**Acknowledgements**

produced on the most suitable area for such crop. To "set" the price is different from to "control" and to "fix" the price. The proposal here is not to control the market mechanism of demand and supply. The price based on the commodity origin can be set in several ways such as the percentage difference between the crop grown in highly suitable area and the crop

One concern of this method is that the agricultural commodities are in the perfectly competitive market, so the country cannot prevent imported agricultural commodities especially their price set. However, when the use of agricultural land is complied with its suitability, it can be anticipated that the commodity produced can be competed with imported product in terms of quality. The origin declaration will also be applied for imported agricultural commodities. Typically, all types of the certificate of origin (Form D, CO, Form FTA, etc.) are included in the import document set. The importer only needs to put the tag on their commodity showing where the origin of their product is, and this practice has already been done recently in Thailand for agricultural product sale in modern trade store. The consumer will benefit from the information on the commodity origin as some imported product prices are much lower than that of the domestic product but with great poor quality especially in terms of safety. Consumer behavior is changing as there is a raised concern on safety food; therefore, the product origin information is a crucial factor for making a purchase decision instead of price. The agricultural commodities are price inelastic of demand as it is a basic necessity product. In the short run, the quantity purchase is not very responsive to price change. Therefore, the concern of the lower price of imported product is quite inconsiderable. In the worst case, the impact from imported product can be dealt through price protection scheme, but it is not suggested as Thailand has an obligation under the Doha Round of WTO negotiations in November 2001 to reduce the domestic agricultural support and protection. Therefore, the price protection will not be a sustainable way to deal with the

Agricultural zoning is a regulatory approach that redefines property rights. The technique has been used to preserve agricultural area and ensure food security. Many empirical evaluations of its effectiveness in several countries have been made, but they cannot be used as a

Thailand is one of the Asian developing countries, which has adopted the agricultural zoning, but the method is adjusted to be the commodity-based format and not use-based format. The main objectives of agricultural zoning in Thailand are to address the issue of mismatching between land use and land suitability and the issue of crop price instability. Agricultural zoning in Thailand has been established since 1979, but it showed limited success mainly due to the variable factors that the government considers which are not in line with private demand. In addition, the implementations of latter policies are contradicted to the zoning policy. The program has caused an agricultural transformation in Thailand in the dimension of crop diversification, but it needs a major revision in order to achieve

reference to other countries as each country has unique context and circumstance.

grown in moderately suitable area.

68 Land Use - Assessing the Past, Envisioning the Future

problem.

its goals.

**8. Conclusion**

I would like to express my appreciation to Professor Tongroj Onchan and Assistant Professor Supachat Sukharom for giving useful comments on my chapter draft and the Faculty of Economics at Si Racha, Kasetsart University, Chonburi, Thailand, for financial support.
