Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 91 (2013) 489 – 496 1877-0428 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Universiti Sains Malaysia. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.446 ScienceDirect PSU-USM International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences An Identification of Impacts of Area Expansion Policy of Oil Palm in Southern Thailand: A Case Study in Phatthalung and Nakhon Si Thammarat Provinces Rattana Unjan 1* , Ayut Nissapa 2 and Purawich Phitthayaphinant 1 1 Ph. D. Candidate Tropical Agricultural Resource Management , Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112Thailand 2 Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Development, Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112Thailand Abstract Demand for palm oil is stimulating a rapid expansion of area used for oil palm plantations in Thailand. This research aims at identifying both positive and negative impacts of area expansion policy of oil palm in southern Thailand using a case study in Phatthalung and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. Local key informants were identified using purposive and snowball selection. The analytical tool was the Analytic Hierarchy Process AHP containing goal, criteria and specified impacts of area expansion policy of oil palm. The results revealed that economic impacts such as increase diverse investment opportunities, generating stable income and relative competition with other area are the most important positive impacts, while social impacts such as conflicts between the government and local people and prejudice in solving by the government are the most important negative impacts. The outcome can be utilized by policy makers and concerned parties to formulate appropriate policy options. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Universiti Sains Malaysia. Key Words : Impact, Area expansion policy, Oil palm, Southern Thailand * Corresponding author. Tel.: +6-607-428-6132; fax: +6-607-455-8810 E-mail address: unjanr@yahoo.com Available online at www.sciencedirect.com © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Universiti Sains Malaysia. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector