Characteristics of Local Entrepreneurs in Nakhon Ratchasima City

ptnt7V'7Mfi 30ig3?concentrates on local entrepreneurs in NM City; and my ultirnate obiective will be fu11y argued on another occasion.NM City is virtually the second 1argest city in Thailand after Bangkok Metropolis, in other words, the first.arnonglocal cities, and this is why I selected it as a field site.Although, as Table 1 shows, its population in 1989 of 206, 605 was smaller thari that of Nonthaburi City, which made a great leap to the top among local cities through a large expansion in area in 1988, the latter is located in the suburbs of Bangl[ok, and can be regarded as part of Greater Bangkok.II An Outline of the Economy in Nakhon Ratchasima ll-l.ABhefEconomicHistory NM City2} is located 256 km from Banghok in the southwest part of Nomheast Thailand and has been important since the Ayutthaya Period (1351-1767) as one of the main tra(ling centers of Thailand.NM City was originally a transit center.Various products from the rich forests of the region were collected there and transported to Ayutthaya by caravans of oxcarts and lewian, a local cart.Trade between NM City and Vientiane becarne so prosperous that the flow of goods between Vientiane and Ayutthaya was diverted to the pass from Nongbualarnphuu (Udon Thani Province) to NM City instead of the route along the Pa Sak ruver, which had previously enioyed more trafiic [Kachirat 1989: 14, 17-19].Geographical factors helped NM City to develop as a tradng center in the region, or as the gate to the Northeast.The Nomheast is to a degree a locked area, with mountain ranges both to the west and the south.Accordmg to lngram [1971 : 47], after the ralways reached NM City, "shipments of rice and paddy began to move from the vicinity of Korat [Khorat] to Bangkok."The volume of rice shipments from the Nomheast increased more as the railway extended further into the region.By 1935, the 2) NM City (Theetsabaan Muang NM) was established in 1935, following the enactment of the Mmicipadty Act of 1933, When I refer to the pre-1933 period, `NM City' will be used to indicate the rather populated district that existed in NM, or to be more precise, the area inside the fort (1,7oo by 1,1oo m) that was established by King Narai (r. 1656-1688)in the Ayutthaya Period.