การศึกษาการลักลอบทำการค้าชายแดนไทย-ลาว : กรณีศึกษาของ 3 จังหวัดภาคเหนือตอนบน (เชียงราย พะเยา และน่าน) / ทานตะวัน มโนรมย์ = A Study on trade smuggling across Thai-Lao border : a case of three provinces in the upper northern region (Chiang Rai, Phayao and Nan) / Thantavanh Manolom
Thailand and Laos have traded for a long time, especially border traded. And now after trade between the two countries is put into the custom system, which all the crossing-border goods must be taxed, smuggling around the border has been increasing. According to the primary documentary research, border trade smuggling in three provinces of the northern Thailand, including Chiang Rai, Phayao and Nan, is found to be 50-60% of the whole trade smuggling along the Thai-Lao border. Therefore, this study focuses on understanding of Thai-Lao border trade, gathering all the problems and obstacles involved, and estimating the border trade smuggling in the three provinces. As for a field survey, targets from both countries were divided into three groups: big legal entrepreneurs, whom questionnaires were sent to and then interviewed (Purposive Sampling), small non-legal entrepreneurs, who were selected at the border points and then interviewed with a questionnaire, and lastly government officials with detailed interview. The study used a basic analysis to analyze collected data. It has found that the characteristic of border trade between the two countries differs by the size of entrepreneurs, which big legal entrepreneurs export construction material and import processed wood, while small non-legal entrepreneurs export consumer goods and import woven cloth, agricultural goods, and forestry products goods. A common payment method for both big and small entrepreneurs is cashed in Thai bath, rather than transferred by banks, due to trade partner's preference and convenience. Main problems and obstacles of border trade are payment, transportation, and in-out country problems. Data for the estimation of border trade smuggling in these three provinces is collected from 6 border trade points. At each point, both import and export value were estimated. Results show that, on average, border trade smuggling is somewhere between 0.20 and 2.02 times the value of border trade that passes custom system. Most of the smuggling is export smuggling from Thailand to Laos. Furthermore, smuggling at temporary border trade points is more than that of permanent ones.
