Microfinance for rural development in Thailand : a case study of Thap Khlo Sub-district, Phichit Province | |
| Author | Kitiya Seedakham |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-04-09 |
| Subject(s) | Microfinance--Thailand Rural development--Thailand |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Different microfinance projects through the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), Rural Village Development Fund (RVDF), Village Saving Group (VSG), Poverty Alleviation Development (PAD) and Sustainable Agriculture Development (SAD) were introduced by the Thai Government to help people in the rural areas to generate employment and increase their income as well as to alleviate poverty. The effectiveness of microfinance schemes very much depends on the design and the operational formwork of each project. To measure this, analysis has been done based on data collected through household surveys, interviews, observation and discussion with credit members and key informants involved in the different projects. The main objectives of this research are to study the operational framework of each microfinance project, its distribution and performance of credit services in the rural areas, its accessibility to credit for the rural people, the credit demand and credit supply of the credit institutions and to identify the gaps between them; to obtain people's perceptions, their level of satisfaction and the benefits they gained from the credit services; to determine the problems in accessing credit sources as well as to find out the potentials and needs of the credit members; and to suggest recommendations and guidelines for a rural credit delivery system of formal financial institutions in providing good employment opportunities and income generation in the rural areas. Research findings revealed that rural people have higher needs for credit and can obtain them from different sources such as RVDF, PAD, SAD and VSG for investment in farm production. However, their accessibility to credit is very low due to limited capital availability from the formal financial institutions. Most of the households were not satisfied with the insufficient credit available from these projects but several benefits were gained through them such as an increased opportunity for employment, availability of required production inputs, improved accessibility to health care services and increased role of women in decision making. Although, BAAC is the major source of credit as it can loan larger amounts of money, which is sufficient in meeting people's needs, but with a higher interest rate. Thus this condition become the major constraining factor in accessing credit through BAAC. In addition, rural people need credit not only for investment purposes but also for consumption, for daily needs, to compensate for lack of knowledge and skills that affect productivity, and for solving problems brought about by natural disasters. Lack of training from different projects such as RVDF, VSG, SAD, and PAD has been an important issue for rural development. The research concludes that limited capital is the most serious problem faced by the credit sources (RVDF, VSG, PAD and SADP) as evidenced from people's comments of insufficient loan size and unavailability of credit when needed. A combination high interest rate of the BAAC could not meet their needs. Most rural households also face the problem of lack of knowledge and skills for improving the productivity in farm production, and low diversification of activities for non-farm production. Recommendations to strengthen rural credit delivery system of credit institutions to improve their operational practices and to generate employment and income in the rural areas are included in this study. |
| Year | 2004 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Routray, Jayant K. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Soparth Pongquan ;Chandhana Indhapanya |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Katholischer Akademischer Auslander-Dienst KAAD, Germany |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004 |