Once a predominantly agricultural country, agriculture growth in Thailand has slowed down
during the previous decades. In the last 20 years, the contribution of agriculture to the
national economy has dropped from 25% to less than 10% (Reunglertpanyakul, 1993).
However, farming is still by far the most common form of employment in the country (65%
of labour force in 2006). Population is still mainly rural, with about 68% of the population
living in rural areas and 32 % in urban areas.