Contemporary quests and struggles of small-scale family farms toward sustainable agriculture in Thailand

One of the pillars of Thai Studies is to examine Thai rural society and culture, especially that of small-scale farmers who comprise the majority of rural agriculturalists in Thailand. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the characteristics and challenges of contemporary Thai rural society through elucidating the pursuit and struggles of small-scale family farms toward ‘sustainable agriculture’ in the context of deepening social and environmental challenges associated with modern industrial agriculture. For this objective, an overview is presented with regard to the characteristics of small-scale family agriculture in Thailand, followed by accounts of the contemporary circumstances of integrated farming, organic farming, and public good agricultural practices in which small-scale family farms have been involved.