The Kingdom of Thailand became an upper-middle income country in 2011, an impressive achievement as less than a generation ago it ranked as low-income. The country’s Human Development Index mirrors this progress, having increased from 0.57 in 1990 to 0.73 in 2015,1 placing the country in the high human development category. Thailand has met most of the Millennium Development Goals on an aggregate basis, with the Southern Border Provinces and Northeast regions lagging behind. Rapid industrialization, built around cheap labour with technology importation, and growth have lifted many out of poverty. Nationwide, poverty has decreased significantly, from 67 per cent in 1986 to 10.6 per cent in 2014 (10.12 per cent women; 10.99 per cent men).3 The incidence of poverty in Bangkok is virtually zero (1.6 per cent) while in the South and Northeast the rates are much higher (13.8 and 17 per cent respectively).

In spite of the upper middle-income status, development challenges remain, including pockets of poverty, widespread inequality by geography and ethnicity and growing vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. Corruption hampers equal access to social and economic opportunities, and combined with unsustainable growth, contributes to the unsustainable use of natural resources.