Factors in the Achievement of Below-Replacement Fertility in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Papers of the East-West Population Institute, Number 96, March 1986.

The study assesses the impact of family planning programs on the fertility of women in the Chiang Mai province of Thailand, where family planning programs were introduced early in 1963. The study documents and estimates the fertility trend of Chiang Mai's population from existing sources of data. A demographic survey, in which a random sample of 3,805 ever married women from both urban and rural areas were interviewed using the World Fertility Survey questionnaire, was conducted. The socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes towards family size of Chiang Mai's urban and rural population are compared. The findings show that fertility has fallen rapidly in all sectors of the population and the decline is attributed to the introduction of family planning programs. The study concludes that family planning programs are one of the best possible means of slowing population growth rates to desired low levels in both urban and rural population. (SY)