The main purposes of this research were to study the readiness of the business to enter into a green economy. The research was carried out by surveying potentials of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) trade business and border trade in the Upper-Northeastern cluster of Thailand. And to study the needs of consumers on environmental friendliness. The research methodology was done by the mixed-method research and the convergent design from SMEs entrepreneurs and consumer groups of trade business and border trade. The instruments used for collecting data included the survey via personal interview and questionnaires. The research results revealed that most of the trade business and border trade had business potentials in management, logistics, finance, and marketing at a good level, and the consumers needed the eco-friendly products. Therefore, the research results as an overall image can be reflected that the trade business and border trade cluster are ready to enter into a green economy. Meanwhile, public relations in terms of letting the consumers realize the significance of eco-friendly products are crucial points that should be managed seriously and consistently by the business.

1. Ayuningrat, M. P., Noermijati, & Hadiwidjojo, D. (2016). Green product innovations effect on firm performance of managerial environmental concern and green communication. Journal of Administrative and Business Studies, 2(2), 56-63. doi:https://doi.org/10.20474/jabs-2.2.1
2. Bina, O. (2013). The green economy and sustainable development: An uneasy balance? Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 31(6), 1023–1047. doi:https://doi.org/10.1068/c1310j
3. Bizon, W. (2016). Stimulating entrepreneurship by introducing behavioural incentives, propensity to use financial instruments in the context of decision makers’ personal characteristics and their financial knowledge in Polish SMEs. Journal of Administrative and Business Studies, 2(6), 270-279. doi:https://doi.org/10.20474/jabs-2.6.2
4. Brown, C., Sturgeon, T., & Lane, J. (2014). Using a business function framework to examine outsourcing and offshoring by US organizations (IRLE Working Paper No. 121-14). Berkeley, CA: Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.
5. Bustaman, A. (2015). Sustainability, green marketing and green economy: Literature review. International Journal of Applied Research, 1(12), 954–958. doi:https://doi.org/10.15173/glj.v5i1.1146
6. Cock, J. (2014). The ’green economy’: A just and sustainable development path or a ’wolf in sheep’s clothing’? Global Labour Journal, 5(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.15173/glj.v5i1.1146
7. Creech, H., Paas, L., Gabriel, G. H., Voora, V., Hybsier, C., & Marquard, H. (2014). Small-scale social-environmental enterprises in the green economy: Supporting grassroots innovation. Development in Practice, 24(3), 366–378. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2014.899561
8. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications.
9. Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce. (2017). Commerce registration statistics. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/1IWcHAC
10. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. (2011). Green economy in the Arab region: Overall concept and available options (Tech. Rep.). Beirut, Lebanon: Economic & Social Commission for Western Asia.
11. Fetters, M. D., Curry, L. A., & Creswell, J. W. (2013). Achieving integration in mixed methods designs-principles and practices. Health Services Research, 48(6pt2), 2134–2156. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12117
12. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
13. Montmasson-Clair, G. (2012). Green economy policy framework and employment opportunity: A South African case study. In Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS), Working Paper Series 2012-02, Nairobi, Kenya: Elsevier BV. doi:doi:10.2139/ssrn.2748491
14. Nulkar, G. (2014). SMEs and environmental performance–a framework for green business strategies. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 133, 130–140. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.177
15. Osman, A., Othman, Y. H., Salahudin, S. N., & Abdullah, M. S. (2016). The awareness and implementation of green concepts in marketing mix: A case of Malaysia. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 428–433. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(16)00053-8
16. Parhizgar, M. M., & Vesal, H. (2016). Analysis of green marketing mix impact on consumer buying behavior. International Business Management, 7(10), 1306-1311. doi:10.3923/ibm.2016.1306.1311
17. Saxena, R., & Khandelwal, P. K. (2010). Can green marketing be used as a tool for sustainable growth? A study performed on consumers in India-An emerging economy. The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic, and Social Sustainability: Annual Review, 6(2), 277-292. doi:https://doi.org/10.18848/1832-2077/cgp/v06i02/54702
18. Seroka-Stolka, O. (2014). The development of green logistics for implementation sustainable development strategy in companies. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 151, 302–309. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.10.028
19. Solaiman, M., Osman, A., & Halim, M. S. B. A. (2015). Green marketing: A marketing mix point of view. International Journal of Business and Technopreneurship, 5(1), 87–98.
20. UN Division for Sustainable Development. (2012). A guidebook to the green economy, Issue 1: Green economy, green growth, and low-carbon development history, definitions and a guide to recent publications (Tech. Rep.). New York, NY: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
21. United Nations Environment Programme. (2016). Green finance for developing countries: Needs, concerns and innovations (Tech. Rep.). Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations.
22. Xia, Y., & Wang, B. (2013). Green logistics in logistics industry in Finland: case: Inex Partners Oy and Suomen Kaukokiito Oy (Unpublished master’s thesis). Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Lahti, Finland.
23. Xia, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Research on green marketing’s effect on enterprise’s sustainable development. In 3rd Asian Pacific Conference on Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (APEESD 2017), Singapore. doi:https://doi.org/10.12783/dteees/apees2017/7659

Kokanuch, A. (2018). Readiness of trade business and border trade entrepreneurs to green economy: Thailand. International Journal of Business and Administrative Studies, 4(2), 60-67. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.20469/ijbas.4.10003-2