Thailand’s growth used to rely on agriculture as a main driver for a long period of time. However, in 1980s, agriculture has been demoted from an engine of growth because a supply of labor came to an end. Thai economy shifted the concentration to industrial and service sectors instead. Nonetheless, it is unreasonable to overlook its importance since the majority of labor forces still lives in this sector. While agriculture is devaluated in Thai economy, population in agricultural sector suffer from a natural disaster and interference in an industrial production solely. That is why more than half of poor belong to agricultural sector. Poverty is then an everlasting issue that Thailand confronts with. Enhancing agricultural productivity might be one of many solutions to aid escaping from poverty. In the study, agricultural productivity would be introduced as the key determinant for Thailand’s poverty reduction in four aspects: the poverty rate measuring by national poverty line; an employment in overall and sectoral issues; a migration from rural to urban areas; and the purchasing power. The study would begin with understanding the measurement of Thai agricultural productivity learnt from various studies. The following section would construct the model to examine the pattern of agricultural productivity to the poverty. The results from the model are discussed in the next section. Lastly, the paper would end with suggesting the policy recommendation in hope of solving Thai poverty situation.
1 Undergraduate