• Despite rapid industrialization in Thailand, the contribution ofagriculture to GDP remains unusually high.

•The share of agricultural employment in total employment has alsoremained high, relative to the country’s income level, as has theshare of the rural population relative to the total population.

• Agribusiness has grown significantly, and there has been a rise inthe number of large and strongly financed commercial farms that areless labour intensive. Contract farming has also been developing.

•The introduction of a rice premium by the government obstructedthe modernization of the agricultural rice sector and caused the riceshare in GDP to steadily decline, while that for upland crops suchas cassava, maize, sugarcane, and oil palm increased. However, riceremains the most important crop.

•The high proportion of the population still living in rural areas andworking in the agricultural sector attests to the resilience of thatsector in the face of industrialization.