Historical Sources and the Significance of Phetchaburi’s Sea Salt since the Reign of King Rama IV – Post World War II

Abstract

The objective of this research article is to study the economic importance of Phetchaburi’s sea salt from the reign of King Rama IV to the post-World War II era. The study is based on primary material held at the Thai National Archives. During the period in question, Phetchaburi's sea salt played a significant role in the Thai economy for two reasons. First, sea salt was a valuable commodity that contributed significantly to the state revenue during the Rattanakosin period when the government controlled the monopoly auction system for sea salt, determining the highest bidder (called ‘Chao-Phasi-Kluea’) each year, who in turn had to pay taxes to the Treasury. Second, sea salt became an important commodity traded domestically as well as internationally in the later years of the reign of Rama VI. At the beginning of the reign of Rama VII, sea salt production in ‘Ratchaburi Monthol’ reached approximately 22,500 tons per annum. The local revenue generated by the sea salt economy in Samut Songkhram and Phetchaburi reached approximately 120,000 baht per year. Most of the sea salt produced was distributed within the provinces and nearby cities as well as exported to the Malay Peninsula. Since 1949, about after the Second World War, the government imposed a policy to promote sea salt as a prior product for exporting to board foreign countries. The principal sea salt exports by destinations were Hong Kong, Singapore, Malay, Penang, Indochina, and Japan, especially Hong Kong and Singapore were ranked as first Thailand's largest market for sea salt. Hence, sea salt produced from Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, and Phetchaburi has been exported abroad approximately 190,000 tons per year. As a result, during the post-World War II era sea salt has become an important export product of Thailand continuously.