SEATLE, Washington — Thailand is a country in South East Asia with a population of more than 69 million people, making it the 20th most populated country in the world. After the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, the country began implementing policies and changes to work towards achieving the goals set forth by the international community. Updates on SDG 1 in Thailand show the country has made progress in eliminating poverty.
What is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1?
The United Nations adopted the 17 SDGs in 2015 to promote prosperous and sustainable growth in every country around the world. The SDGs set goals for each member country to achieve by the year 2030. SDG Goal 1 calls for the eradication of poverty around the world. Specifically, Goal 1 aims to reduce the proportion of people living in poverty within a country by half. It also requires the implementation of poverty-preventing legislation to ensure access to resources and reduce vulnerability to sudden social, political and environmental changes.
Updates on SDG Goal 1 in Thailand
-
Thailand has made progress. In 1988, 65% of Thai people lived in poverty. By 2018, this percentage dropped to less than 10%. Based on the international standard (living on $1.90 per day), only 0.03% of Thailand’s population lives in extreme poverty as of 2018. It would seem that Thailand has been successful in reducing poverty and is getting closer to achieving SDG Goal 1.
-
In recent years, poverty in Thailand has increased. Over the long-term, poverty in Thailand has decreased. However, between 2015 and 2018, the number of Thai people living in poverty increased from 4.85 million (7.2% of the population) to more than 6.7 million (9.8%). This increase is due to many factors, including droughts impacting farming, weakened trade and decreased tourism.
-
Thailand implemented the Thai People Map and Analytics Platform (TPMAP) to gather regional data on poverty. The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board and National Electronics and Computer Technology Center partnered in 2017 to develop TPMAP as a nationwide tool for more precise poverty alleviation. The platform gathers data on a regional basis to determine programs that will address the specific problems citizens of those regions face. TPMAP uses “healthcare, education, income, living standard and access to public services” to identify who is poor, where they live and how to improve their conditions. TPMAP surveyed 36 million people, and 1.03 million were identified as poor.
-
Thailand enacted a welfare card system to support citizens with low incomes in an effort to eliminate poverty. In 2016, the Thai government created a registration system to support the country’s poor by supplementing their incomes through the distribution of e-payment welfare cards. That year alone, the government distributed $485 million to 7.5 million citizens. Estimates for 2017 predicted 12 million Thai citizens would benefit from this program. The cards provide a monthly allowance to citizens who are over the age of 18 and earn less than 100,000 Bhat (approximately $3,200) annually for use on public transportation and to buy necessities such as food and hygiene products.
-
Inequality remains prevalent in Thailand. Despite the reduction in poverty and success with SDG Goal 1, the bottom 40% of the population has not benefited as much from the growth in prosperity. From 2015 to 2017, both “consumption and growth in income” were negative among this portion of the population. This trend is due to declines in farm, labor and business income as well as stagnated growth in wages.
-
The Population and Community Development Association (PDA). PDA working towards ending inequality and poverty in Thailand. Founded in 1974, PDA began focusing on poverty reduction in rural areas more specifically in 2008 when it launched its Village Development Partnership (VDP) model. PDA operates two development projects in Thailand. Village Development Banks provide loans for the community while a Poverty Eradication Demonstration Farm trains people in the community in farming and business. So far, PDA has launched these projects in 188 rural schools, impacting more than 100,000 people.
– Sydney Leiter
Photo: Pixabay