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Date:
1977-1981
Source:
Office of the Prime
Minister, National Economic and Social Development Board, Bangkok, Thailand
Subject:
population policy,
population distribution, human settlements
Text:
2. Population
Distribution and Human Settlement
2.1
Problems and Obstacles
The
present population distribution pattern is the by-product of interactions of
economic, social, and political factors. This process has created and imbalance
in the pattern of human settlement in the country as can be observed in table
5.4
Table 5.4
Area, Population, Density, Regional Share of GDP and GDP Per Capita by Region in
1970-1981
| Year |
Area (Km2)
and Population (thousand) |
| Central |
Northeast |
North |
South |
| Metropolis |
Other
Provinces |
| Area |
1,547 |
102,032 |
170,226 |
170,006 |
70,189 |
| Population |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1970 |
3,253 |
7,966 |
12,715 |
7,919 |
4,517 |
| 1971 |
3,569 |
7,978 |
13,173 |
8,110 |
4,655 |
| 1972 |
3,710 |
8,175 |
13,581 |
8,330 |
4,796 |
| 1976 |
4,343 |
8,948 |
15,169 |
9,174 |
5,323 |
| 1977 |
4,520 |
9,134 |
15,559 |
9,380 |
5,446 |
| 1981 |
5,282 |
9,859 |
17,000 |
10,143 |
5,895 |
(continue)
| Year |
Population Density
(per Km2) |
| Central |
Northeast |
North |
South |
| Metropolis |
Other
Provinces |
| Area |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Population |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1970 |
2,103 |
78 |
75 |
47 |
64 |
| 1971 |
2,307 |
78 |
77 |
48 |
66 |
| 1972 |
2,398 |
80 |
80 |
49 |
68 |
| 1976 |
2,807 |
88 |
89 |
54 |
76 |
| 1977 |
2,922 |
90 |
91 |
55 |
78 |
| 1981 |
3,414 |
97 |
100 |
60 |
84 |
(continue)
| Year |
Percentage Share of
GDP |
| Central |
Northeast |
North |
South |
| Metropolis |
Other
Provinces |
| Area |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Population |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1970 |
28.6 |
27.4 |
16.0 |
15.2 |
12.8 |
| 1971 |
28.4 |
28.8 |
15.4 |
14.4 |
13.0 |
| 1972 |
29.0 |
29.6 |
14.8 |
13.3 |
13.3 |
| 1976 |
29.9 |
29.9 |
14.8 |
13.2 |
12.2 |
| 1977 |
30.5 |
29.5 |
14.8 |
13.2 |
12.0 |
| 1981 |
32.0 |
30.7 |
14.0 |
12.1 |
11.2 |
(continue)
| Year |
GDP Per Capita (baht) |
| Central |
Northeast |
North |
South |
| Metropolis |
Other
Provinces |
| Area |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Population |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1970 |
9,954 |
4,231 |
1,501 |
2,306 |
3,415 |
| 1971 |
10,314 |
4,671 |
1,513 |
2,300 |
3,633 |
| 1972 |
10,585 |
4,888 |
1,469 |
2,153 |
3,769 |
| 1976 |
12,018 |
5,948 |
1,523 |
2,818 |
4,019 |
| 1977 |
12,625 |
6,043 |
1,777 |
2,632 |
4,155 |
| 1981 |
14,863 |
7,636 |
2,017 |
2,948 |
4,653 |
Table 5.4 shows that Bangkok-Thonburi, with an areas of about 1,547 square
kilometres, experienced an increase in population density from 2,277 people per
square kilometre in 1970 to 2,807 people per square kilometre in 1976. The
population density of Bangkok-Thonburi area is expected to reach approximately 3,414 people per square kilometre in 1981 while areas in all the other provinces
are not expected to exceed 100 people per square kilometre by the end of the
Fourth Plan period. This overcrowding in the Bangkok-Thonburi area causes a
number of serious problems, including the deterioration of the environment, the
expansion of squatter areas, unemployment, high crime rates and incomparable
traffic congestion. The present pattern of human settlement in Thailand to a
considerable extent is the result of population migration which has the
following chrematistics.
2.1.1
Intra-national migration consist mainly of the migration from one rural
area to another mostly in search of better farmland. With respect to rural-urban
migration , the flow of migrants into the Bangkok-Thonburi region has been the
most significant, followed by the flow to the Northeastern urban centres where a
large number of jobs were created by the presence of American military bases in
that part of Thailand. Migration motivated by the search for new farmland has
caused considerable deterioration to natural resources such as the destruction
of forests in the North. The substantial flows of migrants into the speawling
urban areas in Central Thailand such as those in the provinces of Nonthaburi,
Pathumthani, Samutprakarn, Samutsakorn and Nakorn Prathom, or into the satellite
towns of the Bangkok Metropolitan area are mainly in response to the
growth and development of the industrial sector in these areas.
2.1.2
Throughout the country, many different migration patterns have emerged.
This can be explained mainly in terms of the differences in the level of
development of each region and each province.
Furthermore, the incoming streams of foreign political refugees fleeing from
the wars in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia have rapidly grown in significance. The
influx of political refugees into Thailand must be halted and these refugees to
the extent possible should be encouraged to return to their homeland. Otherwise,
they could become a destabilizing factor and hinder the attainment of the
population objectives of the Fourth Plan even if all the family planning
projects achieve their envisaged results. This refugee issue cloud also have an
economic and social impact on local communities and consequences for the nation
as a whole.
2.2
Population Distribution Policies
2.2.1
The migration rates to the Bangkok-Thonburi region and to other urban
areas in some provinces must be reduced.
2.2.2
Measures to stimulate and support the migration out of the
Bangkok-Thonburi area into adjacent areas and other provinces.
2.2.3
Intra-regional migration is to be supported more than interregional
migration.
2.2.4
With respect to rural-urban migration, support should be given to the
flow of migrants into the principal urban centres of each region, in line with
guidelines laid down for regional development.
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