Pracha Rath makes an impact

Pracha Rath is the public-private partnership project initiated by the government with the aim of boosting the economy and income of local communities throughout the Kingdom, as these local communities are believed to be a major mechanism to move the country’s overall economy forward.
Kraisorn Kongchalad, Phetchabun's vice governor, said the Pracha Rath project had created a positive impact on individual farmers in some parts of Phetchabun, whose revenues had increased three times through strong support from the private sector. The move will also serve the emerging ageing society in Thailand, as elderly people will be able to get jobs and earn sustainable income.
“With good support from private firms, farmers have gained modern technical knowledge on marketing and management, as well as connection and networking on distribution channels and academics,” he said. Kraisorn said that farmers had also enjoyed a higher level of social relationship. They had formed a group to improve their bargaining power.
He gave the example of Nam Duk Tai Vegetable Cooperative in Pak Duk, Lom Sak district, which initiated a savings campaign among its 150 members. Under the campaign, all sales of its vegetable products would be deducted to save for the financial stability of its members. The cooperative will also use such money to raise its liquidity and to reinvest in further expansion without relying on outside loans.
Phetchabun has 7.9 million rai of total land area of which 3.1 million rai are farming areas and 1.4 million rai are rice fields. The province averages Bt75,769 GDP per capita per year, accounting for 43 per cent of the country’s GDP, which is at Bt176,258 GDP per capita per year.
The total household debt in Phetchabun is Bt32.27 billion or Bt103,320 per household on average. The strengths of Phetchabun province are its physical geography, weather, and various kinds of plants.
Prachuap Lungkhawong, director of Phetchabun School for the Deaf, said the school had built a chicken farm since May this year with 400 chickens. The farm is able to produce about 260 eggs per day. The school has currently 312 students who have suffered from hearing and brain problems.
He said the school had signed a contract with Tops Supermarket to supply eggs to their supermarkets. About 1,000 eggs would be delivered to Tops Supermarket every week.
“Under the chicken-farm project, our students would be able to have knowledge and understand chicken-farm occupancy. They will be able to build a chicken farm at their home and stay with their own family,” said Prachuap.
Central Group is one of the private sector players committed to sustainable development of community products in Thailand, which is in line with the government’s Pracha Rath project. The group is determined to create secure jobs and sustainable income for local communities under the Central Community Development Volunteers project. A total of 123 communities in 49 provinces making over 1,508 products have been able to realise combined incomes of over Bt637 million over the past seven years.
The group on Friday handed over the packing house to Nam Duk Tai Vegetable Cooperative in Pak Duk, Lom Sak, Phetchabun, in which the group has involved in a product development plan for every production process. Central Group will also provide support to the cooperative in skill development for farmers, farm management and the selection of suitable crops for the soil of a given area. Farmers also learn from the group’s procurement team about crop planning in line with market demand to prevent surpluses and adding value to the products.
Tos Chirathivat, CEO of Central Group, said the group would like to develop local communities for sustainability and strengths, benefiting from the group’s strong retail network nationwide.
“We will provide support on investment capital and technical knowledge to help local communities build their own agricultural and other community products, which will be distributed to the Central Group’s retail network as well as other companies,” said Tos.
“We would like other private companies to do the same to help local communities as overall Thailand will be strong,” he added.
Tos said that in addition to Phetchabun, the group would also facilitate a major facelift of selective temples in Ayutthaya province to make them strategic tourist destinations.
Meanwhile, Mae Sot district in Tak province would be also strategically promoted as a trading hub between Thailand and Myanmar with systematic logistics and wholesale facilities.
Alistair Taylor, the president of Central Food Retail, Central Group’s supermarket arm, said that sales of local community products at the supermarket chain increased by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent every year. “We expect annual sales from local community products to increase significantly from Bt300 million targeted for this year to about Bt1 billion in the next five years,” he said.