June 12th, 2007, 00:48
Mae Hong Son poorest province - The Nation
Samut Prakan reported the highest average annual income per head from provinces outside Bangkok, while Mae Hong Son was the poorest in a survey by the Interior Ministry's Community Development Department.
The 2007 survey found that the average annual income in Samut Prakan was Bt65,966 per year - more than twice the average of Bt30,230 in Mae Hong Son, the department's deputy director-general, Jarupong Poldej, said yesterday.
Pathum Thani ranked second with average annual income of Bt65,229, followed by Chanthaburi with Bt64,176, Nonthaburi with Bt57,843, and Kamphaeng Phet with Bt56,442.
Jarupong said the high level of income in Samut Prakan was due to its proximity to Bangkok, advanced infrastructure that supported business and jobs, and each household having two to three income earners. Mae Hong Son, in contrast, was a mountainous area with a large proportion of minorities such as hilltribes, and the main work was agricultural.
He said the Interior Ministry would ask provincial governors soon to draw up schemes to raise the income of more than half of residents currently below the poverty line so they can earn the minimum acceptable level of Bt23,000 per head per year.
He said 43 per cent of the 37,494 households in Mae Hong Son had members with the incomes lower than Bt23,000 per year, followed by Lamphun, where the breadwinners in 25 per cent of the 73,861 households had annual incomes less than Bt23,000. Nonthaburi province was the most well off in this regard, with only 135 households reporting earning members with incomes below Bt23,000, he said.
The Nation
Samut Prakan reported the highest average annual income per head from provinces outside Bangkok, while Mae Hong Son was the poorest in a survey by the Interior Ministry's Community Development Department.
The 2007 survey found that the average annual income in Samut Prakan was Bt65,966 per year - more than twice the average of Bt30,230 in Mae Hong Son, the department's deputy director-general, Jarupong Poldej, said yesterday.
Pathum Thani ranked second with average annual income of Bt65,229, followed by Chanthaburi with Bt64,176, Nonthaburi with Bt57,843, and Kamphaeng Phet with Bt56,442.
Jarupong said the high level of income in Samut Prakan was due to its proximity to Bangkok, advanced infrastructure that supported business and jobs, and each household having two to three income earners. Mae Hong Son, in contrast, was a mountainous area with a large proportion of minorities such as hilltribes, and the main work was agricultural.
He said the Interior Ministry would ask provincial governors soon to draw up schemes to raise the income of more than half of residents currently below the poverty line so they can earn the minimum acceptable level of Bt23,000 per head per year.
He said 43 per cent of the 37,494 households in Mae Hong Son had members with the incomes lower than Bt23,000 per year, followed by Lamphun, where the breadwinners in 25 per cent of the 73,861 households had annual incomes less than Bt23,000. Nonthaburi province was the most well off in this regard, with only 135 households reporting earning members with incomes below Bt23,000, he said.
The Nation