Open Development Thailand | Sharing information about Thailand and its development with the world.

COVID-19 Impact on Thai Labor Market

Unemployment is a looming concern. According to NSO’s data, the unemployment rate has increased to 2 percent in Q2 of 2020. This is more than three times Thailand’s jobless rate for the last decade, which hovered around 0.6%. The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) estimated that 8.4 million jobs would be at risk from the COVID-19 outbreak in Q2 and Q3 of 2020, in addition to the six million farmers already impacted by drought. Thailand’s key sectors have been especially hit.

Keep reading…

Image: Motorbike taxi in Thailand by ibeeckmans | CC Search under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Dashboard: COVID-19 and Thai Labor Market

Some major findings from Labor Force Survey data of Thailand National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted on jobs.

During the Q1 and Q2 of 2020, the virus impact was accelerating around the world. With the country put under lockdown from mid-March till June 2020, the COVID-19 impact on workers showed a significant change in the Q2.

View the full dashboard >>

Data Literacy Training

Thailand’s civil society representatives completed East-West Management Institute’s (EWMI) data literacy training program from February to June 2020. This training in Thailand was tailored for participants from the forestry sector to advocate for improved forest governance. They included representatives from Baan Non Toom Thaworn Community Forest, Self-organized Land Reform Network, Citizen Forest Network, Chiang Mai Community Organisation Council, Raks Thai Foundation, RECOFTC Thailand, and Western Community Radio Network.

All participants were sponsored by the Voices for Mekong Forests (V4MF) project, a five-year initiative funded by the EU. Read the full story.

Participants were very supportive of each other during the training. (This photo was taken during the first phase in February 2020.)

Pandemics / COVID-19

Thailand was the first country outside of China to have confirmed a patient with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection on 13 January 2020. On March 1, 2020, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) designated COVID-19 as a dangerous communicable disease under the Communicable Diseases Act B.E. 2558 (2015). An emergency in all areas of the Kingdom of Thailand was declared by the Thai Prime Minister on March 20, 2020, pursuant to the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in emergency situations. The emergency period was originally to last until April 30, 2020, until further announcement of relax measures.

New normal in Thai society with services of food delivery by ILO/Alin Siirisaksopit | Source: Flickr | CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.

New normal 'staying and dining' at home, with service of food delivery by ILO/Alin Siirisaksopit from Flickr under CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.

Forest Policy and Admistration

Thailand’s forests are governed under a system of laws and policies that has evolved over the past few decades to place a greater emphasis on conservation and sustainable management. Though challenges of implementation, participation, and community usage rights persist, governance can be considered a positive factor in Thai forest health.

Community Forest in Tha Sae, Chumphon Province | Source: Thai Rath | CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Forests and Forestry

In 2018, forest products accounted for roughly 118 billion Thai Baht (3.9 billion USD) in exports—or about 1.2% of all exported goods and services. That figure does not include either the value of domestic consumption of forest products or the ecosystem services forests provide.

Forest covers in the Mekong region 2000-2015

Sustainable Development Goals

Thailand has its own development framework that is being used to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), this along with the first Voluntary National Review are discussed further in this analysis.

Photo by | Peter Hershey | Unsplash

https://thailand.opendevelopmentmekong.net/topics/sustainable-development-goals/

Thai Civil Society's Efforts to Achieve SDGs

This interactive presentation offers some insights into the current engagement of Civil Society in the National review process for reporting on progress towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Use the navigation tools (located on the bottom right) to scroll left and right through the presentation and expand to full screen if you wish. To read more on the localisation context and implementation of SDGs in Thailand visit the Sustainable Development Goals page.

PM tells agencies to be ready to tackle drought next year

28 November 2020

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered all related state agencies to prepare measures to mitigate the drought next year, government deputy spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said.The Office of the National Water Resources has reported that it has developed 526 key water projects this year.Keep reading ...

 The Nation Reporter

One domestic case among five new Covid-19 patients

28 November 2020

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Saturday reported five new cases, including a domestic patient.The domestic case was reportedly a Thai woman, 29, who had come back from Myanmar. Her case was found in Chiang Mai province, and the infected person is currently being ...

 The Nation Reporter

State data-sharing platform set for 2023

28 November 2020

The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry aims to use a centralised data-sharing government platform by 2023 through the Government Data Center and Cloud (GDCC) service as part of efforts to boost public services within a single window for data access.GDCC is the central cloud ...

 Komsan Tortermvasana

Fight for the Mekong gathers pace

27 November 2020

More than 20 years ago, when two Chiang Rai-based environmentalists, Niwat Roikaew and Somkiat Kuenwongsa, learned that the Chinese government were blasting rapids in the upper Mekong River from Yunnan to Myanmar and Laos to clear the way for large commercial vessels, they started worrying.Back ...

Thai export sector hit by rising shipment costs, labour shortage

27 November 2020

Thailand’s private sector is confident the global economic outlook will improve next year, said Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.However, he said the Thai export sector is facing rising shipment costs and a shortage of both containers and labour.Keep reading ...

 The Nation Reporter

Recovery momentum picks up in Q3

27 November 2020

Thailand’s economic recovery momentum gained traction thanks to quarter-on-quarter GDP growth in the third quarter, with exports and public investment expected as the main growth drivers for next year, says a research house.GDP contraction has been upgraded to 6.4% from a 10.3% decline projected previously, ...

 Somruedi Banchongduang

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Digital Thinkers Forum#13 Mind the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants:How should we communicate truthfully & cordially?

21 October 2020

Digital Thinkers Forum is a Think Tank platform for Public Policy on Digital transformation, citizenship and governance towards civic empowerment.Digital Thinkers Forum#13 Mind the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants:How should we communicate truthfully & cordially? On Thursday October 29, 2020 from 1:00 PM – ...

Seminar on "Low-carbon and sustainable businesses meet SDGs"

31 August 2020

Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization) or TGO set up a seminar on “Low-carbon and sustainable businesses meet SDGs” with the aim of disseminating business practices according to the Sustainable Development Goals, including to create awareness among the private and public sectors about such goals. ...

Virtual Symposium | International SDG Research Symposium GLOBALGOALS2020

4 June 2020

Inviting researchers and interested people to join the online conference. International Conference on Research on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – INTERNATIONAL SDG RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM – GLOBALGOALS2020Date : 9-11 June 2020Organized by Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Netherlands.Register herehttps://globalgoalsproject.eu/globalgoals2020/registration/ Note: Can still register. Although the ...

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Open Development Thailand publishes new pages on COVID-19 Impact on Thai Labor Market and its Dashboard

12 October 2020

Open Development Thailand (ODT) recently published a new topic page on “COVID-19 Impact on Thai Labour Market,” which shows that the lockdown measure and other COVID-19 measures significantly affected jobs and workers in Q2/2020. The data dashboard will provide you insights to understand vulnerable informal ...

Open Development Thailand publishes a new topic page on "COVID-19 in Thailand"

21 May 2020

Open Development Thailand (ODT) recently published a new topic page on “COVID-19 in Thailand,” which shows the impacts from and measures of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. Like other countries, the COVID-19 has economic, social and environmental impacts. You will learn the key measures implemented ...

Open Development Thailand publishes a new topic page on Forest Policy and Administration

24 April 2020

Open Development Thailand (ODT) recently published a new topic page on “Forest Policy and Administration,” which informs relevant policies and laws of the forestry sector in Thailand. You will gain insights on regulatory development to balance and sustain the forest health conditions and support communities ...

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