2011 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 181-188
Shortages of household successors and labor will pose a challenge to the agricultural sector in Thailand. Since 1989, agricultural employment has decreased. The decrease has been especially sharp among the 15- to 24-year-old age group, because many young workers took up employment in other sectors, educational enrollment has increased, and declining population growth rates have reduced their numbers. In addition, the move toward an aging society and the decline in the number of younger people who want to work in farming will lead to a shortage of agricultural labor and farm successors. Hence, succession plans for the future of family farms are of serious concern. The aim of this study was to analyze the decisions of heads of farming families regarding successors. A survey of 237 farming families was conducted in the harvest season in 2011 in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, southern Thailand. The age of the household head, the value of agricultural land, the value of non-agricultural household assets, the younger generation's experience in farming, and the irrigation ratio all significantly influenced the household head's plans for succession. The household head's education level was not, however, a significant factor because of the competing effects of the head's better management ability and the better non-farm job opportunities afforded to the educated younger generation.
