The impacts of the eastern seaboard project on Thai rural communities. A case study in Rayong: Implications for state policy of industrialization and economic development in Thailand
| dc.contributor.author | Pookaothong, Wacharin | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Wood, Colin J. B. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-02-14T01:31:55Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-02-14T01:31:55Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1996 | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Geography | |
| dc.description.abstract | This is a study of geographical change in the hinterland of a growth centre. The Thai government policy of modernization through industrialization is reviewed, with specific attention being focused on the growth pole policy. This study focuses on the impacts of that policy. Map Ta Phut, formerly a small and obscure town in Eastern Thailand, has become a growth pole for industrial activities and business transactions since the establishment of the Eastern Seaboard Development Project in 1982, currently employing over I 0,000 people. The region around Map Ta Phut has been emerging as a potential beneficiary of this industrial development, an important factor in generating incomes and employment opportunities with forward and backward linkages. The socioeconomic impacts of the industrial development on the urban area as well as its rural hinterlands have diversified into various dimensions and facets. This changing circumstance has altered the perspectives of rural households in their occupations, incomes, consumption and commuting patterns, quality of life, standard of living, and so on. This research focuses on a comparative study of two groups of farming households in the rural hinterland; one has a family member engaged in non-farm activity while the other has not. The study is aimed at investigating the impacts of the industrial development on the hinterland households, as well as their responses and adjustments to changing circumstance. The condition of industrial and service workers in Map Ta Phut is also explored. It is found that the industrial development in Map Ta Phut appears to have generated positive impacts on its region. These are: - income-earning; job opportunities: exposure to urban milieu. and availability of infrastructural facilities. The rural-urban exchanges are minimum, with varying intensity proportional to its distance from Map Ta Phut’s urban centre. In this regard, households having members engaged in non-farm activities. on the average, earn higher incomes than those having members working only on farms, and therefore have a better standard of living. Villagers’ perceptions towards industrial development impacts are positive, in general. They are satisfied and proud that the industrial growth centre is established in their province. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23323 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.title | The impacts of the eastern seaboard project on Thai rural communities. A case study in Rayong: Implications for state policy of industrialization and economic development in Thailand | |
| dc.type | Thesis |