The Agriculture and Mining Sectors

            The agriculture sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product declined from 39.4 percent in 1961 to 16.9 percent 1988 due primarily to the rapid expansion of other sectors of the economy. However, agriculture will continue to be a dominant sector of the Thai economy for years to come.

            In 1988, farm activities accounted for about 79 percent of rural employment and the farm population comprised approximately 64 percent of the total labor force. If the people indirectly engaged in agribusiness industries were also included in the estimate labor force absorption by agriculture totaled 66.6 percent.

            Agricultural exports were the major source of foreign exchange earning during the 1960s and 1970s. However, as Thailand’s progress towards industrialization increased, manufactured exports of agricultural products amounted to only about 26.4 percent of total exports compared with the share of 40 percent in 1982.