An Analysis of the Location of Ethanol Industry in Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to analyze locational patterns of the ethanol industry in Thailand, and to examine the factors influencing its location. The data used in the analysis were the secondary data of 45 ethanol factories worded in 2007. The techniques and methods for the analysis were the cartographic method, the correlation analysis, and the multiple regression analysis. The findings are as follows : with regard to the locational patterns of the ethanol industry, the geographical region which contained most of the ethanol industry was the Northeastern Region. Seventeen factories were located in the region. Their capacity of producing ethanol was 5,180,000 liters per day. The second region was the Eastern Region. Fifteen ethanol factories were located in this region with a capacity of 3,540,000 liters per day. The third region, where 10 ethanol factories were located, is the Central Region. The capacity of these factories for producing ethanol was 1,755,000 liters per day. Two regions which did not have ethanol industries were the Northern Region and the Southern Region. In terms of analyzing the locational patterns of the ethanol industry by province, it was found that ethanol factories were located in 24 provinces. The eight provinces located in the Northeastern Region were : Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Kalasin, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Udon Thani, Buri Ram, and Ubon Ratchathani. The five provinces located in the Eastern Region were : Rayong, Prachin Buri, Chachoengsao, Sa Kaeo, and Chon Buri. The nine provinces located in the Central Region were : Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Sawan, Saraburi, Phetchabun, Kamphaeng Phat, lopburi, and Uthai Thani, and the two provinces located in the Western Region were Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi.
The province which contained most of the ethanol industry was Nakhon Ratchasima - five factories with the capacity of 2,580,000 liters per day, The second province was Sa Kaeo, which contained five factories with the capacity of 1,650,000 liters per day. Ubon Ratchathani, which ranked third, had two ethanol factories with the capacity of 1,100,000 liters per day
With regard to analyzing the factors influencing the ethanol industry in Thailand, it was found that the location of the ethanol industry was significantly positively correlated with the raw material factor (cassava) at a = 0.05 (r = 0.821). For the multiple regression analysis, it was found that the raw material factor (cassava) was the most important factor influencing the location of the ethanol industry in Thailand. This factor alone could explain the variation of the location of the ethanol industry by 67.30% (R2 = 0.673). The regression model was û = 135243.2 + 0.350 CASSAVA.