Editing Thailand (section)

=== Agriculture and natural resources ===
{{Further|Agriculture in Thailand}}
[[File:Rice farmers Mae Wang Chiang Mai Province.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Thailand has long been [[Rice production in Thailand|one of the largest rice exporters in the world]]. Forty-nine per cent of Thailand's labour force is employed in agriculture.<ref name="Leturque 2010" />]]
Forty-nine per cent of Thailand's labour force is employed in [[agriculture in Thailand|agriculture]].<ref name="Leturque 2010" /> This is down from 70% in 1980.<ref name="Leturque 2010" /> Rice is the most important crop in the country and Thailand had long been the world's leading exporter of rice, until recently falling behind both India and Vietnam.<ref>International Grains Council. [http://www.igc.int/en/downloads/gmrsummary/gmrsumme.pdf "Grain Market Report (GMR444)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702110607/http://www.igc.int/en/downloads/gmrsummary/gmrsumme.pdf |date=2 July 2014 }}, London, 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.</ref> Thailand has the highest percentage of arable land, 27.25%, of any state in the [[Greater Mekong Subregion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CIA World Factbook – Greater Mekong Subregion |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2097.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326095031/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2097.html |archive-date=26 March 2014 |access-date=3 November 2011 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> About 55% of the arable land area is used for rice production.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rice Around The World. Thailand |url=http://www.irri.org/science/cnyinfo/thailand.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327095326/http://www.irri.org/science/cnyinfo/thailand.asp |archive-date=27 March 2008 |access-date=25 April 2010 |publisher=Irri.org}}</ref>

Agriculture has been experiencing a transition from labour-intensive and transitional methods to a more industrialised and competitive sector.<ref name="Leturque 2010">Henri Leturque and Steve Wiggins 2010. [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=5108&title=thailands-progress-agriculture-transition-sustained-productivity-growth Thailand's progress in agriculture: Transition and sustained productivity growth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427222924/http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=5108&title=thailands-progress-agriculture-transition-sustained-productivity-growth |date=27 April 2011 }}. London: [[Overseas Development Institute]]</ref> Between 1962 and 1983, the agricultural sector grew by 4.1% per year on average and continued to grow at 2.2% between 1983 and 2007.<ref name="Leturque 2010" /> The relative contribution of agriculture to GDP has declined while exports of goods and services have increased.

Furthermore, access to [[biocapacity]] in Thailand is lower than world average. In 2016, Thailand had 1.2 global hectares<ref name="Global Footprint Network">{{Cite web |title=Country Trends |url=http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=216&type=BCpc,EFCpc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808050235/http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=216&type=BCpc,EFCpc |archive-date=8 August 2017 |access-date=9 October 2019 |publisher=Global Footprint Network}}</ref> of biocapacity per person within its territory, a little less than world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=David |last2=Hanscom |first2=Laurel |last3=Murthy |first3=Adeline |last4=Galli |first4=Alessandro |last5=Evans |first5=Mikel |last6=Neill |first6=Evan |last7=Mancini |first7=Maria Serena |last8=Martindill |first8=Jon |last9=Medouar |first9=Fatime-Zahra |last10=Huang |first10=Shiyu |last11=Wackernagel |first11=Mathis |year=2018 |title=Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018 |journal=Resources |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=58 |doi=10.3390/resources7030058 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2018Resou...7...58L }}</ref> In contrast, in 2016, they used 2.5 global hectares of biocapacity—their [[ecological footprint]] of consumption. This means they use about twice as much biocapacity as Thailand contains, resulting in a deficit.<ref name="Global Footprint Network" />