1Agricultural Innovation and Management Division Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, 90110, Thailand
2Business Administration Division Faculty of Management Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, 90110, Thailand
*Corresponding Author: Pilaiwan Prapruit, Agricultural Innovation and Management Division Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, 90110, Thailand, Email: ppilaiwa@gmail.com
Online published on 30 January, 2026.
The transformation from traditional to sustainable organic farming systems presents significant challenges with varying development patterns across geographical contexts. Sathing Phra Peninsula in Southern Thailand represents a unique case where organic agriculture covers only 0.31 per cent of rice cultivation area yet demonstrates distinctive adaptations. Despite growing organic agriculture literature, research on coastal peninsular organic rice systems remains limited, creating knowledge gaps for locationspecific development strategies.
This mixed-methods study was conducted in Sathing Phra Peninsula, covering four Songkhla Province districts. Data collection involved two phases: Examining organic rice supply chain structure using snowball sampling with 52 informants analyzing marketing patterns from 47 certified organic rice farmers through in-depth interviews and observation. Analysis utilized descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, content analysis SWOT analysis. Data validity was ensured through triangulation, member checking expert review.
The study revealed a centralized supply chain where farmers and small-scale operators conduct all stages from production to distribution, with no specialized processors found. Three farmer groups emerged: Traditional Marketers (51.06 per cent) selling paddy rice through conventional channels, New Marketers (31.91 per cent) adapting to diversified systems and professional entrepreneurs (17.02 per cent) with superior marketing capabilities. Despite 95.74 per cent producing to organic standards, vulnerabilities include low bargaining power (72.34 per cent depend on intermediaries), lack of branding (74.47 per cent have no product names) and limited online adoption (19.15 per cent). SWOT analysis identified four strategic approaches encompassing value addition, capacity development, strength-based defense and integrated weakness-threat reduction for sustainable organic rice marketing development.
Basin-based agroecosystem, Farmer typology, Marketing strategies, Organic rice, Supply chain
