Thailand
This paper discusses Thailand’s green growth policy framework with a focus on finding the right policy mix and institutional setup. Given that the economy is in a process of catching up with advanced economies, particular emphasis will need to be placed on making the green transition conducive to economic growth and further improvements in living standards. Implementing Thailand’s current pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero emissions by 2065 will require substantial policy changes. While the expansion of natural gas use over the past years has helped Thailand to contain increases of carbon emissions, reversing the still rising emissions calls for a strong shift towards renewable energy sources. Thailand has already started these efforts. The use of biofuels has increased in road transport, and other renewable energy sources have also expanded. Investments into greener production technologies and a more responsible use of resources have received strong attention. However, most current initiatives are voluntary, which will not be sufficient to achieve the country’s climate goals. As Thailand is highly vulnerable to climate change risks, policies that promote adaptation to climate change will also play an important role.
Thailand’s growth path has created large disparities that pose a risk to development. However, a closer look at the country’s peripheral provinces and cities suggests that convergence is underway and that much can be done to boost this trend. Productivity drives economic performance and enables rising incomes. Policy makers therefore need to learn lessons from Thailand’s best-performing provinces and cities. This chapter examines previous policies designed to develop Thailand’s regions and assesses the resulting productivity landscape across regions. Given the limited available resources, past policies have focused on the few areas of the country that showed rapid success. Going forward, more broad-based and innovative regional policies that put local innovation in the driver’s seat, provide flexible support and that learn from best performers will be necessary. An analysis of provinces at the productivity frontier points to superior human capital and public services as the distinguishing attributes of high-performing provinces and cities. Based on these insights, regional policies will need to support cities as the centrepieces of integrated regional development policies and focus on skills development as a tool of regional and urban policy.
This chapter proposes a series of indicators to assess the achievement of regional goals, as discussed in the previous chapters. The scorecard tracks the past performance of these indicators and sets targets for 2037. Where data are not available, it suggests information that national and local governments could collect to make the scorecard effective. The scorecard also maps each regional objective in the Action Plan against the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, ensuring coherence between policies adopted by the North with international standards of development.
This chapter provides a snapshot of Thailand’s competitive edge, with a focus on the four pillars targeted under the Thailand 4.0 vision: productivity, innovation, human resources and area-based development. It focuses particularly on competitiveness in targeted manufacturing activities and services, and related regional disparities. It further examines Thailand’s innovation readiness and skills development. The assessment helps identify where development challenges may lie and policy efforts are needed.
2005: Provident Fund (Amendment) Act; provides members with options to accept accrued benefits in the form of a lump sum or instalments, portability from the Government Pension Fund to a provident fund and establishes a master fund to facilitate the concept of employee’s choice