Factors Influencing Household Debt Burden During the COVID-19 Situation of Farmers in Sakaeprong Sub-district, Buriram Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research article were 1) to study factors influencing farmers' household debt burdens and 2) to suggest guidelines for promoting financial discipline to solve the problems of household debt burdens of farmers. This research is mixed research. The sample group used in this research was the population in each farmer's household in Sakaeprong Sub-district, Mueang Buriram District. There were 292 people. Data collection was divided into 2 phases: 1) the use of questionnaires, using a simple sampling method, and quantitative data analysis, the statistics used to analyze the data were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression, and 2) group discussion, with 6 people selected with purposive sampling and using qualitative data analysis. The results revealed that 1) farmers are burdened with household debt expenses each month of 10,001-15,000 baht. It is a debt for consumption. There was borrowing from credit sources in the system. The average duration is less than 1 year, and there is a tendency for the household debt burden in the situation during COVID-19 to increase. The economic factor was the factor that had the greatest influence on farmers' household debt burden. It was statistically significant at the 0.05 level, and 2) there should promote financial discipline by organizing training, seminars, campaigns, and organizing projects to be concrete for people in the community to see the benefits of financial discipline in various ways including knowing how to assess their own financial situation, allocating savings and caution in spending or incurring debt.