the incidence of poverty declined from 52
percent of the population in 1962/63 and 34 percent in
1968/69 to 25 percent in 1975/76 (World Bank 1980,
62).7 Income disparity, measured by the incidence of
poverty, between Bangkok and the Central region and
the other regions improved. In 1975/76 the incidence of
poverty in Bangkok and the Central region was 9
percent and 12 percent respectively compared with 36
percent in the Northeast, 27 percent in the North, and 25
percent in the South. The incidence of poverty in the
latter three regions, particularly in the Northeast,
declined substantially between 1968/69 and 1975/76.