Capacity development of rice noodles production through clustering: a case study of Nakhon Pathom province

Abstract

This basic research has 2 objectives: 1) To study the model of Khanom Chin (Thai rice noodle) business cluster in Nakhon Pathom Province, and 2) To study the important components and the guidelines for capacity development related to driving Khanom Chin business cluster in Nakhon Pathom Province. Population and Samples 1) Thai farmers in the cluster of Nakhon Pathom Province 2) Thai entrepreneurs from midstream and downstream groups (processing and marketing) in the cluster of Nakhon Pathom Province 3) people from Thai network support groups (external networks, government agencies, and educational institutions) related to the cluster of Nakhon Pathom Province. This study was based on qualitative research through observations, focus groups, and in-depth interviews.

The results showed that The Khanom Chin business clusters have operations in 4 Models including ‘Nakhon Pathom Model’, Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Model, ‘Khao Yoi Model’ And ‘Bualomchang Model’. There are 5 important components for capacity development consist of external support, leadership and management, the process within a cluster group, production development, and product development to support the marketing need. From the operation of that 4 clusters, there are recommendations for improving the capacity of the clusters as follow: 1) development of production plans and infrastructure, 2) government support in terms of budget and tax deduction measures, and knowledge support from educational institutions 3) product development for marketing demand included packaged and innovative development in order to expand the market share.