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Economics

การคุ้มครองครัวเรือนยากจนไทยเมื่อเผชิญภาวะเศรษฐกิจที่ยากลำบาก

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An elderly man waits for medicine at a hospital counter in Thailand. Photo: Trinn Suwannapha/World Bank

Thailand recently announced that it will put into action a national social assistance program for poor families. Such a program can help reduce poverty significantly. It would also move Thailand into the growing ranks of middle-income countries, such as China, Malaysia, Brazil, Turkey and the Philippines, that provide the poor with a ‘safety net’.

This week, the cabinet approved a package worth around 42 billion baht to finance cash allowances for the poorest and other subsidies for almost 12 million low-income families. For many poor families in Thailand, regular social assistance means their children being able to finish school or not going to bed hungry. For farmers, regular social assistance can help cushion the impact of natural disasters such as floods and droughts, which can wipe away a lifetime of savings.

Global evidence suggests that regular cash transfers can enable poor families to meet basic needs such as food, healthcare and education, and that they continue to work just as hard. Such studies have addressed concerns in many countries that cash transfers are mere handouts that encourage complacency. They have shown instead that a helping hand improves nutritional and educational outcomes, and the capacity of individuals and communities to cope with shocks, ultimately resulting in lower poverty and inequality.

But, according to the recently published World Bank Thailand Systematic Country Diagnostic, accurate targeting is key. An effective and efficient social assistance program consistently and reliably identifies those who need support the most.

Here is where challenges set in. With work in the informal sector so prevalent in Thailand, verifying household incomes can be difficult. Experience from other countries can help.  

Where self-declared income may not be reliable, other information such as land and vehicle ownership status, educational levels of adults, and presence of household members with disabilities can be useful. Different countries screen these non-income indicators in different ways. Some simply tally the other welfare indicators for each family, while others do a more complex calculation of how important each factor is in predicting if a family is poor. Whatever the approach, countries often supplement such information with community-based validation to take advantage of local knowledge. Thailand is using such an approach, with information on employment status, property ownership and savings to help determine who is low income.

Developing countries also use “social registries” to cross-check indicators of household welfare. These data platforms allow cross-checking of household welfare indicators, ranging from land and car ownership to social security participation, and are used by multiple public programs as a common source of information.

The most comprehensive social registries include not only program beneficiaries, but the larger population. Pakistan includes around 90 percent of its population in its social…

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National News Bureau Of Thailand

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BANGKOK (NNT) – The Commerce Ministry has launched measures to increase rice exports to 6 million tons this year, valued at around 150 billion baht, with Indonesia, China, Bangladesh and Iraq set to be the main markets under government-to-government (G2G) deals.

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said G2G deals and a campaign to make Thai rice more recognizable around the world will spearhead efforts to increase the export volume from last year’s 5.7 million tons.

He said the ministry is working with the Thai Rice Exporters Association to promote Thai rice under the “Think Rice, Think Thailand” campaign, adding that Thailand successfully made Thai rice become better known in Canada, increasing its exports to the country by 21% to 120,000 tons last year.

Mr Jurin said one of the distinctive characteristics of Thai rice is its very low sugar content. This would make it the preferred choice among Canadians as 28% of the Canadian population has high blood sugar levels.

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Bangkok Metropolitan Energy Authority (MEA) partners with Chineses owned Newsky Energy (Thailand) Company

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BANGKOK (NNT) – The Metropolitan Energy Authority (MEA) is looking into co-investment opportunities with private firm Newsky Energy Thailand for the construction of two new waste-to-energy power plants in Bangkok, promoting the expansion of alternative energy in the metropolitan area along with environmental protection.

The MEA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with private firm Newsky Energy Thailand on co-investment arrangements for waste-to-energy power plants in the Nong Khaem and On Nut districts of Bangkok, a project costing about 10 billion baht.

MEA Governor Kirapat Jiamset, said today that each of the waste-to-energy plants will have a generating capacity of 35 megawatts of electricity using 1,000 tons of waste as fuel each day.

Mr Kirapat said the two power plants will be introduced along with the smart grid system, which allows communities in service areas to receive power entirely from these plants, independent of the main power lines.

New Sky Energy Thailand CEO He Ning said the company has been working with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to operate a waste-to-energy incinerator at Nong Khaem dump, which converts 500 tons of garbage into electricity each day.

Operating since 2016, Mr Ning said the incinerator has been continuously feeding electricity to the MEA, with systems in place to take care of the environment and nearby communities.

The proposed new waste-to-energy plants are currently in the public consultation process. The construction of these projects is expected to commence later this year, and come online in the electricity grid in 2024.

According to the Department of Business Development, Newsky Energy (Thailand) Company Limited is currently registered as an electric power generation and transmission company in Thailand. The company is 100% owned by Chinese investors and reported a -7.25% net profit in the fiscal year 2019.

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Thailand sets export growth target at 4% for 2021

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BANGKOK (NNT) – Thailand has seen export growth of 0.35 per cent in the first month of the year. The Commerce Minister has ordered the Department of International Trade Promotion to advance an action plan to accelerate growth, which is set at 4 per cent this year.

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