Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to study the trade and service area of the Phetchaburi Town which attract the consumers and to find out its threshold population to support each service function. It is hypothesized that the influential trade and service area of Phetchaburi Town tends to be dependent upon the types of products and service. The findings of the study include : 1. The average radius distance of influential trade area is 17.77 kilometers while that of service area is 12.16 kilometers. Trade area of the furniture groups shows the longest distance which is an average of 20.69 kilometers. 2. The most important factors that have influenced on trade and service area include quantity of the product; traveling types of products and service; cost of traveling; and an average income of the population. It is found that they are significant at .05 level, with the cost of traveling and quantity of the products possess the highest correlation at 0.59 3. The lowest numbers of threshold population which have supported an operation of each type of store are as follows : 124 for a grocery ; 176 for a restaurant; 871 for a boutique; 1,307 for an electric appliance; 2,832 for stationery; and 3,089 for a furniture shop. On the other hand, the lowest numbers for each type of service include : 395 for a beauty salon; 539 for a male female dressmaker; 2,614 for a photo shop, and 3,776 for a car repair shop. The findings of this research lead to the study of an estimation of each type of trade and service area. They are also useful in planning for setting up a new central place to effectively serve most neighbouring customers.