Poverty and Just Social Protection in Thailand

This paper analyses social protection in Thailand, including the development of social protection schemes and their institutions. It shows that although the Government of Thailand has attempted to improve social protection schemes, the impacts of these schemes on poverty reduction and justice creation are still debated. This paper shows that the schemes may not be able to lift people out of poverty since the average expenditure per person in social protection that the government subsidizes is less than the poverty line. It also reveals that justice has not been created, as it has not covered the migrants and those working in informal sectors. To solve this problem, the paper recommends the government to increase the budget and cooperate with local authorities and non-government organizations to raise accessibility of social services for all people.