Author: tdri
Adaptability is key to national survival
Covid-19. Technological disruption. Climate crisis. These have happened at a rapid pace that challenges the adaptability of people around the world. Is Thailand prepared to withstand these challenges? Ask the children — the future of the country — and their answers, according to the 2018 PISA Survey of 15-year-old children around the world, are not […]
Uncertainty ahead for Thai economy
The Thai economy will face many headwinds but also tailwinds next year, mainly from the global economy and geopolitical tensions. In 2022, the Thai economy slowly recovered from the Covid pandemic as lockdowns ended and the economy was reopened to international travel. After contracting by more than 6% in 2020, Thailand’s real gross domestic product […]
Time to end Thailand’s generation war
Teenagers declared war on schools’ authoritarian rules. A rap song chastising Thai dictators went viral overnight. Angry youths defied state crackdowns for democratic rights. The social media movement “Let’s Move Out of This Country” spread like wildfire. The signs during the past few years have been abundant and clear. Thai youths are fed up and […]
Thai agriculture needs a shake-up
Startups have succeeded in disrupting so many business sectors in Thailand. Why not in agriculture yet?Thailand’s outdated and unproductive agriculture definitely needs a shake-up. Despite the natural abundance, farmers remain poor amid rising investment costs and low prices. Droughts and floods from climate change have also increased their production risks, making farmers’ lives much more […]
Protecting children on social media
Is it wrong to post video clips or photos of children on social media? Maybe this is the wrong question. Instead, we should ask whether those posts are legal or not. The question of the appropriateness of posting children’s photos or video clips on social media has raised a storm of debate recently with an […]
AI art raises questions about copyright
Want to have an impressionist painting of Thai temples in the style of Claude Monet, but you cannot afford to commission an artist? Let artificial intelligence (AI) do the work for you. Then you change your mind and want to have the painting in a surrealistic style. A piece of cake. Type what you want […]
Impact Assessment of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation on Children in Thailand
The Impact Assessment of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation on Children in Thailand, authored by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) with the support of UNICEF Thailand, highlights that the most vulnerable children to climate change risks, such as droughts, heatwaves, and floods, are those living in the Northeastern and Southern regions of Thailand. The […]
Let’s talk about gun control in Thailand
Oct 6 marks one of the most tragic days in Thailand’s history. Back in 1976, hundreds of students and protesters were attacked and killed at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus. Last week, 37 people, 24 of them preschool kids, lost their lives in a gun and knife attack at a childcare centre in Nong Bua […]
Personal data at risk in govt hands
Only one month after enforcing the law to protect the Thai people’s personal data security and privacy, the government had a change of heart. Instead of imposing the PDPA law on all organisations that handle data, the government has helped some government agencies to bypass the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) in the name of […]
Clean energy needs far clearer policy
Amid rising oil prices and the need to slow down global warming from fossil fuels, the government’s vow to give electric vehicles a big policy push is more than welcome. The road ahead will not be easy, however. Last year, the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee announced that 30% of vehicles made in Thailand will […]