Abstract:
Salt field farming in Samut Songkhram Province is a descendant family business passed from generation to generation. It is a cultural heritage and a necessary household consumer product and raw material for the industrial sector in Thailand. The salt field farming areas serve as a barrier between the communities and mangroves alongside the coastal ecology. Currently, the areas covered by salt fields and the salt farmers tending the fields decreased significantly in the last 6 years. In 2006, there were 6,275 rais of salt fields and in 2012, there were only 4,163 rais. The objective of this research is to study at land-use change of salt fields in Samut Songkhram Province and to investigate the causes of those land-use changes. Research performed on primary information from related documents, research papers, printed documents, as well as comparative look at aerial photographs of various time, and at the same time, conducting personal interview with salt farmers themselves. The result of this study thus indicates the trend of land-use change in salt farms. The tendency is downward from physical factors based on the following: the development of new main road in salt field areas, the conversion of land use from salt farming to commercial business areas and new factories and the output of salts depending on climate which caused fluctuation in quantities. Whereas the social, economic and cultural factors involved are income instability, insufficient income for living, land ownership and descendants of family business. The final result of this research hopes to create the benefits for efficient land use planning and better guidelines for salt farms conservation.