Forecast of household income share in Thailand 2015-2020
Thailand’s middle class is currently emerging, and it is forecasted that around 13 percent of the households will earn at least 525 thousand Thai Baht by 2020. And yet, Thailand is seen as a country with huge income inequality. By 2020 the number of millionaires (in U.S. dollars) will reach 81 thousand .
The development of income inequality in Thailand
The differences in income seen in Thailand today are the result of a long-term political and economic process from which, until recently, only leading households in urban areas benefited from. However, in doing so, the government was highly successful in continuously fueling economic growth. Even though the banking- and export sectors developed and grew from the 1960s up to the early 1990s, the majority of the population was still working in agriculture. In 1997, however, Thailand was badly hit by the Asian crisis, resulting in a further rise of the poverty rate. Political leaders were thus forced to implement reforms supporting the low-income households, and a series of social reforms such as the introduction of a healthcare plan and affordable housing followed. While these reforms sometimes resulted in an improvement of living standards, most had the unfortunate consequence of increasing corruption in the public sector.
The development of income inequality in Thailand
The differences in income seen in Thailand today are the result of a long-term political and economic process from which, until recently, only leading households in urban areas benefited from. However, in doing so, the government was highly successful in continuously fueling economic growth. Even though the banking- and export sectors developed and grew from the 1960s up to the early 1990s, the majority of the population was still working in agriculture. In 1997, however, Thailand was badly hit by the Asian crisis, resulting in a further rise of the poverty rate. Political leaders were thus forced to implement reforms supporting the low-income households, and a series of social reforms such as the introduction of a healthcare plan and affordable housing followed. While these reforms sometimes resulted in an improvement of living standards, most had the unfortunate consequence of increasing corruption in the public sector.
