Abstract In response to the chronic overuse and misuse
of pesticides in agriculture, governments in Southeast Asia
have sought to improve food safety by introducing public
standards of good agricultural practices (GAP). Using
quantitative farm-level data from an intensive horticultural
production system in northern Thailand, we test if fruit and
vegetable producers who follow the public GAP standard
use fewer and less hazardous pesticides than producers who
do not adhere to the standard. The results show that this is
not the case. By drawing on qualitative data from expert
interviews and an action research project with local litchi
(‘‘lychee’’) producers we explain the underlying reasons for
the absence of significant differences. The qualitative evidence
points at poor implementation of farm auditing
related to a program expansion that was too rapid, at a lack
of understanding among farmers about the logic of the
control points in the standard, and at a lack of alternatives
given to farmers to manage their pest problems. We argue
that by focusing on the testing of farm produce for pesticide
residues, the public GAP program is paying too much
attention to the consequences rather than the root cause of
the pesticide problem; it needs to balance this by making a
greater effort to change on-farm practices.