While changes in the criteria determining who is eligible for the old-age allowance by the outgoing Prayut Chan-o-cha government caused a stir, the issue of a low birth rate – another important aspect of Thailand’s aged society – has not been discussed much. The issue only gained short-lived public attention as Public Health Minister Dr […]
Social welfare is not about charities for the poor. It is a crucial policy tool to bridge the wealth gap and defuse the social timebomb from Thailand’s scandalous inequalities. We also have enough money to do it. But how? Dr Somchai Jitsuchon, Research Director of Inclusive Development and Dr Boonwara Sumano, Senior Research Fellow at […]
In the first part of this two-part article, published TDRI website on Jan 22, I mentioned six things we should know about inequality in Thailand — most of them under-recognised and underappreciated. In this second part I will deal with what we should do but are not doing or not doing well. There are 10 […]
Somchai Jitsuchon One reason for optimism over inequality in Thailand is that awareness of the problem is far higher these days. And not only in Thailand: the whole world now pays serious attention to the issue as a fundamental problem afflicting modern mankind. Inequality is more than a money matter. Inequality is unethical. It crushes […]
Welfare card, also known as card for the poor, has already been launched and distributed. The cabinet is busy addressing its aftermaths: unreadiness and insufficiency of electronic data capture (EDC) machines; card welfare abuse (exchange of card for cash); and budget leakage to the subrogated poor. Hence, before the database of low-income earners will be […]
