Таиландтың Исан аймағының экономикасы және ауыл шаруашылығының жағдайы

The economy of Isan, Thailand's largest region, composed of 20 provinces in the northeast, is dominated by agriculture, although agricultural output is low and decreasing in importance while the trade and service sectors are growing. Much of the population is poor and badly educated. Many labourers have been driven by poverty to seek work in other parts of Thailand or abroad. Isan accounts for around a third of Thailand's population and a third of its area. In 2013 it contributed 10.9 percent of the kingdom's GDP. World Bank report that after the 1997 Asian financial crisis Income in the northeast, the poorest part of Thailand, has risen by 46 percent from 1998 to 2001 due to Education For All. Nationwide poverty fell from 21.3 to 11.3 percent.

Agriculture remains the largest sector of the economy, but its importance is decreasing. Its share of GRP fell from 45 percent in 1980 to 33.2 percent in 1990, and to 27.1 percent in 2013. During the 1990s, the agricultural sector grew at 3.8 percent per annum, compared to 9.7 percent for the service sector. Although 76 percent of the population engages in some form of agriculture, only 46 percent of the workforce is formally employed in the sector, reflecting the fact that for many it is a part time occupation. Of the region's 155,400 km2, only 92,204 km2 is cultivated, and only 7,770 km2 of that is irrigated. There are a number of reasons for this. Saline contamination makes a third of the land unfit for cultivation. Although average rainfall is not much less than in other parts of the country, its unpredictability often causes droughts or flooding. The latter is worsened by the generally flat terrain of the plateau, while both are exacerbated by the sandy soil, which is poor at retaining water. Deforestation reduced forest cover from 25 percent in 1975 to 14 percent in 1995, again inhibiting water retention. Attempts to improve the agricultural sector through irrigation and diversification have caused unforeseen environmental damage. Increased irrigation has raised the water table in some areas, bringing salt to the surface and contaminating the soil. The same effect has also been observed following forest clearance and the planting of cereal crops, cassava, and sugar cane. Irrigation has also proved somewhat ineffective in increasing agricultural production. Workers commonly work in agriculture during the wet season and turn to non farm activities during the dry season. Using irrigation to increase dry season production would therefore reduce the labour devoted to these other activities and so reduce the income they provide, rather than supplementing it. The cultivated land is relatively unproductive: paddy fields produce only 424 tonnes of rice per square mile, compared to 547 nationally. Most farmers can produce only one crop of rice a year. Many farmers still use water buffalo rather than tractors. Sixty percent of cultivated land is devoted to rice paddies. The concentration on rice farming has made the farmers vulnerable to fluctuating prices. This has been reduced somewhat by increased diversification, but Isan still accounts for half of Thailand's exports of rice, cassava, and sugar. These crops employ 700,000 Isan families.

Other sectors of the economy have been growing more quickly than agriculture, although this growth can be misleading. The number of factories grew from 1,908 in 1975 to 44,000 in 1995, but 34,312 of these were rice mills. In 2000, 76 percent of Isan factories were breweries or food or tobacco processors. A study conducted by Khon Kaen University estimated that each year 8.67 billion baht is sent by foreign husbands to their wives in Isan. The 2010 census found that 90 percent of the slightly more than 27,000 foreigners living in the northeastern region were married to women from there.

Isan's economic disadvantages have caused great poverty. Most of Thailand's rural poor live in Isan. In 1995, 28 percent of the population was classed as below the poverty line, compared to just seven percent in central Thailand. In 2000, per capita income was just 26,317 baht, compared to 208,434 in Bangkok. Even within Isan, there is a rural/urban divide. In 1995, all of Thailand's ten poorest provinces were in Isan, the poorest being Sisaket Province. In 2012, six of Thailand's ten poorest provinces were in Isan, Kalasin being the poorest province in the region. From 2000 to 2012, half of Thailand's eight provinces with chronic poverty were in Isan. Rural Isan is a disproportionate supplier of workers to the sex trade, both domestically and abroad. This is partly a legacy of Vietnam era US bases, but mostly due to the region's poverty. As one researcher summed it up, "The equation looks like this: One working day in a tapioca field pays $8 (300 baht). One working day at a multinational chicken factory pays $11 (400 baht). One working day at a metal factory in Denmark pays $91 (3200 baht), and one busy working day at a Danish brothel pays $450 (15,800 baht)." Sex workers from Isan see prostitution as a way out of poverty. One former sex worker from Maha Sarakham said she entered Bangkok's sex trade at the age of 19 and earned up to 5,000 baht (US$143.14) a night, nearly 20 times the minimum wage of 300 baht (US$8.59) per day. "No one wants to work in this business, but it's fast and easy money," she said.