP program was adopted from the One Village One Product (OTOP) movement in Oita Prefecture, Japan. The scheme has an objective of mobilizing local resources to produce local products which can be sold both domestically and internationally. The RTG used this program as a framework for OTOP and has been promoting local industries through the manufacturing of attractive specialised products based on the abundant native culture, tradition and nature. The target administrative unit is as the name suggested, at Tambon or sub-district level. The specific objectives of OTOP are laid out as follow: To construct a comprehensive database system to accommodate necessary information from every Tambon in Thailand To promote local Thai products from every Tambon, and to facilitate the buy-andsell procedure. To bring internet and other information technology to villages. To encourage and promote tourism in Thailand to Tambon level and consequently raising income of the local community. To encourage rural people to exchange information, ideas and improve communication level across various Tambons.

In 2006, there are in 450 OTOP projects in the province of Lop Buri. The majority of these projects are located in Muang district, accounting for 24 per cent. This is followed by Ban Mi, Tha Wung, Chai Badarn, Khok Samrong, Nong Muang with 14, 11, 10, 9 and 8 per cent respectively. There are 24 OTOP projects currently in Khok Charoen district accounting 5 per cent of total in Lop Buri. In terms of number of OTOP projects, Khok Charoen is ranked at 8 out of 11 districts in Lop Buri; this is illustrated in Figure: 4.6.
Figure: 4.6 Distribution of OTOPs among different districts. Source: Provincial CD office (2006)
17, 4% 19, 4% 24, 5% 16, 4% 43, 10% 36, 8% 39, 9% 50, 11% 33, 7% 65, 14% 108, 24% Muang Ban Mi Pattana Nicom Tha Wung Khok Samrong Nong Muang Chai Badarn Sra Boast Khok Chareon Tha Luang Lum Sonthi

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Comparing the statistics on the number of OTOP projects within Khok Charoen district between the years 2005 and 2006, it is worrying to see the number has only increased by one unit; this is 4.17 per cent increase. It must also be mentioned that, with the exception of Pattana Nicom whereby the number of OTOP has actually dropped by 21.21 per cent, Khok Charoen district has seen the small percentage of growth in the amount of OTOP projects. In this regards, Khok Charoen is rank 8 (2006) as compared to 6 in 2005. Table 4.8 Change in number of OTOP projects in different districts between 2006-07
District Muang Ban Mi Pattana Nicom Tha Wung Khok Samrong Nong Muang Chai Badarn Sra Boast Khok Chareon Tha Luang Lum Sonthi Total Number of OTOPS 2006 2007 67 108 45 65 40 33 23 50 17 39 28 36 35 43 13 16 23 24 13 19 11 17 315 450 Percentage change 37.96% 30.77% -21.21% 54.00% 56.41% 22.22% 18.60% 18.75% 4.17% 31.58% 35.29% 30.00%

Source: Provincial CD office ,2007

The degrading situation of OTOP projects in Khok Charoen can be emphasise when analyzing the amount income generated from these projects within the area. Over the period of 3 years from 2005-2007, Khok Charoen has experienced a steady decline in terms of the income generated from products; reducing from 15,726,039 baht in 2005 to 14,249,451 baht in 2007. In fact, Khok Charoen is one of only three districts in Lop Buri which have experienced a decline in income generate from OTOPs. Overall, the income generated from Khok Charoen in these products is quite low relative to other districts (rank at 7 out of 11). This is quite worrying considering the quality of the products in Khok Charoen. Looking at table 4.7, it should be raised that Khok Charoen is only second to Ban Mi district in terms of the amount of OTOP with 5 stars success status, with 4 products being qualified. Similarly, in terms of products with 4 stars, Khok Charoen is rank at third place with only less number of quality products than Muang and Ban Mi districts.

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Table 4.9 Comparison of income generated from OTOPs among different districts
District Muang Ban Mi Pattana Nicom Tha Wung Khok Samrong Nong Muang Chai Badarn Sra Boast Lum Sonthi Tha Luang Khok Chareon Total Amount of income generated from OTOP projects (baht) 2005 2006 2007 88,269,444 110,476,363 142,949,965 242,917,542 294,608,560 161,463,200 6,969,590 8,632,680 11,190,774 25,585,100 55,980,550 86,840,950 18,393,857 21,645,008 28,871,661 26,894,845 31,809,323 34,376,500 108,679,900 159,701,800 183,552,130 10,803,870 11,719,200 12,185,850 4,510,211 6,109,764 6,739,000 4,552,964 5,594,476 3,535,746 15,726,039 15,289,373 14,249,451 553,303,362 721,567,097 685,955,227 Percentage change 2006-2007 22.72% -82.46% 22.86% 35.54% 25.03% 7.47% 12.99% 3.83% 9.34% -58.23% -7.30% -5.19%

Source: Provincial CD office,2007

Table 4.10 Comparison of successful OTOPs (4 stars or more) in different districts of Lop Buri
District Muang Ban Mi Pattana Nicom Tha Wung Khok Samrong Nong Muang Chai Badarn Sra Boast Lum Sonthi Tha Luang Khok Chareon Total Success status 4 Star 5 Star 13 3 11 8 5 3 4 6 4 2 2 1 6 4 57 15 Total 16 19 5 3 4 6 4 2 2 1 10 72

Source: Provincial CD office, 2007

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Table 4.11 List of OTOPs in Khok Charoen district

Sl. No.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Tambon
Khok Chareon

Village no.
5 7 6 4 9 4 4 6 6 6 1 1 3 5 6 8 3 1 8 8 8 2

OTOP's product
Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Weaving mudmee product Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Processed clothings from mudmee Domestic odour product Mudmee cloth product Mudmee cloth product Mudmee cloth product Mudmee cloth product Broom making group Basketry Wooden chair Thai dessert Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing product Mudmee clothing pattern

Registered groups
Weaving group of Khok Chareon Social welfare housewives group Weaving group of Khok Chareon Thai cloth weaving network v.4 of Tambon Khok Chareon Thai cloth weaving network v.9 of Tambon Khok Chareon Thai cloth weaving network v. 4 of Tambon Khok Chareon OTOP artists' centre Indegenous Knowledge Development centre Forward Vocational Leadger group Industry group Charcoal processing group Thai cloth weaving network v. 1 of Tambon Khok Samae San Thai cloth weaving network v. 3 of Tambon Khok Samae San Thai cloth weaving network v. 5 of Tambon Khok Samae San Thai cloth weaving network v. 6 of Tambon Khok Samae San Broom making group Basketry group of Bang Muang Private cooperative group Suan Pa of Lop Buri Agricultural house wives group of Tambon Nong Makha Thai cloth weaving network v. 8 of Tambon Nong Makha Thai cloth weaving network v. 8 of Tambon Nong Makha Thai cloth weaving network v. 12 of Tambon Yang Rak

Khok Samae San

Nong Makha

Yang Rak

Source: Provincial CD office (2005). * Note there is one extra OTOP product started by an individual in 2006 but data is not known.

Analysing the distribution of OTOPs among different sub-districts, one can see that these projects are clustered in two Tambons, namely, Khok Charoen and Khok Samae San. Tambon Khok Charoen has the highest number of OTOPs with 11 units, accounting for 48 per cent of district total. This is closely followed by Tambon Khok Samae San with 8 projects (35%). Nong Makha and Yang Rak have few OTOP projects with 14 and 4 per cent respectively. It should also be mentioned that there are no OTOP project in Tambon Wang Thong. Furthermore, there are only three categories of OTOP projects in Khok Charoen district. It can be pointed out that the overwhelmed majority of these projects are in the form of cloths and fabric (18 projects, 79%). This is unsurprising as the district is well known for its weaving products. Domestic products such as basketry, broom production also hold a small percentage of 17 per cent, with 4 projects in this sector. In food sector, only Thong 140

Muan production in Nong Makha comes from Khok Charoen district. This accounts for 4 per cent of the total. Again the majority of weaving projects are clustered in Khok Charoen. Khok Samae San, however, is the most diverse in terms of different OTOP projects in the area.
Figure: 4.7 Distribution of OTOPs by location/Tambon
12 N um ber of O TO P groups 10 8 8 6 4 2 0 Khok Chareon Khok Samae San Nong Makha Tambon Yang Rak W ang Thong 3 1 0 11

Figure: 4.8 Distribution of OTOPs by function among Tambon

12 10 10 8 Food 6 4 2 2 0 Khok Chareon Yang Rak Nong Makha Khok Samae Wang Thong San 1 1 1 Cloths and fabric, 18, 79% 5 3 Cloths and fabric Domestic product Domestic product, 4, 17% Food, 1, 4%

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Figure: 4.9 Distribution of OTOPs by function among different areas within Khok Charoen district

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4.1.5 Comparison among Case Studies During the reconnaissance survey and the sectoral field study, 7 different units of industry were interviewed. This consists of 3 OTOP projects, 2 home-based factories, 1 small occupational group enterprise and one large sugar factory in a nearby province. The purpose of these case studies is to gain an insight as to how the different industries are operate and the successfulness of such operations in order to identify the problems as well as establishing the potentials within this sub-sector. The analysis on sugar cane factory will be based on the influence that this factory has on the population of Khok Charoen. This analysis will consequently be used as a basis for project proposal to be considered for implementation by the district. Case Studies of OTOPs The three OTOP groups used as case studies are all community- based OTOP groups. A community-based OTOP group refers to a group of local people who are partaking in a small local group enterprise by utilizing their common interests and skills in particular types of products. Generally speaking, these groups are form to provide opportunities to gain additional income from their primary occupation in agricultural sector which may be turbulent due to a number of factors such as draught, low price of agricultural products. The OTOP groups get support from a number of public organizations such as BAAC, Community Development Office, Royal Thailand Government, and Tambon Administration Office to setup projects. Additional capital has to be raise from group members by selling enterprises shares and the income earned is distributed to each member according to the number of share purchase. These OTOP groups under consideration are weaving group in Tambon Khok Charoen, weaving group in Tambon Khok Samae San, and Thai dessert (Thong Muan) production in Tambon Nong Makha. Thai Hand Weaving Group, Tambon Khok Charoen

Like a large proportion of people in the district, people in village number 4 of Tambon Khok Charoen are originally from the Northeastern part of Thailand, where the indigenous skills in weaving and traditional mudmee clothing are renowned. The group was formed in 1995 and became active during the period of 1996-1998 whereby draught caused heavy loss of agricultural products. This led to a revival of weaving skills to be used as a supplementary source of income to the local people. A number of organizations have helped the group by providing financial support as well as providing ranges of technical and skill trainings. The relevant organizations involved include District office, Community Development office, Thammasart University, Provincial Trade and Commerce Office. In addition, the main player who organized this activity is Mr Winai Patchim, a local school teacher. He has contributed tremendous support to the group by, for example, providing new patterns, teaching additional 143

weaving skills as well as setting up a community learning centre to teach school children on batik painting. The groups major products are silk based items such as hand woven cloths with indigenous designs and various patterns mudmee products. There are also cotton based items available such as cotton mudmee, artificial mudmee, plained color and Pakaoma. Besides, they also produce other products like note pad holder, glass holder as well as a number of other domestic products. The hand woven products of the group have received 5 stars award recognition and the products are said to be of the highest quality products in Lop Buri Province. As to weaving products, the group can make 125 clothing items per month of the size 4 by 0.9 meter (3.6 m2). On average 5 hours per day is spent on weaving. Total cost of production is 45,000 Baht which recovers all costs including raw materials, transportation and marketing. Rough estimate on the cost of production is 360 baht per item. The sale price is 850 Baht per item but price may fluctuate depending on different pattern and raw material. From this, total income can be estimated at 106,250 Baht per month and the average income from weaving activities per person is 2,450 Baht per month. The group sells their weaving products to district and external markets such as other nearby provinces and Bangkok. The ratio of quantity they sell in district and in external market is around 10 and 90 per cent respectively. Three years ago, middle man supplied raw materials and bought products produced by the groups. Now the group purchases the raw materials by themselves and either directly sells their products to the wholesale buyers or occasionally join government and private-run exhibitions. The main problem of this OTOP group is they are lack of market information, entrepreneurial skills and market linkages. This causes limited access to markets and low sales volume. Besides, they have low production because they do not have adequate capital to run their business. In addition, most adult villagers do not participate in weaving activities and they go to find job in Bangkok. This group needs market oriented organization structure to promote market and network building because they do not have anyone to take role and responsibilities in marketing channel. In summary, weaving has high potential for generating supplementary source of income to local population. Stronger marketing networks for hand woven products should be explored. However, further market networks must be explored and variation of patterns and designs of silk and cotton-based mudmee should be enhanced to capture wider audiences. If this is successfully implemented, weaving activities can be seen as a longterm occupation for the local people as the skills can be pass on to youth and children to become next generation hand weaving entrepreneurs.

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Thai hand weaving group, Tambon Khok Samae San

The weaving group in village number 5 of Tambon Khok Samae San was established in 1994 with an initial investment of 430,000 Baht. The majority of the funding was provided by the Khok Samae San Tambon Administration Office (TAO) with 400,000 baht and the other 30,000 baht was given in the form of weaving equipment by local Member of Parliament, Mr. Chaowat Sudlapa. The CD office also lend support in terms of trainings, providing new patterns and colors, as well as organizing and managing the group. Initially, Ms. Kamnun Somsin took responsibility in leading the group and actively promoting the weaving products to the outside markets. Her influence extended beyond Khok Samae San to other weaving groups in initiating new patterns as well as purchasing the products from them to be sold to outsiders. There were 30 members in this weaving group during Ms. Somsins time in leadership. However, there are only 10 members at present since she passed away. The products from this weaving group are similar to those produce by the group in Khok Charoen. It has also received 5 stars award for their quality of their product. However, since there are only few members now, the group can only produce around 2 items per day. This means the income generated from this is quite low with an average income from group member being around 2000 per month for each member. This has dropped significantly from the period led by Ms. Somsin whereby each member received around 4000-4500 baht per month. At present, this weaving group acquire raw materials from middlemen come and the end products are also purchased by the same people. Thus there is no other market channel. The feeling we get from the group is that since there is no leadership role, the group lacks organization and management skills. Consequently they seem to have become more of a labour force for these middlemen rather than group entrepreneur themselves.

Figure: 4.10 Marketing channels for weaving products. Source: Interview of weaving groups ,2008

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Thong Muan production, Tambon Nong Makha

Thong Muan production is in village number 8 of Tambon Nong Makha. This is a project initiated in 1999 by the Food Processing Cooperative; it is called Ruam Jai Samakhee Thongmuan (Souls Unity Thongmuan). At the beginning phrase, the group had 20 members. The rationale behind the project is that farmers who live in this village depend largely on agricultural production as the main economic activities. After the cropping and harvest season, farmers are free from work and most of them migrate to Bangkok in search for employment. Therefore, the head of the group discussed together with the agriculture officers to get additional income for local people after the harvest season and solution was to use Thong Muan production. This was seen appropriate as raw materials such as cassava, coconuts can be found locally. In the procedure of setting up the group, first of all, Agriculture Extension Officers trained the group members on the production process: design, taste, and packaging. All of them contributed 50 Baht each to contribute to purchasing equipments. The money collected admittedly was not enough and thus the loan was made from the BAAC in an amount of 50,000 Baht without collateral, but group guarantee. In 2004, the group was separated from Ruom Jai Samakkhee group and they registered as the Group Enterprise where 11 members were included. Nowadays, the group has 25 members. There are 5 to 7 permanent workers and they work in daily rotation. Full-time workers can earn 4,000 to 5,000 Baht per month while part-time workers earn 3,000 Baht per month. The raw materials needed are coconut, sesame (both can be obtained within Tambon), rice powder, cassava powder and sugar are purchased from provincial market. Only Thong Muan can be considered as an OTOP product but the group also produces another Thai dessert called Khrong Khraeng. Overall, the group can produce around 700 to 800 small packs of both Thong Muan and Khrong Khraeng combined. One big pack consists of 6 small packs; the big pack can be sold to retailers at 24 baht per pack. The retailers can then sell the product at 25 baht per pack. The main market of the groups is within the province and neighboring provinces. The products are sold within Tambon Khok Charoen and Nong Makha in Lop Buri province, and also to Srithep district and Vangphikoon district in Phetchaboon province, as well as to Nongphai district in Nakhonsavan province. The group has a plan to export their products to other countries, but the product quality is not yet accredited officially due to poor production environment. The group has experienced problems in production largely due to inflating price of raw materials and transportation cost. According to the head of the group, the cost of production and transportation has doubled in comparison to the initial period. In addition, the group has a plan to build a new processing house in order to increase production volume and improve working environment and quality, pending on a loan approval from TAO and Happiness and Green Society project. Other problems include difficulties in production process in terms of skills involved in mixing ingredients and 146

rolling Thong Muan; in fact only 5% of the trainees can succeed after training according to the head of the group. Lastly, the group has potential as they can expand the volume of production and marketing channel depending on the market need. Beside this, since Thong Muan is an OTOP product it has potential to be accredited by Food and Medical Agency for exporting. In conclusion, focus is needed on reducing the cost of production. The group also need to improve on designing and packaging techniques to make the products more marketable e.g. inclusion of nice labeling, food nutrients etc. In addition, to expand its market the group needs to improve on the overall working environment and condition including cleanliness, safety and pollution free in order to get quality control assurance.

Figure: 4.11 Marketing channels of Thong Muan production. Source: Interview with group member (2008)

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Table 4.12 Comparison among OTOPs

Criteria for Comparison of OTOPs Invested Capital Sources of Capital N/A The Royal Thailand Government (capital) Weaving group Tambon Khok Chareon 1995 Weaving group Tambon Khok Samae San 1996 430,000 Baht - Tambon administration office (400,000) - Local politician (weaving materials worth 30,000 baht) 30 members down to 10 members (supplementary income generation) All year round, depends on order. Max. production: 60 items per month Average income: - 20000 baht per month per group - 2000 baht per month per member (previously members can earn 40005000 Baht per month) Source: provided by middlemen Sales: - Middlemen Thai dessert (Thong Muan) production Tambon NongMakha 2004 50,000 Baht BAAC (50000 baht)

No. of Members/Labour

25 members (supplementary income generation)

-25 members (5 to 7 permanent workers, the rest used this as supplementary income generation) All year round Max. production: 700 to 800 small packets per day Average income: - 24000 baht per month per group - 4000-5000 baht per month per member (full-time) - 3000 baht per month per member (part-time) Source: a combination of local and provincial market Sales: - Within district - Phetchaboon province - Nakhonsavan Province
46 points (2005) Production -high input and transportation cost Capital -waiting for loan from TAO Human Resource -only 5 % of trainees can succeed in rolling product nicely Quality accreditation -Low quality to export to neighboring country

Outputs of production Income

All year round, depends on order. Max. production: 125 items per month Average income: - 61,250 baht per month for group - 2450 baht per month per member

Market network

Source: Provincial market Sales: - 10% are sold to district - 90% are sold to external market (other provinces and Bangkok)
5 Star (2006) Market problem -lack of market information -lack of skills for market linkages Access to finance -lack of capital Human Resources - low involvement of adults villagers Skills and Technology -low of entrepreneurs skill -limited products diversification Organization and Management -lack of market-oriented organization structure Good quality Skills can be pass to younger generation Community learning and OTOP centre can be develop Promotion of cultural tourism

Success (status) Problems

5 Star (2006) Market problem -Lack of market linkage No Leadership Role - Group becoming more of a labour force for middlemen rather than entrepreneur Access to finance -lack of funding Reduction in income

For Potentials

Good quality Skills can be pass to younger generation Purchasing of raw materials through other sources

Expand the volume of production depend on market need Expand market to other districts, provinces and neighboring countries Can be accredited by Food and Medical Agency for exporting as assigned by OTOP Poor production environment (problem with quality certification)

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Analysis on OTOP projects: Overall, one can see that all OTOP projects required external source of funding. All groups are experiencing financial problem to some extent. In the cases of weaving groups, this may be due to poor management skills and lack of entrepreneurship. These OTOP projects are mainly used as channels for acquiring additional income from the primary occupation in agriculture. Only Thong Muan production has some members working full-time. Weaving products in Khok Charoen are renowned for their high quality (5 stars) but they cannot generate a significant level of income for members. The main problem here is lack of marketing channels. The weaving group in Khok Samae San, for example, relies on middlemen in both obtaining raw materials and selling their products. On the other hand, although Thong Muan production is of lower quality, it can generate greater income due to more proactive marketing strategies. In the two weaving groups, although the quality of products is of similar levels, the marketing channels in both cases are very different. One may interpret this as lack of cooperation among different weaving groups. With cooperation, different groups can learn from each other experiences as well as being able to achieve greater market power through bulk buying of raw materials as for example. The loss leadership role of weaving group in Khok Samae San also contributed to a rapid decline of the business operation. Analysis of small occupational group enterprise Basketry group Wang Thong

This is a project initiated by Wang Thong TAO in 2006, where all nine villages in the Tambon are involved. It can be categorized as a cottage industry, but it is not an OTOP product. Currently, there are around 30 members, all of which are females and they used this as an opportunity to earn additional income to their primary employment in the agricultural sector. In fact, there are very few full-time workers in the group. The supporting institutions involved include Community Development office and Nonformal Education office. TAO and Community development office provide financial support whereas non-formal education office provides classes for making basketry. These classes normally go on for 15 days, after which the participants are capable of producing the baskets (although experience is needed to make the products sellable). Basketry products here are handmade in all processes. The raw materials used are hemp and either bamboo or simple metal structure; all of which can be purchased from the provincial markets. Nowadays, metal structures are preferred to bamboos as the baskets made from them can demand higher monetary value. In one month, around 5-6 baskets can be produced per person, assuming that the partaker works around 7-8 hours per day. Each day, normally around 15-20 people turn up. For one basket, the cost of raw materials is 170 baht if metal structure is used and 150 baht if bamboo is used (100 baht of hemp is used for one basket), but the basket can be sold at 350 baht a piece.

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Although this may sound like a good price, lack of marketing channel has meant that groups income is small. In fact, total production per year is around 200 items per year; this is on average 17 pieces per month. From this, we can estimate the monthly income to be at 5,950 baht per month (350 17) and thus total monthly profit is estimated at 3,060 baht per month (5,950 (17 170)). This level of profit earn is noticeably low and it is then distributed among group members depending on the amount of time they spend working. On average, a regular worker will earn only around 300 baht per month. As mentioned, there is a problem with marketing channel, with all the products being sold to middlemen (normally from Tambon Khok Charoen) or to rare visitors in the area. The conclusion can be reached that there are some potentials in Wang Thong for basketry production. The price of each handicraft is quite high, indicating the quality of the product. Therefore, it may be possible to develop this as an OTOP project; the first one in the sub-district! From interviews, we have found that the level of production can be increased since people are generally interested to join the group if there are greater economic incentives; the problem is there is no market to sell these products to. This is a key problem that must be tackled for further development.

Figure: 4.12 Marketing channels for handicraft basketry. Source: Interview with group members

Analysis on case studies of home-based industries In this section, a small rice mill and cassava drying field are used as case studies to analyse the problems and potentials of home-based industries in Khok Charoen district. Both of these units can be regarded as agro-processing industries. Rice mill can categorised as cottage industry with the initial investment of less than 1 million baht. Dried cassava production, on the other hand, can be seen as a small to medium scale industry as the capital invested here is quite high at 10 million baht. The number of labour needed is fairly small in both cases and the raw materials used in them are readily available within local area. In the case of cassava drying field, the extra production capacity can accommodate more raw materials from nearby provinces. There is also constant demand for these products but the profitability is based on the market price as there is a lot of supply for these homogenous goods. Minor environmental problems occur in these industries in terms of smell, noise and dust. Overall, there is generally no problem in these small home-based industries, thus it is reasonable to say that there is good potential for further development in Khok Charoen district. Source of funding may 150

however be crucial here as the area is fairly backward in terms of level of income; not many people will have the kind of money to set up these industries.

Figure: 4.13 Marketing channels of dried cassava. Source: Interview with owner, 2008

Figure: 4.14 Marketing channels of products from rice mill. Source: Interview with owner ,2008

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Influence of nearby large scale industry on the population in Khok Charoen

Thai Rung Reung sugar factory

This factory is one of the seven sugar factories owned by the Thai Rung Reung group. The company was originally established in 1958 but this particular factory started in 1996. Although this factory is not based in Lop Buri province, the district of Sri Thep where this factory is located is actually nearer to Khok Charoen district (17 km) than those in Lop Buri itself. From the criteria mentioned in the introduction, this factory can be regarded as a large scale factory i.e. more than 100 million baht was invested here. The exact detail on the capital invested is confidential. Total factory area is 1800 rais; this consists office building, machinery building, technicians building and cargo building. There is also an experimental field of 100 rais which is used for testing different breeds of sugar cane, soil and chemical. The factory has 27000 rais of support area within 50 km radius of the factory. The support area means that the farmers in the area are contractually obliged to sell their products to the factory every year. The going rate is that for 10 rais of farmland, the farmers will have to provide 100 tons of sugar cane to the factory per year. 3000 farmers are part of this program; it is not known how many of these farmers are from Khok Charoen. The factory gives assistance to the farmers in the support area, in terms of financial credit/loan. If it is to a new farmer (i.e. no machines, experience etc.), the farmer needs around 5500-6000 baht/rai, here the factory will help around 4000 baht/rai. If it is for existing farmer, the factory will help around 2000 baht/rai. The condition is that the money has to be paid back by the end of the next harvesting period. The going interest rate for loan is 7 per cent per annum During the harvest period, the factory purchases around 25000 tons of sugar cane per day. This is 1300 trucks per day, each truck bringing 22-25 tons. Broadly speaking, around 10 types of sugar cane breed are brought to the factory. However, 95 per cent of sugar cane is of K84-200 breed. This is a genetically-modified breed (invented Agriculture Research Centre) and its main advantages are high weight, sweet and most importantly it is drought resistant. This is an important factor as 97-98 per cent of the surrounding area has no irrigation system. The government sets the price of sugar cane, based on the sweetness level indicator, commercial cane sugar aka CCS. The going price is 600 baht for 10 CCS, which roughly constitutes a ton of sugar cane. The sweeter the sugar cane (i.e. the higher the CCS level), the higher is the price. One extra CCS level gives an extra 36 baht to the farmer (or around 10% of the governments set price). In general, the CCS level of sugar cane prior to mid-January is around 10.5. As the crops are more matured, the CCS level will consequently rise. The majority of sugar cane the factory received has the CCS level of around 12.5. The highest CCS level the factory has seen is 16 (very rare). The CCS level of each sugar cane stock received at the factory is determined by staffs from the Ministry of Industry. 152

The majority of the workers are from local and nearby surrounding areas, especially the full-time workers. A quarter of part-time workers are migrated from the Northeastern areas in Thailand. There are 350 full-time workers and 650 part-time workers. The parttime workers are only employed during the harvest period between December to April. The full-time workers receive a salary on a monthly basis. There are 3 salary brackets within the setup. The technician assistants receive less than 10000 baht/month. The technician and foremen get between 10000-30000 baht/month. The management staffs receive more than 30000 baht/month

The temporary workers get 157 baht/day for 8 hours of work (the average in Khok Charoen is less than 150 baht per day). However, they can also get an OT (overtime) pay, working an additional 4 hours for 117.75 baht. This is a 4 hours work for the wage of 6 hours at normal rate. Processes Analysis: this factory has a large influence on Khok Charoen even though it does not locate within the Lop Buri province. The reason for this is that the factory is actually nearer to the district than some other sugar factories within Lop Buri. This is particularly important as sugar cane is one of the main agricultural products that come from Khok Charoen. The factory has great power over the sugar cane farmers in that the farmers are contractually obliged to sell their products as well as being tied to the loan given to the factory. Some people from Khok Charoen are also employed by the factory, either on a full-time or part-time basis. It is unlikely that industries of such scale can be set up in Khok Charoen as it requires large capital of investment, significant improvement in the level of infrastructure, availability of raw materials as well as the fact that it may not be economically feasible to compete with existing industries. For example, as mentioned, during harvest season the factory uses 25000 tons of sugar cane per day in their production. The total volume in Khok Charoen in the year 2005 is only 375733 tons.

4.1.6 Summary on problems and potentials of the industrial sector in Khok Charoen

The main strength of Khok Charoen lies in the rural industry, or more specifically in the form of weaving production. The majority of the population is migrated from Northeastern area of Thailand, in which they bring with them indigenous knowledge and artist expertise in weaving production. Currently, there are at least 400 people participating in weaving activities showing there are enough skilled workers to expand the capacity of production. The quality of weaving products here is of very high quality and many of these products have been given OTOP status. In addition, 10 weaving products have been given 4 or 5 stars (max. 5) for their quality; this is significant as there are only 72 products in Lop Buri which have been given this status. It should also be mentioned that Lop Buri lies in zone 3 in the criteria established by the Thai Board of Investment (BOI). With this, comes a maximum benefits in terms of import duty and tax 153

exemption and thus an industrial unit set up in Khok Charoen will gain an economic advantage over those set up in other geo-economical zones. Current national and provincial strategic aim has also emphasized on the development of agro-processing industry. This can be interpreted as strength of Khok Charoen as the majority of the population is already employed in the agricultural sector and the district has seen high yield in products such as paddy, sugar cane, and cassava. The agricultural input can thus be used as input materials to facilitate agro-processing industries. However, there are many weaknesses in the industrial sector. Despite the quality of weaving products in Khok Charoen, there are limited market channels and opportunities to sell the products, hence the low recognition of Khok Charoen brand of weaving products. From the study, it was clear that members of these weaving groups lack entrepreneurship skills and consequently they rely on middlemen coming to purchase their products. To make problem worse, some groups even rely on the same middlemen to provide them with raw materials necessary for production. Thus despite the quality of their products, their income from this has actually been decreasing. To illustrate this, the income generated from OTOP products in Khok Charoen district has decreased by around 7% between the years 2006-2007. This weakness can also be used to describe the situation of other groups such as handicraft. Through interview of staffs from district and Tambon office, we have also found that there is limited collaboration among various occupational groups performing similar activities. Thus there is no process for the groups to learn from the mistakes that other have already experienced in their business operations. In addition, it should be raised that there is an inadequate level of infrastructure to set up a large scale industrial unit in Khok Charoen. From field visit to a large sugar factory in nearby province (Sri Thep, Petchabun), we have found such scale of industry requires a lot of water and electricity in their production and maintenance process. It is also dependant on a large road network for transportation of their products; this is however not sufficient in Khok Charoen. Table 4.13 List of main problems in the industrial sector Problems Causes Lack of collateral for loan due to no land title. 1. Shortage of Lack of skills in managing financial resources. Low level of capital for entrepreneurship among the population. investment. Supporting funds are not sufficient for distributions to all groups. Exploitation by local middlemen whether in terms of supply of 2. Lack of raw materials or purchase of end products. market channels Limited market network and information. Since many groups are small in terms of number of members (= less production), they do not enjoy economy of scale and has little market power. 3. Decreasing level of income generated Lack of market channels Increasing price of raw materials and transportation cost. Low recognition of Khok Charoen brand of weaving products. 154

OTOPs 4. Limited collaboration among various weaving groups

Although the majority of the people in Khok Charoen are migrated from the Northern-eastern part of Thailand, they are originated from different provinces. Thus interaction between various groups is limited. Loss of strong community/group leaders. No organized location for interaction to take place.

Lack of market channels. 5. Low For weaving products, there is a strong competition from nearby recognition of district such as Ban Mi where the capacity of production is much Khok Charoen higher. There is also fierce competition from other provinces in brand of the North-eastern region of Thailand. weaving products. Table 4.14 List of potentials of industrial sector in Khok Charoen Factors Descriptions Industrial zone; maximum benefits. 1. Policy National and regional promotion on agro-processing industry. Adequate vocational training programs. The primary occupation in the area is in agriculture. The 2. Access to raw main products include sugarcane, cassava, paddy, corn. There materials are also many beef cattle in the area, thus consideration on local slaughter house may reap considerable financial reward. Information from the Provincial Industrial Office has also shown that some minerals such as pyrite are available in the area; this can be seen as another potential for industrial development. The location of Khok Charoen is on the fringe of Lop Buri in 3. Location the North. Thus Khok Charoen has access to nearby provinces such as Nakhon Sawan and Petchaboon, as a source of raw materials and as market outlets. Lop Buri, itself, is not so far away from Bangkok (only 155 km). There is not much competition in the area at all levels of industry. Total working population in the area amounts to around 4. Skills and 11,000 people. Since the majority of the population engaged labour in the agricultural sector, which is seasonal, they will be able available to accept another form of employment opportunities. The average income per day in non-agricultural activity is surveyed to be around 150 baht or less, in general for the whole district. At least 590 people are recorded as having taken a form of vocational training. The population possesses indigenous knowledge and skills in weaving production. They also possess unique design and pattern of fabric. 155

5. Adequate infrastructure for small and medium scale industry

Quality weaving products are renowned in Khok Charoen. Many OTOP products here are given 4 and 5 stars award for their quality. Accessible road networks. Access to electricity. Adequate water supply.

4.2 Trade and Commerce 4.2.1 General Information and Current Situation on Trade and Commerce There are 102 enterprises and partnerships with the registered investment of 154,240,000 baht in the province of Lop Buri. It classified into 28 enterprises with registered investment of 30,900,000 baht, and 74 partnerships with the registered investment of 123,340,000 baht. The province has 18 permanent markets, 6 located in Mueang Lop Buri, 2 in Ban Mi, 2 in Chai Badan, 2 in Khok Samrong, 2 in Nong Muang, and Tha Luang, Ta Wung, Phattana Nikhom and Sa Bot each has one. There is no any permanent market in Khok Charoen district, the only weekly and mobile markets operating in the district. In the district, there are 9 places of weekly market located in different Tambon and operating different date and time. These markets sell cloths, grocery, house ware, electricity ware, meat, vegetable and fruit. The district has mobile market system, traders upload there goods to pick up truck and travel around village by village. The mobile market sell cooked food and fruit, they travel mostly during the meal time especially lunch time. Retail shops in Khok Charoen district consist of private shop and community shops, these shops sell grocery and soft drink. Totally, there are 373 private shops in Khok Charoen. Those shops are requested to pay tax to district tax office. There are two types of tax named sign tax and housing tax Although, in the district has no permanent market. However, local traders have market linkage with Srithep market, Phetchaboon province far away from the Khok Charoen more than 15 km, Nong Muang market, Lop Buri province far from his home more than 30 km, and many markets in Lop Buri district the capital city of Lop Buri province. There are two types of market in Khok Charoen district, namely weekly market and mobile market. These markets are the main source of providing goods and service. There are many kinds of commodities sold in the market including food, clothes, fruits, vegetables, animal meat, grocery, electricity ware etc. The markets serve the people in their own Tambon and also other surrounding Tambon. Some kinds of the commodities are taken from outside Tambon, namely from Bangkok, and also neighboring province. Khok Charoen district has no any industry to produce goods for local consumption and export to outside, the only non-agriculture products from the district flow out is only 156

weaving and handicraft products. The common products in the district sold out are agricultural product such as sugarcane, cassava and vegetables. Livestock is one main source of outflow such as cattle which is very common in the district.

4.2.2 Markets and Shops in the District a. Market Weekly Markets Weekly markets operate in different place and time found in the district. Total number of weekly market in Khok Charoen is 10 places. These markets existed in all Tambon, serving people living around four to five villages providing some basic goods for daily home consumption. Some places operate more than one time a week for example in Tambon YangRak at village number 4 and 9 operate two times a week and Tambon Nong Makha at village number 8 operates 3 times a week (Table 4.15). Table 4.15 Distribution time and place of weekly market in Khok Charoen district. Location Schedule (time operated) No. Tambon (Moo) Moo 2 Sunday evening (3-8pm) [one time/week] 1 Khok Charoen Monday evening (3-8pm), Thursday evening Moo 4,5 (3NA8pm) [two times/week] Moo 2 Sunday evening (3-8pm) [one time/week] Wednesday and Saturday Morning (6-9am) [two Moo 4 times/week] 2 YangRak Tuesday and Thursday evening (3-8am) [two Moo9 times/week] Moo 10 Saturday evening (3-8pm) [one time/week] Tuesday evening (3-8pm) [one time/week] 3 KhokSamaesan Moo 4 Moo1,2 Friday evening (3-8pm) [one time/week] 4 WangThong Sunday morning (6-9am), Tuesday and Thursday Moo 8 5 NongMakha evening (3-8pm) [three time/week] Source: Interview with TAOs

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Mobile Markets

This is a dynamic kind of market for rural villagers; it provides a very convenience service to rural people with food, fruit and other different kind of commodities for basic needs. In Khok Charoen district, mobile market performed as direct sale, traders bring those kinds of goods to serve people at their home. The advantage of mobile market is to facilitate the rural people to access to the necessary goods and commodity especially food and fruit. This type of market reduces the cost of transportation of the villagers and villagers also can save their time on traveling to other shops or markets. However, due to the increasing of fuel price, the cost of transportation of traders has increased and it reducing the profit of traders. Hence, traders have to increase the price of goods which leads villagers need to pay more and more on price of those basic goods. One of the villagers complained that every item has increase the price at least 10% compares to last couple years. b. Shops Community Shops The community shop is an activity of cooperative base shop, establish by the saving group with the help of district community development office. Villagers participate through their contribution as saving capital formation and involved in management to run the shop. The shop has a good economic implication on the rural people in term of their saving and good service in order to get benefit through saving mobilization on non-farm activity. The shop function as local needs support for local people who have less capacity to travel to buy things for their family at far away market. The community shop also helps local people who to buy goods in credit in the case that members have not enough cash in hand, then he or she can pay back later. The shop sells beverage, food, house ware, and grocery and some shops sell some items of motorcycle and car spare part, oil and fuel. Case study: Community shop of Ban Mai Si Ou Bon, Tambon Nong Makha, Khok Charoen district Year establish: Location: Main goods: 1991 Ban Mai Si Ou Bon, NongMakha groceries, beverage, some spare part of motorcycle, oil 158

Member: Committee member: Working time: Contract seller: Seller salary: Source of fund: Share price: Dividend/member: Duration: Infrastructure: Goods purchasing:

Management:

and fuel 25 (1991), 95 (2008) 7 people, village head man as the chair person 6 am to 9pm one person 32% of annual net profit SML and share (total 950,000 baht) 10 baht/share 1 baht/share (10 baht gain 1 baht) One year a time of dividend provided District Community Development Office provided Through middlemen (Whole seller bring for the shop) and, staff went out to buy from whole seller shops in Khok Charoen town Executive Committee of the shop

Private Shops Khok Charoen district has several types of shop regarding to the tax office, shops were classified into many types according to their functions. The largest number is convenient or grocery shops then flow by car and motorbike repair shops and gasoline pump. These shops are owned by private, functioned as household business to provide service for villagers and people living around. According to the data from Tambon tax revenue list, in each Tambon has different types and number of shops. The highest number of grocery shop is in Tambon Khok Charoen, and then follows by Tambon Nong Makha, the least number of grocery shop is in Tambon Wang Thong (Table 4.17). Number of grocery shop shows the rate of household business activity in that particular Tambon. According to Table 4.16, Tambon Khok Charoen has the largest number of shops which account for 29.49 per cent, when we take to population ratio (total population divided by total shops) Khok Charoen has the least ratio. Tambon Wang Thong has the least percentage of shop but the second least ratio. It means Wang Thong has less population even the number of shop is less, but people can also have more chance to access to the shops. However, the variety of shop (goods and service) is not good as Khok Charoen and other Tambon. We cannot assume the shop type due to the data on shop given is not classified in to different type of shops dealing with different goods and services. Table 4.16 Distribution of total shop by Tambon Population Total number of shops Percentage of shop No. Tambon in each Tambon 1 Khok Charoen 7,296 110 30 2 YangRak 7,783 71 22 3 KhokSamaesan 3,231 39 12 4 WangThong 2,638 35 11 5 NongMakha 3,509 75 23 Total 24,457 330 100.00 Source: TAO office, 2007

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Table 4.17 Distribution of Shops by Tambon

Shops Car and No Tambon Grocery Gasoline motorbike shops pump repair 1 Khok Charoen 72 4 12 2 YangRak 69 2 NA 3 KhokSamaesan 35 4 NA 4 WangThong 35 NA NA 5 NongMakha 48 3 10 Total 259 13 22 *Hair salon, knitting shop, restaurant and game shop Pharmacy 5 NA NA NA 1 6 Agriculture inputs 4 NA NA NA 1 5 Construction material 4 NA NA NA NA 4 Others* 9 NA NA NA 12 21 Total 110 71 39 35 75 330

Source: TAO office, 2007

Table 4.18 Ratio of Population under the Service of Shops in Tambon

Types of shops Grocery shops Gasoline pump Car and motorbike repair Pharmacy Agriculture inputs Construction material Others* Total Khok Charoen Shops Ratio 72 4 12 5 4 4 9 110 101 1,824 608 1,459 1,824 1,824 811 66 YangRak Shops 69 2 NA NA NA NA NA 71 Ratio 113 3,892 NA NA NA NA NA 110 Khok Samaesan Shops 35 4 NA NA NA NA NA 39 Ratio 92 808 NA NA NA NA NA 83 WangThong Shops 35 NA NA NA NA NA NA 35 NongMakha Ratio 73 1,170 351 3,509 3,509 NA 292 47 Total Shops 259 13 22 6 5 4 21 330 Ratio 94 1,881 1,112 4,076 4,891 6,114 1,165 74

Ratio Shops 75 NA NA NA NA NA NA 75 48 3 10 1 1 NA 12 75

Source: TAO office, 2007

160

Figure: 4.15 Density of Population to Private Shops Map

161

Figure: 4.16 Distribution of Weekly Market Map

Tambon Nong Makha

3 2 1 0 Places Frequency conducted 1 3

Tambon Khok Charoen

3 2 1 0 2 3

Tambon Wang Thong

3 2 1 0 1 1

Tambon Yang Rak

8 6 4 2 0 Places Frequency conducted 4 6

Places Frequency conducted

Places

Frequency conducted

Tambon Khok Samae San 3

2 1 0 Places Frequency conducted 1 1

162

Figure: 4.17 Market Linkage

163

Market Linkage and Network Analysis The Figure 4.15, 4.16 and 4.17 provide as very clear explanation on shops and markets density in Khok Charoen district. In the district has no any permanent market, while district nearby named Srithep has a big permanent market; traders in Khok Charoen have to travel to buy goods from Srithep to sell in the district. There are 10 weekly markets in the district; the weekly markets as well as shops are not well distributed fairly in the district. Thus, some Tambon are less number of shops and weekly market to serve their population, while others have much more market and shops density comparing to the population size. Hence, it means that not very people in every Tambon can access and get their need from their local market. They have to spend some time to travel for goods purchasing for their daily need. Regarding to this situation, the population who live at the place has less service, they are disadvantage in term of access to variety of service as well as price of common basic goods comparing to the neighboring area. We also can see that the largest numbers of shops and other services are agglomerated in Tambon Khok Charoen. Hence, maybe in Tambon Khok Charoen is the most advantage Tambon in the district. Neighboring districts are the sources of daily goods that traders from Kho Charoen district usually go to buy goods to sell in Khok Charoen. Regarding to the map there are four neighboring districts which has road connection with Khok Charoen named Srithep district far from Khok Charoen around 25 km, Nong Muang 30 km, Sabot 20 km and Chai Badan 45 km. In the case that traders want to buy in big volume they have to go to Lop Buri city where far away from Khok Charoen around 80 km. Since, the road access is very important for trade and commerce. According to the map, transport node is quite in good situation. Thus, better the road connection provides more choice for local traders dealing trading with neighboring markets, and also brings out local products to outside markets. 4.2.3 Marketing Channel of Products Marketing channel were classified in two parts namely inflow channel and outflow channel. The inflow channel to present the goods those are being brought from outside to the Khok Charoen district which classified into four main components related to nonagriculture sectors namely cloths, grocery, house ware and electricity ware. The outflow channel present the goods and products which the district and produce and send out to sell in other market outside the district. The goods and products which are being produced in the district and sending to market outside are weaving product, basketry product, Thong Muan (Thai sweet role) and agro-processing product such cassava and sugarcane. The flow of these goods and products were drawn base on the interview with Tambon administrative offices, shop owners and traders in the various weekly markets. The whole seller, cloth shop owners and cloth traders buy clothes from Bangkok (BoBe market). First channel, some of them group together around 5 to 6 people, then hire a 164

truck to go to Bangkok to buy cloths. These people are from Srithep district, Phetchaboon province, who come to sell cloth in the weekly market in Khok Charoen district. Second channel, retailers or shop owner in Khok Charoen district go to buy for Srithep market, Srithep district, Phetchaboon province where far away around 25 km, and go to Lop Buri city (Big C) to buy cloths especially at the time of discount price campaign. Third channel, middlemen who have truck bring the cloths to sell to the shop owner in the district (Table 4.19). Mostly, groceries are brought from Srithep market in Srithep district Phetchaboon province. Many private shop owners go to buy grocery goods from this particular market. This market centre considered as service center of this region two or three districts surrounding name Srithep, Khok Charoen, Chai Badan and Wichien Buri. Another place, grocery is brought from Lop Buri city by whole sellers; they brought these kinds of products to sell for private shops, which serve people living around. There are some source markets of the goods inflow to Khok Charoen district such as Bobe market, Talat Thai, Phitsanulok market and others, locating in different location such as Bangkok, Pathumthani, Phetchaboon province etc. It is also noticed that different kind of commodities and goods are from different markets. The commodities and goods inflow to the district include food products (fruits, vegetable and food), consumer products (cloths, electricity ware) and raw materials for agro-processing. Since, the distance of the source market is located far from the district; the cost of transportation of the commodities is one of concerns in terms of the profit for the traders. Table 4.19 Markets, Location and Time Spent of Inflow Products Foods Products Market Major products Location Distance Phitsanulok Fruit (orange) 2 hours and Phitsanulok provine 30 minutes Talat Thai Fruit (grave fruit) 2 hours and Pathumthani province 30 minutes 25 minutes Srithep market Dry food and instant PhetChaboon province food Consumer Products Bobe market Cloths 3 hours Big C supermarket Cloths, Cosmetics, 1 hours Toys, and electricity ware Srithep market Kitchen items, 25 minutes electricity ware Raw material for AgroNAprocessing Nakhon Sawan Cassava Nakhon Sawan 15 minutes province PhetChaboon Cassava PhetChaboon province 30 minutes
Source: Market survey, Khok Charoen district, February 2008

Figure: 4.18 Marketing Chanel of cloths 165

Marketing Chanel of Cloths

Factories/Companies BOBE Market, Bangkok

Export to International Market

Lop Buri, Province Private Retailer shop in Khok Charoen Whole seller in Sithep Market, Sithep District, PhetChaboon Weekly market in Khok Charoen

Source: Interview with TAO Figure: 4.19 Marketing Chanel of groceries

Marketing Chanel of Grocery

Whole Seller In Bangkok Big C and Whole Seller, Lop Buri, Province Whole Seller, Middlemen & Deliverers Whole seller in Sithep Market, Sithep District, PhetChaboon

Community Shops

Private Retailer shop in Khok Charoen Weekly market in Khok Charoen

Source: Interview with TAO and shop owner

Figure: 4.20 Marketing Chanel of House ware products

166

Consumers in Khok Charoen

Consumers in Khok Charoen

Marketing Chanel of House Ware

Factories/Companies

Middlemen

Big C and Whole Seller in Lop Buri, Province

Whole seller in Sitheb Market, Sitheb District, Phet Chaboon

Private Retailer shop in Khok Charoen Weekly market in Khok Charoen

Source: Interview with TAO and shop owner Figure: 4.21 Marketing Chanel of Electric ware Products

Marketing Chanel of Electricity Items (TV, fan, rice cooking pot)

Factories/Companies

Export to International Market

Middlemen

Private Retailer shop in Khok Charoen Whole seller in Sithep Market, Sithep District, Phet Chaboon Weekly market in Khok Charoen

Source: Interview with TAO Table 4.20 Markets, Location and Time Spent of Outflow Products 167

Consumers in Khok Charoen

Consumers in Khok Charoen

Destinations Talat Thai Lop Buri Phetchaboon Nakhonsavanh

Lop Buri Ayuthaya province Sing Buri Sara Buri Srithep

Foods Products Major products Location Vegetable Pathumthani province Cattle ThongMuan (Sweet Phetchaboon roll) province ThongMuan (Sweet Nakhonsavanh roll) province Consumer Products Weaving products Province Agro-processing Cassava Nakhonsavanh province Sing Buri province Sara Buri province Sugarcane Phetchaboon province

Distance 2 hours and 30 minutes 25 minutes 15 minutes

1 hours

70 minutes

Source: Market survey, Khok Charoen district, February 2008

In Khok Charoen district, there are various local agricultural and non-agricultural products. Those products include food products, consumer products, and agro-processing products. There are also OTOP products of Tambon, namely weaving products, Thong Muan product. The weaving products are sold to several markets in Bangkok, Lop Buri province. And the markets of Thong Muan products are in neighboring provinces. So, in general, the products of the district have been sold to different markets, which are located in different destinations (Table 4.20). 4.2.4 Role of Middlemen Since, the district explore to external market for their local products. Middlemen become more important for local people, these middlemen functioning as connection between local to external and provide raw material for local production. The case of weaving group, after the head of the group had passed away, group members solely depend on the middleman who come from Banmi district. Almost weaving products from Khok Charoen sell to him, this person control price. Another, function of middlemen as goods deliverers, these people have truck connected with whole seller in city (Lop Buri city, Srithep and Nong Muang district). Goods are brought and unload in each private grocery shop follow by orders. 4.2.5 Taxation In 2006, the total revenues from different sources amount to 13,478,840 Baht. The revenues are generated from some sources including tax, non-tax, grant and treasury. The revenue from collecting tax has a significant share to the total revenue, accounting for 56

168

percent of the total revenue, followed by grant of 24 percent. The non-tax share only 1 percent. Figure: 4.22 Distribution of Tax revenue of Khok Charoen District in 2006

Treasury 19%

Grant 24% Non-tax 1%

Tax 56%

Source: Tax office, Khok Charoen district Tax is a one source of the district revenue; there are various types of tax including business tax and income tax, which are collected from the commercial shop and individual income. According to the data given, there are two types of tax charged from the private shops called housing tax and sign tax. The Figure 4.23 shows the tax revenue from each Tambon of Khok Charoen district in 2007. The highest tax revenue from Khok Charoen accounted for 31,183 Baht, then follow by Wang Thong accounted for 19,529 Baht. The least tax revenue is Tambon Khok Samae San accounted for 9,150 Baht in 2007. Regarding to the shop distribution Tambon Wang Thong has less number of shops, but the revenue from tax is higher than other Tambon except Tambon Khok Samae San. The reason is there are two large shops that paid higher tax nearly 20% of the total tax of the Tambon. Figure: 4.23 Tax Revenues Generated from Private Shop by Tambon in 2007

Source: TAOs

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4.2.6 Financial Institutions Existing Financial Institutions There are state-owned and private financial supporting institutions in Khok Charoen district, which provides financial services to the farm and non-farm activities. Those financial institutions include VDF, BAAC and Bangkok Bank (only the mobile bank available in the district). Case study of Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperative (BAAC) Bank of Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperative (BAAC) is a state-owned financial institution established in the year 1966 with the aim to provide financial services to farmers, farmers groups, agriculture cooperative and farmers associations for the investment primarily in agriculture sector. It is now operating throughout the country. The BAAC offers following services such as credit/finance, deposit facility and input supply. There is no BAAC representative office in Khok Chareoun district, but in the neighboring district of Nong Muang. Those who want to get loans have to contact the office in Nong Muang. In addition, the major focus of the BAAC is on agriculture; however, it also provides loan support to non-agriculture sector as well. The total investment on nonagriculture sector is nearly 10 percent (December 2007) and recently BAAC has been decided to increase investment in non-agriculture sector up to 20 percent. Although BAAC has not yet established office in the district, the office located at Nong Muang is responsible to provide necessary financial services. Farmers groups are playing key roles in mediating between individual farmers and the bank. Groups collect loan demand and submit them to the bank office and they monitor the use of loan amount. The interest rate on loan also ranges from 6-7.5 percent. Total number of clients and loan disbursed in Khok Charoen district were 2,777 clients and 228,186,855 Baht respectively (Table 4.21). Table 4.21 Number of Clients and Loan Amount Disbursed Tambon Khok Charoen Khok Samae San Yang Rak Wang Thong Nong Makha Total Source: BAAC, 2007 Number of Farmers 746 369 603 290 269 2,277 Loan Amount Disbursed
(Amount in Baht)

68,482,574 42,388,624 53,388,357 29,511,575 34,415,725 228,186,855

In addition, loan flow system of BAAC is divided into two ways, namely (i) loan to individual farmers on individual guarantee basis and (ii) BAAC provides loan to group 170

members on group guarantee basis. In this system, group collects loan demands and submits to BAAC offices.

4.2.6 Supporting Institution on Trade and Commerce Tambon Administration Office (TAO) Tambon Administration Office (TAO) has provides supports to local people for their income generation. The services and supports which are provided by the TAO as consultation for any traders and local producer who want to start to run their business particularly the OTOP products. The other support is facilitator and connector between local people and other agencies such as government, TAO propose the needs of local people to government in term of fund needed, technical needed and others needs related to their local potential income generation. However, TAO can only support the local people whoever had well organized, the groups or association of any production can request and ask for funding and technical support from the TAO. For example the cattle raising groups, weaving groups and organic vegetable these groups got supports from TAO. Communication Development Offices (CD) The District Community Development Office (CD) is a government agency who dealing with the local community development in within the district. The CD provides various supports to the community for the community income generation and self sufficiency. Supports which related to the non-agricultural activities in the Khok Charoen district are facilities provision such as community house building for community shop in Tambon Yang Rak and CD also provided some seed grant in term of goods for sale for the community shops. The CD not only provide fund and facility, the training to improve local skilled is also provided. The main focus of CD is basically on OTOPs and village development fun. Provincial Commercial Office, Lop Buri Province The Provincial Commercial Office is the leading organization for economic development in the province and sustainable economic growth. It is the one of the various offices who provides support for economic development in provincial level. The main role and responsibilities of office are to strengthening of the entrepreneurs capacity and provide support for marketing and services, and protect intellectual property. Every year the Provincial Commercial Office has activities plan and budget to propose to the provincial governor office to implement support activities related to market promotion for local entrepreneurs.

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Table 4.22 Department of Business Development Strategy (2008-2012) Vision Excellence in providing service and capacity building for business competition Mission Sustainable Development of trading and service Strategies Develop capacity of entrepreneurs and promote business Develop information and data base for supporting business Strategic Plans Provide advices for entrepreneur Create potential market for target business Develop business institution Expand the business information and data base Utilize information Develop data and information service through information technology (IT) Utilize information technology for business registration Modify the registration procedure Create good service environment Promote standard business accountant system Enhance knowledge on business law of entrepreneur Manage and monitor business dealer follow the law and regulation Support Strategies Strong business and Apply can compete with technology others information in implementation of work Develop Source of data and human information service resources for participating in the process of strategic planning Fast, transparency, Modify and efficiency and adapt the law correct. regarding to the real situation. Introduce and make announce organization to be acceptable. Business has a accuracy account and follow the law Goals

Provide information on trade and commerce on time and efficiency

Fast and transparency Develop of business registration system registration

Businesses monitoring for achieving good governance

Promote and monitor the business to ensure the good thrust

Source: Provincial Commercial Office, 2008

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Bank of Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperative (BAAC) Bank of Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperative (BAAC) is a state owned financial institution established in the year 1966 with the aim to provide financial services to farmers, farmers groups, agriculture cooperative and farmers associations for the investment primarily in agriculture sector. The major focus of the BAAC is on agriculture; however it also provides loan support to non-agriculture sector as well. The total investment on non-agriculture sector is nearly 10 percent (December 2007) and recently BAAC has decided to increase investment in non-agriculture sector up to 20 percent. 4.3 Tourism 4.3.1 Tourism Situation in Lop Buri Province Regarding to the tourism statistic provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Lop Buri Province in the year 2005 and 2006. Tourism is considered one of the main sources of revenue generation in Lop Buri province. The tourism industry in the province can attract the significant number of visitors and tourists of both Thai and foreigners. The number of visitor increases from 2,784,301 in 2005 to 2,807,428 in 2006; and the tourist number also increase from 720,702 in 2005 to 779,084 in 2006. The revenue generated from this sector values at 2,768.31 million Baht in 2006. The total revenues increases 5.18 percent, compared to that in 2005. This can hugely contribute to the socio-economic development of the province itself, by providing the local people with the local employment opportunities and income earning. Table 4.23 Internal Tourism Statistics of Lop Buri Province Type of data Visitor number Thai Foreigners Tourists Thai Foreigners Excursionists Thai Foreigners Average length of stay (day) Thai Foreigners Average expenditure (Baht/person/day) January-December 2006 2005 2,807,428 2,784,301 2,605,445 2,449,027 201,983 335,274 779,084 720,702 774,072 712,181 5,012 8,521 2,028,344 2,063,599 1,831,373 1,736,846 196,971 326,753 2.2 2.25 2.2 2.26 1.58 1.67 740.77 714.21 173 Change (%) +0.83

+8.1

-1.71

946.87 Visitor 567.11 Tourist Excursionist Total revenue (million Baht) Visitor 2,768.31 Thai 2,623.74 Foreigners 144.57 Accommodation Establishments Establishments 35 Rooms 1,775 Occupancy Rate (%) 44.91 Average Length of Stay (day) 1.87 Number of Guest Arrivals 305,616 Thai 301,635 Foreigners 3,981 Source: Central office 7, Tourism Authority of Thailand Note: Internal tourism = Domestic + Inbound

923.60 549.66

2,631.97 2,398.35 233.62 26 1,142 63.72 1.88 272,374 264,553 7,821

+5.18

Lop Buri has many attractive tourist places those are including dam, archaeological site, and natural site. According to the statistic (TAT, 2004) the percentage of total tourists prefered to visit Pasak Sonlasith Dam accounted for 30.93 of 2,162,274 tourists. Table 4.24 Attractive tourist place in Lop Buri by share of visitors in 2004 Share of Tourists Share of total Share of total Thai visitors Alien visitors 31.74 27.53 26.30 22.29 22.32 3.91 13.85 1.79 13.55 0.51 5.86 1.79 5.89 14.52 8.15 3.93 7.18 1.68

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Tourist Places Pasak Solasith Phra Narai Rathchanivet Sala Phrakan Phra Keo Zoo WangKanLaueng Waterfall Phra Prang SamGnoth Mooban Thamdinsorphong WatKhaovongkot Saun Roukkhaxat

Total Share 30.93 25.54 18.81 11.55 11.06 5.08 7.54 7.35 6.13

Source:TAO,2008

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Figure: 4.24 Tourist Map in Lop Buri Province Source: http://thai.tourismthailand.org/map/Lop BuriNA16NA1.html, download on 9/4/2008 175

4.3.2 Tourism Situation in Khok Charoen Current situation It is noticed that there is no significant tourist attractions in Khok Chareoun district. The district is quite isolated and a bit far from the provincial center and it is not the place where many of the travelers have to pass across. Ten years ago, in Tambon Wang Thong, there were three tourist places, namely Grape garden, Animal Zoo, and Fishing Pond. These three places also attracted the tourists to the district. However, after three years later, the visitors decreased and these tourist places could not run any more. It is unfortunately that the tourism statistical data cannot be obtained in order to presents and compare to other districts within the Lop Buri province. The tourism development plan in Khok Charoen district is still in the initial process, there are no any concrete and any document plan focusing clearly on tourism industry development in Khok Charoen district. The season behind this is the lack of attractive tourist places. Thus, the district had not prioritized the tourism industry in the development agenda. During the time of discussion with TAO and we were told that there were not any attractive place to develop for tourism purpose, and the potential on the tourism is hardly to identify. However, the district also receives some visitors who visits Nuern Rang Vora Panya temple in Tambon Yang Rak, due the free of charge visit the statistic on how many tourists that this particular place received is not available. Existing potentials tourist attraction places Although the district is rarely to find the tourist place, but in Yang Rak still has some undeveloped tourist places. Local handmade (weaving and handicraft), cultural (rocket festival) and natural tourist place (water reservoir in Khok Sa Mae San and waterfall tourist place in Tambon Yang Rak) are waiting to develop to attract tourists come to visit. Tourism in Neighboring Areas It is known that there is no existing tourism place in Khok Charoen district, even though some places are seen the potential for tourism development. However, in the future if the district has plan to develop the tourist attraction, it would be an opportunity since there are some tourist attractions in its neighboring district, which would be linked together. In this sense, the tourists who visit the other places around Khok Charoen district could take chance also to visit tourist places in Khok Charoen as it seems not so far from each other. These surrounding attractive tourist places include historical tourist site in Srithep district, natural tourist place of Wang Kan Luang waterfall in Tha Luang district, Ban Mi weaving centre in Ban Mi district, Wong Khot Mountain in Ban Mi district and Wong Prachan Mountain in Khok Samrong district. It is a favorable condition that could be

176

linked between the tourism in the district and surrounding thanks to good road network and condition; and the distance between these areas is not so far from each other. It is advantageous that the package tour could be formed to visit these areas. The tour agency can arrange for one or two day package tour that includes the trip to weaving group in Ban Mi, Khoh Charoen and historical place in Srithep. So, the target group who will visit these areas could be the group who are interested in natural, cultural, traditional and historical tourist sites. 4.3.3 Problem and Potential on Tourism According to the observation and interview, there are no tourist attraction places and activities in Khok Charoen district. Furthermore, there are no planning and budget to promote the tourism part. However, there are 22 weaving groups in Khok Charoen district and these existing weaving groups have indigenous knowledge and skills and the weaving products are 5 star awards with unique design and pattern of fabric. So, cultural tourism could be promoted in Khok Charoen district by setting up training centre and knowledge and skills could be passed to young generation. These weaving groups could be cooperated and promoted to work together and train local and visitors who would like to learn weaving. In addition, there will be great opportunities to generate income for weaving groups, promote local indigenous knowledge and maintain the local cultural and tradition by cultural tourism based on potential. The historical tourist place in Srithep district, near Khok Charoen district can be linked. 4.3.4 Tourism Policy/Strategy/Plan and Promotion National and Provincial Level According to the 9 th national development plan, the tourism was assigned as a factor for supporting economic development of Thailand. The tourism development base on local resource mobilization especially human resource and natural resource capacity, the development was based on the local potential such as culture, customs. Then, promote Thai tourist visit Thai and also attract alien visitors. The master plan of tourism industry (2000-2010): Develop Thailand tourism to be the leaders of tourism in Asia and toward to world class destination Develop tourism industry for national income as important as agriculture and industry sectors Decentralize tourism and income distribution from tourism to rural area Enhance tourism facility to be able to compete the world free market Promote and enhance local governors capacity to be able to handle the tourism in local efficiency Protect the natural and unique local culture and customs.

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District Level Currently, there is no any concrete plan on tourism development in the district. The district has initial ideas to develop potential tourist attraction, for instance, weaving, handicraft and tourism festival (rocket festival) and develop natural tourist place such as water reservoir in Khok Sa Mae San and waterfall tourist place in Tambon Yang Rak to attract the tourists who visits Srithep, which is neighboring, to come to visit in Khok Chareoun district also. In addition, Tambon Yang Rak has the plan to develop waterfall tourist place in village 8 in the next two years. SWOT analysis of Tourism Table 4.25 SWOT analysis of tourism Strength Cultural (traditional, unique design and pattern of fabric, weaving product) Good transport node Variety of outdoor activities and traditional culture activities/events such as rocket festival

Opportunity There are tourism development plan policy for the provincial level There are some potential tourist places to develop such as waterfall, reservoir and cultural event and products

Weakness Limited of attractive tourist place Lack of development plan on potential tourist place Limited of tourist facilities and amenities such as hotels, restaurants and tourist information centre Tourism is not priority of the district development plan (No plan for tourism development in district level) Threat Lack of fund for local government to invest in tourist place development Air pollution in sugarcane harvesting season, which detract tourist environment.

4.4 Problems and Potential Analysis of Non-Agriculture Sector The problems analysis of non-agriculture sector comprised of the problems of all sectors related to non-agriculture namely Industry, Trade and Commerce and Tourism in Khok Charoen district. The problems were identified through data and information obtained by interviewing and secondary data. The problems are analyzed the causes and affects which link to each other as presents in the problem matrix. This problem matrix table shows the relationship intermediate affects and causes among the problem of each sub-sector. The problems ranking were done through the frequency of problem matrix table and prioritized those problems which can facilitate us to finalize the project proposal. However, the problem matrix will follow the problem loop which can clearly present on the link and connectivity of the immediate cause and effect of various problems. 178

The problem matrix is shown in the Table 4.26. The table contains of 8 mains common problems of non-agriculture sectors in Khok Charoen district. Specific problem which has cause and effect to another was shown by the cross mark to present the link to that particular to other problems. These cross mark help us to count the frequency of the link and the problem are ranked accordingly. Thus, the high ranking problem provides us to recognize many problems link to this high ranking problem. The main problem related to non-agriculture sector in Khok Charoen consisted of two problems which has equal ranking named limited market channel and market opportunity for local products and limited collaboration among various weaving groups. The most important problem is limitation of collaboration among various weaving groups causes of three other problems mentioned in the matrix named shortage capital on investment, this because of any fund provided by TAO is only for well group of production, any individual producer can not apply for the fund. Another problem is
Limited market channel and market opportunity for local products, this because of the limitation of collaboration among groups of producer, they are facing problem on marketing, the most important is marketing channel where the group can sell their products. Finally, the limitation

of collaboration decreases level of income due to increasing price of raw materials, but low price on selling because of they have less bargaining power to negotiate with supplier and buyer.
Then, limited market channel and market opportunity for local products causes another three problems named decreasing level of income generated from OTOP products due to the sale problem, lack of market channel producers cannot sell their products. Another following problem is shortage of capital for investment, this meant capital from individual saving which generate from their products sale. Finally, limited market channel and market opportunity for local products causes low number of local entrepreneurs (OTOPS, shops, services, small businesses) due to the weak marketing, the local products cannot sell thus numbers of producers have to stop their production that why only few of producers can operate recently.

The problem loop is drawn regarding on the basis on problem matrix (Figure 4.25). The problem loop diagram is well presented the relationship and link among those problems. In the diagram of problem loop shows that the two focused problems are collaboration among various weaving groups and limited of market channel are link to each other. Regarding to the flow of arrow which present the cause and effects relations, the limited collaboration among various weaving and others production group is the main cause of other problems. However, the limited collaboration among various weaving groups is the causes of three problems; the important problem which is caused by the limited collaboration is limited marketing channel for local products especially weaving products. The two main problems mentioned above cause both shortage of capital for investment and decreasing level of income generation from OTOP products, and then the less number of local entrepreneurs was caused by limited market channel and shortage of investment. There are two existing problems named no permanent market and increasing price of raw material and transport cost causing market channel and decreasing of level of income respectively. In addition the problem which independently is lack of tourist attraction and activities.

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4.5

Conclusion and Recommendations

4.5.1 Conclusion A conclusion on the potentials and problems of Khok Charoen district will be presented according to each sub-sector. The main strength of Khok Chareon lies in the rural industry, or more specifically in the form of weaving production. The majority of the population is migrated from Northeastern area of Thailand, in which they bring with them indigenous knowledge and artist expertise in weaving production. Currently, there are at least 400 people participating in weaving activities showing there are enough skilled workers to expand the capacity of production. The quality of weaving products here is of very high quality and many of these products have been given OTOP status. In addition, 10 weaving products have been given 4 or 5 stars (max. 5) for their quality; this is significant as there are only 72 products in Lop Buri which have been given this status. It should also be mentioned that Lop Buri lies in zone 3 in the criteria established by the Thai Board of Investment (BOI). With this, comes a maximum benefits in terms of import duty and tax exemption and thus an industrial unit set up in Khok Chareon will gain an economic advantage over those set up in other geo-economical zones. Current national and provincial strategic aim has also emphasized on the development of agroprocessing industry. This can be interpreted as strength of Khok Chareon as the majority of the population is already employed in the agricultural sector and the district has seen high yield in products such as paddy, sugar cane, and cassava. The agricultural inputs can thus be used as input materials to facilitate agro-processing industries. However, there are many weaknesses in the industrial sector. Despite the quality of weaving products in Khok Chareon, there are limited market channels and opportunities to sell the products, hence the low recognition of Khok Chareon brand of weaving products. From the study, it was clear that members of these weaving groups lack entrepreneurship skills and consequently they rely on middlemen coming to purchase their products. To make problem worse, some groups even rely on the same middlemen to provide them with raw materials necessary for production. Thus despite the quality of their products, their income from this has actually been decreasing. To illustrate this, the income generated from OTOP products in Khok Chareon district has decreased by around 7% between the years 2006-2007. This weakness can also be used to describe the situation of other groups such as handicraft. Through interview of staffs from district and Tambon office, we have also found that there is limited collaboration among various occupational groups performing similar activities. Thus there is no process for the groups to learn from the mistakes that other have already experienced in their business operations. In addition, it should be raised that there is an inadequate level of infrastructure to set up a large scale industrial unit in Khok Chareon. From field visit to a large sugar factory in nearby province (Sri Thep, Petchabun), we have found such scale of industry requires a lot of water and electricity in their production and maintenance process. It is also dependant on a large road network for transportation of their products; this is however not sufficient in Khok Chareon.

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In terms of trade and commerce, there is no parameter which can confidently be regarded as strength. Nevertheless, the number of activities in this sub-sector is fair considering the level of development of Khok Chareon district as a whole; with an average of one retail shop (groceries shop) serves nearly 100 persons and one agriculture input shop serves more than 4,800 persons. The weakness in this sub-sector, however, lies in shortage of capital of investment. This may due to the fact that the local population has no land title to their property as the area is located in reserved forest area, thus they lack the collateral necessary to obtain medium and large loan. In addition, there is no commercial bank in the area (only mobile bank available), adding another constraint to the local entrepreneurs in terms of obtaining and managing fund. Another weakness is that there is no permanent market in the area; this limits the level of trading activities. The tourism sector can be seen as the weakest sub-sector in the area. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there are no tourist activities and currently the number of recorded visitors in the area is zero. There is no real strength here but perhaps one may argue that Khok Chareon has a yearly rocket festival, a northeastern tradition, which can be promoted as this is something that other nearby districts and provinces do not have. It should be mentioned that although the lack of visitors is clearly a weakness of Khok Chareon district, it does not have much impact on the local population who traditionally rely on agricultural activities anyway. 4.5.2 Recommendation Industry In conclusion, it can be seen that the strengths and weaknesses of the non-agricultural sectors are most evident in the industrial sector. Therefore a recommendation should be based on improving its strengths and correcting its weaknesses. One suggestion is to set up a weaving cooperative centre. The rationale behind this is to get members from various weaving groups to cooperate and assist each other in the production and marketing process. Acting as a group can help channeling financial supports from local administrations and this money can be used to provide loan to members to facilitate them in the purchase of necessary raw materials and machines. This will to an extent reduce the problem of capital of investment as well as the role of middlemen (who previously supply them with raw materials). The centre can also be used as a demonstration and learning centre. This can promote cultural tourism in the area and in turn help to market weaving products in itself. Working as a group will also allow Khok Chareons weavers to gain an economy of scale, increase their market power and allow them to compete with other larger producers such as those in Ban Mi district. Trade and Commerce Khok Charoen has potential in local unique products such as weaving product; this can be promoted through support by well functioned market. Thus, local government should in charge of provide marketing support by expanding markets of weaving products. Marketing team should be formed to handle this particular job, and make use of technology information that district has been developed. Meanwhile strong collaboration of weaving groups and other kinds of production group should be maintained. In addition, 181

credit access and credit use need to be improved particularly the properly use of loan obtained. Tourism Based on potential, cultural tourism could be promoted as one activity because there are 22 weaving groups in Tambon Khok Charoen and these groups have indigenous knowledge in weaving and their weaving products have unique design and pattern of fabric which awards 5 stars. This proposal is needed to promote and maintain local cultural and tradition of doing weaving by training centre. This activity could be developed as one activity for cultural tourism in Khoh Charoen district so the local can get additional income and the skills and culture could be passed to young generation. Local government enables regional market and provides visitors information through existing information technology systems which has been developed in the district. Meanwhile, other facilities such as hotels and restaurants should be promoted through privatize or public partnership.

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CHAPTER V INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR

5.1 Introduction Lop Buri province is located in the central part of country approximately 150 km from Bangkok. It consists of 11 districts and Khok Charoen is the northern most district of the province. Total area of Khok Charoen is 514 km2. There are 5 Tambon mentioned in the map. Administratively district is divided into 5 Tambon Administrative Organizations (TAO) one in each Tambon and District Administrative Office (DAO) look after all these TAOs. DAO performs intermediary role passing on national policies/information to TAOs and sending feedback of the implementation received from TAOs to provincial as well as central government. As we know that infrastructure plays key role in development process; it eases and facilitates to conduct different development activities effectively. It is normally to see the development situation first whether infrastructure of the area is sufficient or not. The different parameters with indicators mentioned below have been used to analyze the infrastructure situation in Khok Charoen. Parameters and indicators: following six parameters have been adopted to analyze the situation. The respective indicators of each parameter are mentioned here as under. Settlement Demography and population distribution, Connection network: Time distance and accessibility, Development level analysis of settlements based on NRD-2C data, and Policy and potential are included as indicators to analyze settlement. Road Network
Type and density of road, Distribution of public facilities and services, Durability,

Construction and maintenance and Policy and potential have been considered as indicators to analyze road network. Public Transport Facilities Public transportation (Bus), Private transportation and Policy and potential are the major indictor to analyze transport situation. Water Supply System Capacity of water sources, Water supply installation cost, Operation and Maintenance and policy and potential are the indicators for analyzing water supply system. For further clarification once case study has also conducted Power supply system Provision of service, purpose of use, number of households benefited, alternative energy sources and Policy and potential are the indicators based on which the data is analyzed. Telecommunication Telephone networking, telephone operation and maintenance, fax, internet, postal service, community information service, satellite communication and cable TV 183

Distant and policy and potential are the indicator to analyze the data related to this parameter. 5.2 Settlement Mostly the distribution of settlement in district Khok Charoen is uneven mainly due to scattered population of different villages in all five Tambons. More or less every Tambon has similar kind of settlements and facilities. The settlements along with population have also been reproduced on below map 5.1. Map 5.1: Settlement Pattern of Khok Chareon

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5.2.1 Demography and population distribution: Demographic data is the first need to analyze the development progress of any area. Population size is one of the most important indicators of the data set used for development planning. Therefore as per given population data, at first population density (person/ sq. km) of each Tambon have been calculated that is given in the Table 5.1 and map 5.2 and map 5.3 respectively. Table 5.1: Population Density and Settlement Pattern of District Khock Charoen Tambon
Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San
No. of Villages Area (km2) Population (person) Pop. Density (sq. km2) No of HHs HHs size Person/HH

12 12 12 9 8 53

120 97 134 75 87 514

7,580 7,679 3,158 2,631 3,516 24,564

63 79 24 35 40 48

2,114 2,166 570 862 808 6,520

4 4 6 3 4 4

Total

Source: Secondary data; DAO and TAO

Similarly, the bar figure 5.1 give below shows the comparison between the sizes of families (person/ household) in each Tambon.
Figure 5.1: Size of Household

Size of HHs (Persons/Household)

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Tam bon Khok Samae San Number 4 4 3

6 4

185

Map 5.2: Population density of Khok Charoen district

Map 5.3: Population distribution

186

5.3 Connection network: Time distance and accessibility Time needed to reach major settlements in every Tambon is calculated on the basis of speed limit. Although local public transportation facility is rare yet motorbike is the major mode of transportation in the district. Therefore, the calculated time distance to access the services in the table 5.2 is based on average speed of the motorbike and by foot. The every major settlement in the district is accessible in 6-20 minutes by motorbike and 80-188 minutes by foot in redial. Table 5.2: Average time

Source: Land use map, khok Chareon district 5.3.1 Type and density of road: Road network consists of four categories. Major highway connecting different districts passes through four Tambons with its length 27km. Other three categories: asphalt, concrete and gravel/earthen roads connect all five Tambons to each others and link to the major services available in every Tambon. Total length of asphalt category is 124.81km, while concrete and earthen categories are lengthening 45.63 km and 209.55 km respectively that are shown in map 5.4. Map 5.4: Road network

187

The road density is calculated by considering the total length of all four categories existing in each Tambon. Table 5.3 shows the detail for each Tambon. Table.5.3: Roads density
Types and Quality of Roads and Density
Tambon Total Area (km 2) 120.24 97 134 75.3 87.45 514 Asphalted Designed Length Density Speed (km) (km/km2) (km/ hr) 28 90 0.23 31 49.81 19 24 151.81 90 90 90 90 0.32 0.37 0.25 0.27 1.45 Length (km) 15.00 0.00 20.00 4.93 5.70 45.63 Concrete Designed Density Length Speed (km/km 2) (km) (km/ hr) 60.00 0.12 78.00 0.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 0.00 0.15 0.07 0.07 0.40 40.00 30.00 48.85 12.70 209.55 Gravel/Earth Designed Speed (km/ hr) 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 Density (km/km2) 0.65 0.41 0.22 0.65 0.15 2.08

Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San

Total

Also cumulative road density shown in Table 5.4 is calculated on the basis of total road length of each category. The volume of transport on major roads has been elaborated on flow map on map 5.5 that is attached as annexure 5. Table 5.4: Cumulative road density
Tambon
Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San Total area (km2) Total road length (km) Density(km/ km2) Volume of Transport/day

120.24 97 134 75.3 87.45 514

121 71 99.81 72 42.4 406.21

1.01 0.73 0.74 0.96 0.48 3.92

Total

200 100 500 180 150 1130

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Map 5.5: Flow map

5.3.2 Distribution of public facilities and services Schools, public health station, local market, Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO) and police station are the services and facilities available at each Tambon level, while district hospital, post office and District Administrative Office are present at district level 189

to support the Tambons. These facilities have been drawn on map 5.6. All aforesaid services are well connected to the whole community through asphalt road and easily accessible to every village as well as to the adjacent Tambons and these also have been shown on accessibility map 5.7.

Map 5.6: Distribution of Facilities

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Map 5.7:Accessibility of facilities

Table 5.5: Accessibility to facilities The average distance from settlements to facilities (km) Tambon
School 1.5 1.2 2.25 2 1.5 Health care centre NA 10 11 12 6 Local Market 6 4 11 8 6 District Hospital 6 27 16 8 8 District Office 6 27 16 8 8 TAO Office 4 10 11 12 6 Police Station Local 6 10 11 8 6 Local Post Office 6 10 11 16 6 Temple 1 1.35 1.25 0.75 1

Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San

Source: Topographic Map of Thai Survey Department

5.3.3 Construction and Maintenance Regular maintenance of existing roads is needed to serve the function properly. In most of the Tambons more budgets is allocated for the construction of new roads as compared to maintenance that is mainly for upgrading of the earthen road category to either 191

concrete or asphalts one. It can also be seen from below graph where construction budget is more; the proportion of maintenance budget is less then half of the construction. The allocation of the budget for maintenance and construction was not based on specific formula rather it was on need basis.
Table 5.6: Construction and maintenance
Total road length (km) Construction Annual Budget Unit Cost (M2) Total units (m2) to be constructed Maintenance Annual Budget Cost/km Development Level (Alfa and Beta analysis)*

Tambon
Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San Total

121 71 100 72 42 406

4,000,000 4,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 1,000,000 14,000,000

280 280 280 280 280 -

14,286 14,286 7,143 10,714 3,571 50,000

1,200,000 1,500,000 500,000 780,000 500,000 4,480,000

9,917 21,127 5,010 10,833 11,792 -

1 2 3 5 4

Note: The width of the road is 5 m, therefore 5000 units are equal to 1 km * Alpha and Beta are the techniques to measure the development level of road network. These are calculated by using the following formulas:

Alpha ( ) = (E-V+G) X 2V-5 100

Beta ( ) = E/ V

E= link or edge between a pair of nodes V= Node or vertex G= Constant =1

5.3.4 Policy and Potential Policy for road network mainly focuses to provide maximum connectivity and interlink communities through better road network. Farm to market road is one of the top priorities to enhance and facilitate business by interlinking peripheral markets. Regular maintenance and up-gradation of the existing different category roads is also main part of the policy. 5.4 Public transportation (Bus) There is no local bus facility in any Tambon. Normally transit transport (Bus) coming from nearby districts serve the function and connect the major markets in another districts. The frequency of these buses is 2-6/day in different Tambons. Inhabitants of the area were seriously concern about lack of bus service and considered one of the main problems in the locality. 5.4.1 Individual transportation Owing to none availability of public transport, people use individual different kind of transport in most of the Tambons. The different modes of the individual transport/100 households have been elaborated as under in Table 5.7.

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Table 5.7: Individual transport

Motorbike No Total /100 No. HHs 1,700 80 1,950 90 1,100 193 700 81 808 100 Truck No Total /100 No. HHs 10 0.47 12 0.55 20 3.51 20 2.32 10 1.24 Pick up No Total /100 No. HHs 170 8 758 35 550 96 300 35 80 10 Trollyes Total No. 10 20 50 3 75 No /100 HHs 0.47 0.92 8.77 0.35 9.28 Total vehicle 1,890 2,740 1,720 1,023 973 6,520 6,258 72 1,858 158 8,346

Tambon

Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San Total

No HH 2,114 2,166 570 862 808

Figure 5.2 Individual transports

Individual Transport /100 HHs
200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
193

Vehicles

90 80

96.49 81

100

35.00 8.04 0.47 0.47 0.55 0.92 3.51 8.77

34.80 9.90 2.32 0.35 1.24 9.28

Khok Charoen

Yang Rak

Nong Makha

Wang Thong

Khok Samae San

Tambon

Motorbike Truck Pick up Trollyes

5.4.2 Policy and Potential Although clear-cut public transport policy could not be found yet district as well as Tambon administration aims to improve public transport facilities on priority basis. The district administration has serious concern, and is regularly discussing with responsible authorities in this regard. 5.5. Water Supply System Domestic water is the basic element of life and for social uplifting of the society. According to the current government policy, water supply for domestic use is provided on the basis of one Water Supply System (WSS) for each village. To following WHO standards for domestic use, the analyzed data confirms water availability according to/more than the standard. 193

Table 5.8: Water availability

Tambon Name Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San Total Population 7,265 7,794 3217 2639 3491 24,406 Capacity Available (lit.) 510,000 630,000 390,000 630,000 360,000 2,520,000 Availability of water (lit/c/d) 70 81 121 239 103
Meeting WHO standard(%) 100 115 173 341 147 ( = WHO standard) (15 % > WHO standard ) (73 % > WHO standard) (241% > WHO standard) (47% > WHO standard)

Note: WHO standard for domestic water use is 60-70lit/capita/day

The figure 5.3 is showing the quantity available according to the standard in every Tambon. Figure 5.3: Availability of water
Availibility of water (lit/c/d)
280 Amount of water 210 140 70 70 0 Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San Tambon 81 121 103
WHO Standard

239

5.5.1 Case study: The case study was done in village no. 12 namely Romklao Pattana of Tambon Yang Rak to assess and evaluate the operation & maintenance (O&M) and overall management of WSS, and level of participation of the community in the project. Table 5.9 gives the over all picture and understanding of O&M of the different components of the WSS. Table 5.9: Case study
Authority to mange / maintain WSS No. of WSS No. of connection Investment per System Population Water supplied from WSS (M 3/day) Source of Fund No. HHs Responsible Agent Charges (bath/M3 ) Connection Cost/HH TAO/Local Leaders

Village

Water Supply System (WSS)

194

(bath/M3 )

Cost/HH

Leaders

Romklao Pattana

741

186

60

192

13 members of Water Use Group (WUG)

TAO/ community

350,000

400

head of Water User Group (WUG)

Source: Primary data from village No. 12 in TambonYang Rak

Functioning of the system was studied thoroughly and following steps are involved in running the system, WSS is direct pumping system Each Household has own storage that is sufficient for two days Frequency of pumping is two times per day, i.e. in morning & evening Water table in the area is 40-50 meters Quality of water was reported satisfactory (Public Heath Officer)

While for maintenance: Two hired technicians are responsible for regular maintenance Miner maintenance is done from the saving of WUG For major maintenance TAO is responsible

5.5.2 Policy and Potential For water supply for domestic use, one village one water supply scheme already exists and it would be followed in future as per need. Identifying catchments areas to construct more water storage structures is another policy priority to improve the irrigation system. But policy for drinking water keeping in view NRD 2C indicator and the ground reality is not understandable.

5.6 Power supply systems Power supply was observed as a major indicator that have already achieved the ultimate development level in every Tambon. All villages have been electrified either by power supply or solar energy. 100 percent of NRD-2C target has been achieved. Table 5.10 shows overall percentage of electrification in each village of every Tambon. It can be observed 97.5 % households have been electrified with power supply and remaining 2.5% household have been provided solar energy.

195

Table 5.10: Power supply

Total No. of Village 12 12 12 9 8 53 Village Electrified (%) 100 100 100 100 100 100 Total No. of HHs. 2,114 2,166 570 862 808 6,520 No of HH Electrified Electricity 2008 2,145 559 845 800 6,357 Percentage 95 99 98 98 99 97.5 Solar Energy 106 21 11 17 8 163 Percentage 5 1 2 2 1 2.5

Tambon

Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San Total

This solar energy has been provided to those scattered households far flung from the existing power supply network. The development situation has also been shown in the figure 5.4. Figure 5.4: Power supply
Power Supply
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 5 1 2 2 1

P ercenta ge

95

99

98

98

99

Khok Charoen

Yang Rak Tam bon

Nong Makha

Wang Thong

Khok Samae San

So lar Energy So lar Energy No . o f HH. electrified in %

5.6.1 Policy of power supply: (According to the documents provided) Policy of power supply (Energy Policy and Planning Office, Ministry of Energy) Policies on the Promotion of Efficient and Economical Use of Energy The Demand Side Management (DSM) Program The program is aimed at encouraging the economical use of electricity and reducing electricity consumption. This program has been in effect since 1992. EPPO has continuously supported the DSM implementation by taking the following actions : 1. The campaign to urge the public to use energy saving lighting equipment. 2. The promotion of labeling for energy-efficient refrigerators and no.5 air conditioners (Labeling no.5) 3. The encouragement of government agencies to use energy efficient air conditioners (no.5) and compact fluorescent bulbs on an exceptional basis 4. Power Purchase from Small Power Producers (SPPs). 5. Policies on the Protection of the Environment and Mitigation on the Impacts Resulting 196

from Energy Development and Utilization, including the Improvement of Safety standards on Energy-Related Activities 6. Policies on Energy Conservation 5.7 Telecommunication Telecommunication is a necessary part of the consistent development. It provides better and faster connectivity and helps to gather quick and reliable information in short time. Telecommunication includes different modes of communication that have been shown in table 5.11. Table 5.11: Telecommunication
No of Radio Channel Reading center and announcement tower / village No of public booth No of TV channels 6 6 6 6 6 No. of News paper 2 2 2 2 2 No of post offices No. of cell phone users No of HH owned TOT Total No. of HH

Khok Charoen Yang Rak Nong Makha Wang Thong Khok Samae San

2,114 2,166 570 862 808

7 7 2 7 9

418 250 114 19 44

2,761 2,806 1,100 660 630

18 1 4 6 17

11 3 7 2 1

1 0 0 0 0

15 0 0 0 0

Post boxes

No of Fax

Tambon

Internet conn.

1 1 1 1 1

10 10 10 10 10

Total

6,520

32

845

7,956

46

24

15

5.7.1 Telephone networking The bar chart given below shows the number of lane telephones and cell phones per 100 household in every Tambon.

Figure 5.5: TOT and cell phone

197

TOT and cell phone/100 HHs

250 200 193

Number

150 100 50 0 20

131

130 77 12 Yang Rak 20 Nong Makha 2 Wang Thong 5 Khok Samae San 78

Khok Charoen

Tambon
Source: documented by TOT

No fo TOT /100 HHs No of cell phone /100 HHs

5.7.2 Operation and maintenance: TOT is responsible for operation and maintenance of the lane telephone while individual mobile phone-service offering companies are primarily responsible to maintain their network under the regulatory authority of the concerned government.

5.7.3 Fax and internet: Fax as well as internet is another way of faster and softer communication. Although these facilities are limited and available only in different public service departments yet facilitate the common people too. The number of these facilities is already given in above table 5.11

5.7.4 Postal service: Postal service is an important traditional way of communication on that community mostly relies to exchange their views, emotions and commodities. The detail is give in above table 5.11. 5.7.5 Policy and Potential The new regulatory law of radio, television broadcasting and telecommunications is going to be issued in the near future, the country is still in the embryonic transition. The purpose of the policy is to promote the private sector participation in the broadcasting and telecommunication business in hoping that this will result in the healthy business competition in this high technology circle.

198

Learning from the successful case of Korean experience, it is believed that the government intervention is important because Thailand does not own its telecommunication technology. Most of Thai telecommunication equipments are imported. Investment in Research and Development in this area is very rare for commercial. More important, this new Broadcast and Telecoms Act does not define clearly on the information technology. The big gap for new laws related to Electronic Commerce and all Internet-related business is still in the brainstorming and discussion that would suggest the new Regulatory Act on Information Technology and Electronic Commerce. It is expected that the high technology business will generate greater revenue to the Government of Thailand and will also give rise to the widespread public interests. 5.8 Overall Development Infrastructure in the district was analyzed on the basis of NRD 2C and BMN to set a benchmark for comparison. Settlements, road network, public transport facility, water supply, power supply and telecommunication were considered as core indicators assessed through three devised NRD 2C levels: backward, moderate and progressive (level 1, level 2 and level 3) respectively. Tambon wise elaboration is given in the table 5.12 Table 5.12: Overall development
Tambon No. of Vill Level 1 age (Backward) s 12 12 2% 0% Level 2 (Moder ate) 31% 46% Level 3 (Progressiv e) 67% 54%

Remarks 2% backwardness is in village 9 due to road Over all trend of development is from moderate to progressive level. 4% backwardness is in village 3 and village 6 due to road and WSS respectively 3% backwardness is in village 8 due to communication. 6% backwardness is in village 1 and village 2 due to communication

Khok Charoen Yang Rak

Nong Makha

12

4%

42%

54%

Wang Thong

3%

42%

55%

Khok Same San

6%

28%

66%

Source: documented by TOT

The pie chart shows overall development in the district based on NRD-2C and it would be compared with the actual findings from field

199

Figure 5.6: overall development

Dis tric t K hok C haroen

B ac kword 3% Moderate 38%

P rog res s ive 59%

5.8.1 NRD-2C criteria:

Road

Roads in all villages are in good condition and accessible whole year.

Water for domestic use

Facility of Water for domestic use is available to more then 95% of total households

Power Supply

Power supply is provided by the government to more than 90% of total households.

Communication

Availability of communication facilities more then 10% shows progressive level and less then 10% is moderate

5.8.2 Findings
Road: Road connectivity is found satisfactory and remains in good condition throughout the year in most of Tambons, and is increasing yearly that confirms NRD2C progressive level. Public Transportation Facility: Public transport facility (bus/other mode) has been found unsatisfactory even with having very good road network. Water supply: The minimum amount of domestic water needed per person per day is sufficient and exceeding the WHO standard, and also is much more than NRD -2C set target. 200

Power supply: 100% of the villages are electrified either by power supply or solar energy. The target of NRD-2C (100%) has been achieved in every Tambon. Telecommunication: Available communication facilities are mostly limited in the area. Only line phone provided by TOT (Telecommunication of Thailand) and cell phone has achieved progressive level the rest of are lying in moderate level.

5.8.3 Conclusion
According to infrastructure groups analysis, overall infrastructure situation in the district is satisfactory and most of the indicators have achieved progressive level. However, some of the components of the indicators mentioned below are needed to be addressed on priority basis: Communication indicator lies in moderate level due to IT i.e. internet, fax etc Limited public transport facility is another constraint in the area that restricts mobility of the inhabitants and in turn increases financial burden.

5.8.4 Potentials
Improved infrastructure is necessary to run the development process smoothly, and here it can provide an opportunity: To link farms to central places (markets) through better communication facilities To enhance agricultural produce (raw material) to encourage cottage industry in the area that in turn will helps: To increase inhabitants income with greater accessibility to market

5.8.5 Recommendations:
Despite the development of infrastructure in progress, some certain limitations need to be addressed: Regular maintenance of the existing infrastructures including road, water supply systems, power supply and telecommunication to serve the function properly Improvement in internet facilities is the utmost need and Public transport available locally is necessary to enhance the regular mobility of the inhabitants for diverse economic activities.

201