https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/thailand/publication/taking-the-pulse-of-poverty-and-inequality-in-thailand

 

 

"Between 2015 and 2018, the poverty rate in Thailand grew from 7.21% to 9.85% and the absolute number of people living in poverty increased from 4.85 million to more than 6.7 million."

7 minutes ago, faraday said:

 

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/thailand/publication/taking-the-pulse-of-poverty-and-inequality-in-thailand

 

 

"Between 2015 and 2018, the poverty rate in Thailand grew from 7.21% to 9.85% and the absolute number of people living in poverty increased from 4.85 million to more than 6.7 million."

Yes agreed, the causes being:

 

• Over the past few years, Thailand’s growth rate has been lower than other large economies in the developing East Asia and Pacific region. In October 2019, Thailand had one of the lowest GDP growth rates in the region, at 2.7%.
• Growth has been moderating across the region as trade and economic growth have also weakened globally, affecting exports.
• Droughts have affected the livelihoods of farmers who are already typically the poorest.
• Tourism has experienced declines.

Except Thailand did not suffer from drops in tourism and exports.

1 hour ago, Trillian said:

There is a regulated and an unregulated employment market in Thailand and the unregulated segment is about 60% of the total. There's an interesting report that I'll try to locate and post that talks about these things. The unregulated segment is as you suggest, cash in hand and doesn't pay taxes or Social Security (SSc) although there is nothing to prevent those people from making the THB 432 per month that would give them SSc coverage which would also give them medical  insurance. But they don't, they take the money and run during the good times and in the bad times they stand there with their hand out, such as now.

 

As I say on my about me page I work part time for an NGO/charity that supports young adult females, many of them have been earning upwards of 30k per month cash in hand but didn't pay tax or SSc. When they come to grief and we get sight of them they have no benefits to fall back on, that's why we always tell them to find that 432 baht per month from somewhere each month and that it's a priority, most don't think it's a priority but it is.

 

EDIT TO ADD: Please see the ILO link below, section 6.7 refers to informal employment which is what I call unregulated:

 

https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_205099.pdf

 

I forgot to add, the numbers from the unregulated market are included in the stats, it's not as though the government doesn't know about them, they feature in most statistical data.

Thailand is a third world country. Third world thinking. Third world acting. Third world achieving.

 

Not without great wealth. But distributed poorly.

 

Have to cut the people a bit of slack. They have been run by The military and dictators for decades. The Thais are only now realising (through the internet) that a world exists outside their country.

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by owl sees all

Talking up a country and an economy so heavily reliant on tourism and finding that nobody is willing to travel to your country is brutal.  To insist on telling lies about the situation does nothing but garner distrust.  

Some inflammatory bickering posts and replies have been removed.

 

Some posts with off topic generalizations to the current circumstances of why Dr. Somkid and his team left the Government have been removed. This topic is about:

 

Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, admitted today (Thursday) that it was a shame that Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and his four-man economic team has left the Government adding, however, that their departures were necessary under the present circumstances.

 

 

Life goes on Hopefully the economy can recover 

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by ThailandRyan

Some more tedious bickering posts have been removed. 

On 7/16/2020 at 4:04 PM, rasmus5150 said:

Yes. We should have kept Yingluck as PM. She did such a good job reading scripts and answering questions from reporters.

 

I cannot imagine what kind of pandemonium Thailand would be in, if she was at the helm.

Many seem to have forgotten the unsolvable "Red Shirt/Yellow Shirt" confrontation that reigned for 6 months.  Government offices occupied, major thoroughfares shut down, (Asok for one) Barbed wire rolls on Sukhumvit and troops on pedestrian walkways.  Neither side had any intention of giving in.

 

The heavy hand of Chan Ocha and the Military Council was the only available path at the time to regain any form of normality.  Military juntas are certainly not a form of good government but in this case, it was the junta or bloodshed on a frightening scale. 

The heavy hand fell hardest on Isan and Red Shirt activists. Yellow Shirt Royalists got a pass.  It wasn't fair but the Red Shirts were revving-up for a violent insurrection with hard core agitators taking over leadership roles.   Sometimes, there is no fair way.

 

Taksin and his family were social progressives who did do a lot to open economic opportunity to Isan's impoverished farmers but they were also deeply corrupt and self- aggrandizing.  Taksin would himself probably have eventually become a heavy handed dictator, given the chance. 

 

It may be true that Chan Ocha's time has passed and he should step aside but he should be given credit for quelling what could have been a conflagration in a relatively non-violent manner.  

Since the 2014 coup the wealth disparity in Thailand is getting worse every year. Oddly enough, the reason given for the coup was to stamp out corruption and enrich the lives of the Thai people. Obviously some have benefited more than others. 

 

According to the Bank of Thailand’s research institute, the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, approximately 36 percent of Thailand’s corporate equity is held by just 500 people compared to the country’s current population of about 69,625,582 people. The institute’s report states that each of these 500 individuals amass some 3.1 billion baht (US$102 million) per year in company profits. This is compared to the average yearly household income of around US$10,000. https://theaseanpost.com/article/growing-gap-between-richest-and-poorest-thais

A post quoting multiple replies has been removed, please do not do this as it causes problem further down the page and is against forum rules.

On 7/16/2020 at 5:01 PM, Mr Meeseeks said:

She certainly did do a better job. 

 

At least she did not resort to throwing banana skins, threatening journalists, touching them inappropriately and putting cardboard cutouts out to answer questions he can't or doesn't want to answer. 

don't want to head off-topic- but I'm still looking for Yinglucks tablets I have asked dozens of rural families - they have never seen one; just like they have never received a single baht from this govt. during this virus tragedy. as the Thai expression goes 'kin thray' or gin sai - eat sand.

 

20 hours ago, dddave said:

Many seem to have forgotten the unsolvable "Red Shirt/Yellow Shirt" confrontation that reigned for 6 months.  Government offices occupied, major thoroughfares shut down, (Asok for one) Barbed wire rolls on Sukhumvit and troops on pedestrian walkways.  Neither side had any intention of giving in.

 

The heavy hand of Chan Ocha and the Military Council was the only available path at the time to regain any form of normality.  Military juntas are certainly not a form of good government but in this case, it was the junta or bloodshed on a frightening scale. 

The heavy hand fell hardest on Isan and Red Shirt activists. Yellow Shirt Royalists got a pass.  It wasn't fair but the Red Shirts were revving-up for a violent insurrection with hard core agitators taking over leadership roles.   Sometimes, there is no fair way.

 

Taksin and his family were social progressives who did do a lot to open economic opportunity to Isan's impoverished farmers but they were also deeply corrupt and self- aggrandizing.  Taksin would himself probably have eventually become a heavy handed dictator, given the chance. 

 

It may be true that Chan Ocha's time has passed and he should step aside but he should be given credit for quelling what could have been a conflagration in a relatively non-violent manner.  

truth be told - we settled in Thailand in 1996. The only time we were truly scared that we could end up in a civil war was prior to the coup. The problem, as always is power corrupts. 

20 hours ago, metisdead said:

Some more tedious bickering posts have been removed. 

Thanks for doing this. This is an interesting phenomenon which I have also noted on several FB forums I participate in. During the lockdown, absence of beer supplies and companionship, the bickering has reached new heights. An indication of how little we have progressed, as we respond to the current state of the world.. On the positive side, many expats are feeding the hungry Thais and Burmese.