Economy Thailand's economy is overwhelmingly agricultural. Three quarters of the labor force work in agriculture. For more than a century rice has been the leading export, followed at a distance by rubber. Tin from the south and tea from the north have also been traditional bulwarks of the economy. Agriculture has now become more diverse.
Thai farmers grow corn for chicken feed for export to Japan.
Tapioca, sugarcane, and mung beans are other important exports. American agribusinesses are involved in growing pineapples in the south, coffee in the north, and in harvesting prawns and other seafood from the gulf. Most Thai farmers continue to own their land, but tenancy and absentee ownership are increasing. Although manufacturing employs less than 15 percent of the labor force, it produces more than 28 percent of the gross domestic product and is expanding rapidly. But textiles are being expanded, and Thailand has become a major cement producer.