AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN THAILAND; SOME SUPPORTING ANALYSIS

The report which addresses issues related to Thailand"s Fourth Five-Year Development Plan, begins by reviewing the current status of the Thai agricultural economy assessing such factors as labor force, available land, capital (including livestock, machinery equipment), productivity levels, and farm incomes. The next section, which evaluates trends likely to affect future planning, takes into account population growth, technological progress, and land reform. The report then explains the approach used to select alternatives which constitute models for policy analyses. Each alternative consists of a different set of assumed variables upon which different contingency plans are based. The alternatives ultimately adopted for study are described and analyzed. Finally, each of the alternatives is assessed in terms of its implications for income, employment, production, and exports. Extensive graphs, tables, and figures are appended.