economic growth during the third plan slowed to about 6.2 percent per year (Warr and Bhanupong 1996,72), but there seemed to be a better distribution of income: 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). income disparity, measured by the incidence of poverty, between Bankok 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.