Abstract:
The objectives of this study were : 1) to investigate the general economic status in the Nakhon Ratchasima
province area, 2) to examine the economic potential of the Nakhon Ratchasima province area as classified by
production sectors, and 3) to enquire into the economic development strategies in the sector of agriculture to
prepare for joining the ASEAN Economic Community of Nakhon Ratchasima province. The target group consisted of
both government and private sectors together with Nakhon Ratchasima people. Primary data were collected through
interviews, focus group discussions, and public forum. The secondary data were collected from information and documents provided by concerned organizations. Data analysis employed descriptive analysis and quantitative
analysis.
The findings revealed as follows : 1) Nakhon Ratchasima province performed outstandingly in the areas
of agriculture, industry, trade, investment, finance, employment and tourism; 2) considering the production
sectors which showed economic potential and were Stars, they were four sectors as the following: agricultural
sector hunting and forestry, education sector, social and health service sector, and sector of employees in the
private households; and 3) the economic development in the sector of agriculture to prepare for joining the ASEAN
economic community comprised 6 strategies: increasing the production effectiveness and reducing the cost of
production of agricultural products, searching intensively for marketing in linkage to the AEC, promoting and
encouraging the investment in the Southeast Asia region, developing a merchandise management system in order
to have a capacity to compete with the other ASEAN countries, strengthening the agricultural workforce, and
upgrading of traditional farming to organic farming.