One village one product - Rural development strategy in Asia:The case of OTOP in Thailand

This paper investigates the development of the One Tambon, One Product (OTOP) programme in Thailand, based on the earlier experience of the One Village, One Product (OVOP) movement in Japan. Conceived in Japan as a policy to reverse rural depopulation, it has become more focused on poverty alleviation when implemented in Thailand. It will be shown how, despite some criticisms, the OTOP programme has been providing communities with the chance to market local output and creating employment opportunities. The paper includes a small sample survey of Chiang Mai province's OTOP and an enterprise case study