THE WAY OF LIFE OF FRESH-FOOD MARKET PETTY TRADERS IN ISAN AND THE CASE OF FRESH-VEGETABLE TRADESWOMEN

Abstract

Objectives of this article were to study the way of life of fresh-food market traders in Isan and a case of fresh-vegetable tradeswomen, using mixed methods research. Research findings were fresh-food markets are the country’s largest fresh foods gathering center, and as such they are like the stomach of a society. From interviews of 577 petty traders in 12 Isan fresh-food markets,  it was found that 8-9 out of every 10 of them were females. Their average age was 49. Most of them engaged in farming before entering the trade, while 3 out of 4 still engaged in farming then. These farmers owned 13 rais of rice farmland on average. The majority of them lived in their own homes within 5 kilometers of distance from the markets. They had engaged in the fresh-food market trades for 15 years on average. Presently they made a gross sale of Thai Baht 4117/person/day and made a profit of Thai Baht 1,294/person/day or 31% of the total sale. Around 92 – 96.5% of the traders hoped to continue on in the trade and thought nothing about giving up. The case study of fresh-vegetable tradeswomen revealed that all of them were satisfied with their work of raising vegetables to sell in the market because they could make income daily throughout the year. However, there were only some fortunate farmers with the year-round sufficient, reliable water sources could do that.