A Study On The Competitiveness Of Thai Rice Export

As a big agricultural country,Thailand is not only good at social and economic structure,but also in a part of agriculture.Rice is one of Thailand's most important agriculture products and it is also the most important staple food for Thai people.Moreover,Rice is the main export product of Thailand,It can generate a huge revenue for Thai farmers.Thailand is a tropical area where is suitable for growing rice.Most of the rice fields are in the Northeast of Thailand,followed by the Central,the North and the South,respectively.In 2016,the rice production was 15.8 million tons,or 3.35%of the world's total rice productions.And the amount of rice exports is 9.8 million tons or 24.29%of the world's total rice export.The major trading partners of rice exports in Thailand included Benin,China,Cote D'Ivoire,South Africa,and Cameroon.Presently,with the fierce competition in China,Thailand is not the only country that exports rice to China,there are also competitors such as Vietnam and Pakistan.In the future,Thailand will face a more intense competition in the market.The objective of the thesis is to strengthen and maintain the competitiveness of Thailand rice exports in the Chinese market.This thesis contains six parts,the first chapter is explains the background,purpose and significance,methods and content,innovation and difficulties of this research.The second chapter is a theories and literature reviews,then It will summarize and analyze with a relevant literature about competitiveness theory and Thailand's rice export competitiveness.The third chapter will analyze the current Thailand's rice export around the world and the export which goes to the Chinese market.Moreover,It analyzes the problem of Thailand rice export.The fourth chapter is an empirical analysis of Thailand's rice export competitiveness by using the trade competition(TC),the revealed comparative advantage(RCA)and the international market share that are calculated the advantage of Thailand's rice export in an international competition,this thesis is selected the data from 2009 to 2015.The fifth chapter analyzes the factors that affect the competitiveness of Thailand's rice export.Then use Eviews software to do OLS regression model,By using the competitive index(TC,RCA and international market share)as the explanatory variable,using Price and quality as explanatory variables.And the last chapter shows the conclusion and puts forward the policy suggestion to increase the rice export competitiveness in Thailand.The results of this research show that the level of international competitiveness of Thailand's rice export is rather strong and stable in the long run.But in a recent years,international rice export has faced more intense competition such as Vietnam,India and Pakistan which are the main competitors poses a direct threat to Thailand's rice export.In order to maintain and enhance its competitive advantage in Chinese market,The Thai government should start with a policy of reducing the cost of rice production,maintain export quality of rice,enhance the competitiveness of processed products,focus on new technology and modern production machinery,develope Thailand's rice transport system support,create water systems to reduce water shortages,build consumer's confidence in China and develope a new markets.