An economic analysis of community-based tourism in Thailand

This study constructs a panel data 2003 and 2007, a social accounting matrix (SAM) and a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) in 2007 to investigate the effect of tourism on household income, poverty reduction and income distribution at the village level in Thailand. It conducted a census of 116 households in a particular village. There are three focuses. First, it examines the determinants of participation in tourism sector. Second, it investigates the effect of participation in tourism activities on household income change and poverty exit. Third, it simulates the direct and indirect effects of tourism price increase on income generation and income distribution in the village. In the first focus, the determinants of participation in terms of working hours vary among economic sectors. Villagers operating homestay, accommodations for tourists, stay within 1 km from village center, got tourism income in 2003 and got an increase in household members during 2003 2007. Households attending core tourism, e.g. trekking guide and cultural show, also stay closer to the village center and got tourism income in 2003. Moreover, their heads of households get better education. The pools of human capital in households are also larger. For the participation in tourism-induced sector, e.g. souvenir production and coffee shop, education plays significant role in terms of education of the heads of households, average schooling years of household members and size of human capital in households. Households with an increasing number of members and older people are advantage in joining this sector ...