Grassroots economic development in Thailand Ministry of Interior Thailand

1. Grassroots Economic
Development in Thailand
Mr.Chirapun Gullaprawit
Senior Adviser
National Economic and Social Development
Board (NESDB)
November 25, 2013, Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, Bangkok,
Thailand

2. Outline for
Presentation
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Evolution of The National
Economic and Social
Development Plan
Grassroots Economic
Development Policy for Poverty
Eradication
Government Policy

3. Evolution of The National Economic and
Social Development Plan
Gold Era of Planning
Political Fluctuation
Democracy Era
Paradigm Shift
Plan 1 (1961-66)
Plan 2 (1967-71)
People Centred
Development
Paradigm
Plan 3 (1972-76)
Participatory and
Area-based
Approach
Plan 4 (1977-81)
Sufficiency Economy
Economic Growth and
Infrastructure
Development
Plan 5 (1982-86)
Economic Growth
Led Development
and the Beginning
of Social
Development
Plan 6 (1987-91)
Plan 7 (1992-96)
Plan 8 (1997-2001)
Economic Stability and
Social Development
Plan 9 (2002-06)
Plan 10 (2007-2011)
Community
Plan
Plan 11 (2012-2016)

4. Grassroots Economic Development
Policy
Human Resource
Development
Strategic
Interventions
Income generation
Coordinating with
Chamber of
Commerce
To Solve Poverty Problem
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5. Strategies & Specific Government Interventions for individuals,
families and people groups
Managed by:
CBOs
Free schooling & Lending
bicycle for school children
SML fund
Universal health
insurance
Village revolving fund
Housing scheme
for the poor
Debt suspension
program
Land reform & land
entitlement process
Strategic
Interventions
Fix-it centers
Income generation
Coordinating with
Chamber of
Commerce
One Tambon,
one product
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6. I . Building capacity for individuals,families
and people groups
- Establish various people groups
Occupational
Youth
Group
Group
Older Person
Saving
Group
People
Groups formation
Group
Community Plan
Group
Welfare
Group
Women
Group
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7. II. Building capacity for communities
- Strategic Management
Government
Interventions
Change Role/
Paradigm
Community
Plan
Targeted
Interventions/
Areas
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8. Community
Involvement
Community’s
Initiated
Interventions
Community
Plan
External
Support
Support from
Dev. Partners
Linkage
Local
Authority
&
Provincial
Plans
Community’s Strength
in Development
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9. Community Development Strategies & Specific
Government Interventions
STRATEGIES:
SELECTED INTERVENTIONS
Capacity Building
& Opportunity
Village Revolving
Fund
Long-term credit facility,
refinance loan from informal
source
People’s Bank
Macro& Micro
Economic
Management
Debt Moratorium for
Small farmers and
Agricultures
One Tambon-One
Product
Changing Asset of the Poor
to
Capital
Local authorities insure Education and life long learning
Opportunity
Free Schooling & Lending bicycle for school children
Social Protection
& Safety Net
Cash Transfer to
Elderly & Disable
persons
Natural Resource
Management
Water Resource
Management
Streamlining
Public
Administration
Devolution of public resource
management & responsibilities
Universal Health
Insurance
Housing & Shelter,
drinking water
Land Settlement and
Reform
Community Action Plan for
Development
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10. Government Policy
Expenses Reduction
Income Generation
Rice Pledging
Increases Income of Farmers
Corporate
Tax Cut
First-TimeMin. Wage
of
Increases Income of labors
300/day
15,000 Salary for
Uni. Graduates
Allowance
for Elderly
Price support for
agricultural produces
e.g. cassava,
rubber, pineapple
Car-Buyers
Scheme
Increases Income of
University Graduates
Provides Income
Guarantee for Elderly
people
First-Home
Policy
Increase competitiveness of
private sector & prepare for AEC
Provide opportunity for car
ownership for personal &
commercial uses
Increase opportunity for
home ownership
Support for Cost of Living
Maintain the prices of consumer
goods in a appropriate range
Increases Income of Farmers
Support for
Energy Prices
Maintain the prices of
energy in a affordable
range
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11.  Increase the Village and Urban Community Fund to 1
Access to Credit measures: Improve
million Baht per unit.
people’s access to sources of funding an
 Establish a fund to develop women’s roles with
average funding of 100
million Baht per province.
 Establish a fund of 1,000 million Baht for
participating universities to promote the creation of
small entrepreneurs and enable them to borrow
money supported by a “business incubator” service
within educational institutions
and to create innovative enterprises which will drive
the economy.
 Allocate funding to the SML fund for community and
village development to
the amount of 300,000 Baht, 400,000 Baht and
500,000 Baht, corresponding
with the village size in order for villages to manage
for their own
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development.

12. One Tumbon One Product: OTOP
Thai Government announced
Poverty Eradication Strategy:
income generation, expenditures
reduction, and opportunities
enhancement. OTOP
development policy was endorsed
as poverty reduction strategy.
Concept: draw upon the local knowledge
and ingenuity of Thai villages, regions,
and the entire nation at large
 encouraging the people to produce
local products using their homegrown
skills and expertise;
 providing technical assistance and
advice to enable them to produce their
goods more efficiently and of higher
quality that reach world standard;
 marketing their goods throughout the
country and around the world.
oSales of local products:
o 2001= 215 mil. THB
o 2002= 24 bill. THB
o 2003= 33 bill. THB
o export in 2005 (9 months)
= 874 mil. USD
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
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13. Government Initiatives: Fix-It Centre
Local people
Local
technician/
mechanic/
worker
Vocational
Students
 Reduce expenditure
 Increase student capacity with the real life practice
 Community knowledge centre
 Cooperation between local vocational school and community
Note: At present, Fix-it centre programme is implemented by each vocational school as the
school project.
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14. Government Initiatives : Five Categories
of (formal) Old Age Security Systems
Old Age Pension in
the Current Social
Security System
Pension Systems
for Government
State Enterprise
Officials
• Social Security Act
• workers who work in the private-sector enterprises and must have contributed to the Social Security Fund for not less
than 180 months, and that person will have aged at least 55 years and no longer working
•original government pension plan for public servants (end 2037)
•the Government Pension Fund Act of 1996: contribution of Government (3%) and Officers (3%)
•The Government Pension Fund Office (semi public-private organisation)
Private Sector
Provident Fund
System
•the employees will receive lump-sum payments at the time of their resignation or retirement: tax
exempted on the part of employees, and tax deductible on the part of employer
•Employees’ contributions must be at least 3 % of wages but not exceed 15 % while Employer’s contributions
must not be less than employees’ contributions.
Retirement Mutual
Fund System
•voluntary pension scheme: the latest addition to the old age pension schemes
•It aims to provide a means of voluntary retirement savings to employees who are not in the Provident Fund,
or who want to make additional contributions
Other Old Age
Pension System
•Private Teachers’ Provident Fund system
•enterprises’ workers are covered by the Provident Fund Act of 1987 and will receive lump sum payments
upon retirement.
Monthly allowance for all registered elderly
particularly in the informal sector
(largest sector of Thailand)
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15. Universal Health Insurance
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16. Education Policy
 15 year free tuition fee:
kindergarten to high school level
 uniform
 school activities
 textbooks
 Tablet

17. Housing Scheme for the Poor: Housing
Security Project
 launched by the Thai government in January 2003 ,
as part of its efforts to address the housing problems
of the country’s poorest urban citizens.
 The program channels government funds, in the form
of infrastructure subsidies and soft housing and
land loans, directly to poor communities, which plan
and carry out improvements to their housing,
environment, basic services and tenure security and
manage the budget themselves.
958 communities: 52,780 HH
(Sep, 2007)
Community Organizations
Development Institute
(Public Organization)
 Instead of delivering housing units to individual poor
families, the Housing security Program puts Thailand’s
slum communities (and their community networks)
at the center of a process of developing long-term,
comprehensive solutions to problems of land and
housing in Thai cities.
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18. www.nesdb.go.th
Thank you