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.

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.

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.

Call for national researchers - Global Data Barometer

Open Data for Development Asia Hub (D4DAsia) is currently seeking independent, country-level researchers in Asia. Please see this post for more information.

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

The time is now ripe to boost AI development

16 January 2021

The pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI) advantages has been getting more attention in the past few years, with a number of countries making efforts to accelerate AI investments, especially in terms of human resources and digital infrastructure. Among them, is China, where the government has ...

 Bangkok Post Reporter

Pandemic steps to steer GDP outlook

16 January 2021

Thailand’s GDP growth projection of 3.2% for this year could be downgraded by as much as four percentage points, depending on the government’s management of the latest outbreak, says the Bank of Thailand.There are three scenarios that could cause the country’s economic growth outlook to ...

 Somruedi Banchongduang

Panel approves airport expansion

16 January 2021

A panel in charge of upgrading Suvarnabhumi airport has approved a major development scheme worth nearly 60 billion baht to support the post-Covid-19 recovery of air travel demand.Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, the committee’s vice chairman, recently said the development project comprises the construction of three ...

 Supoj Wancharoen

Tourism fee to help insure foreigners visiting the kingdom

15 January 2021

The National Tourism Policy Committee has approved the proposed guidelines for the collection of a 300-baht tourism fee from each international visitor for the management of local tourist destinations.The money will also be used to provide insurance benefits to international tourists visiting the country.Keep reading ...

 Bangkok Post Reporter

Anti-flooding plans agreed

15 January 2021

A government committee on Thursday approved four flood prevention projects in Bangkok and a water supply project in Pattani.The projects were approved at a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, said Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) secretary-general Somkiat Prajamwong.Keep reading ...

 Bangkok Post Reporter

Baht stays firm, but funds inflows to determine direction

15 January 2021

The baht opened at 30 to the US dollar on Friday, unchanged from Thursday’s closing rate. The Thai currency is likely to move between 29.90 and 30.05, said Krungthai market strategist Poon Panichpibool.On Thursday night, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes fell by 0.4 and 0.1 ...

 The Nation Reporter

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Waste Management competition | Envi Mission Year 2

14 January 2021

The Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, and CU Radio invite students with environmentally-conscious minds to enter the “Envi Mission Year 2” and compete for cash prizes worth 70,000 baht in total.Held under the “Waste A Moment” concept, this is the second edition of the environment ...

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. ...

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Open Development Thailand publishes a dashboard on “Essential Information on COVID-19 in Thailand."

16 December 2020

Open Development Thailand (ODT) recently published a dashboard on “Essential Information on COVID-19 in Thailand,” which collects useful information on the nationwide measures, capacity of health services and medical workforces, hotline contact, educational videos, and infection cases over time. Access to the page>> ...

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 ...

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