News Forum - Over 3 million people in Thailand living below poverty line, census shows

[Thaiger]

Over 3 million people in Thailand were living below the poverty line as of January this year, according to a government census agency. The Thai People Map and Analytics Platform (TPMAP) surveyed 36.1 million people across Thailand, and found that 3.44 million were living without their basic needs being met. This categorised them as poor.  The survey found that 1.02 million people needed urgent help with health, living conditions, education, income, and access to government services.  218,757 people needed urgent help with health. 220,037 people needed urgent help with living conditions. 272,518 people needed urgent help with education. 506, 647 […]

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[KaptainRob]

This report reminds me of my dear departed Father-in-Law.  I recall a (translated) conversation we had in Isaan many years ago when 'gubbermint peepl' came calling around their rural village.

Everyone knew the census takers were doing the rounds and had stories prepared.  Not one household admitted to having any savings, or additional land holdings beyond the house they lived in.  They had never done so for fear of taxes or lower farm subsidies.  Same went for income, no-one admitted to gaining support from children or family who worked elsewhere.

They may appear poor but they aren't stupid.

[palooka]

Have probably 100 of those "poor" in our village alone.

M-in -law runs the village shop and it is owed heaps this year. (Had to sub her to maintain reduced stock levels for the last 3 months)

We put it down to Covid of the past 18 months, but I think it goes deeper than that.  During covid many lost jobs or had those essential OT hours chopped, result many lost cars and houses due to an inflexible finance system.  Those same people now cannot get credit (on the repo list) no car, some no home and it spirals down from there. 

Do this survey in a year and I think the numbers will stagger many.

[Chatogaster]

 

TMAP: 3.4 million poor people out of a sample of 36 million people, so (assuming a proper survey):
TMAP: 6.6 million poor people (9.5%).
NSOT: 4.4 million (6.2%).
THAIQM: 3.8 million (5.4%).

A target seems to be 2.84% for the number of poor people that register for state well-fare support (which is about 1/3 of all poor people according to TMAP). 50+% of those have been "helped" by several organizations (presumably to meet their government-imposed quantitative quota, without requirements on quality). According to the article, soon 21% is expected to qualify for & perhaps receive state welfare.

The underlying ideas may be great, but the political objective of scoring points by turning the spotlight at a certain angle on the numbers (without actually making a dent) makes it a joke (but don't ask me why it's a joke; the numbers are, but they're not actually funny). Stop making temporary, one-time policies to satisfy/subdue the population. Be open about the numbers people care about, come up with a 5-year plan with a straight-forward metric to monitor/coordinate its progress, and stick with it!

 

[cowslip]

over 14.5 million in the UK now.

[Skip]

6 hours ago, cowslip said:

over 14.5 million in the UK now.

They're talking about money... not brains... 555

[EdwardV]

Wait, what's the poverty line in Thailand? 

[HiuMak]

Typical capitalist society where the rich are in control. Keep them poor so they can work for the rich.

[cowslip]

Thailand has the third biggest rich/poor divide after Russia and India

[Poolie]

1 hour ago, cowslip said:

Thailand has the third biggest rich/poor divide after Russia and India

Wow. These three countries have a lot of people.

[palooka]

On 11/9/2022 at 7:15 AM, EdwardV said:

Wait, what's the poverty line in Thailand? 

Probably the 600 baht per month line that the Govt give pensioners

[palooka]

On 11/9/2022 at 9:11 PM, Poolie said:

Wow. These three countries have a lot of people.

Sadly, by a huge margin, more poor than rich.

[Wackamole]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:00 PM, cowslip said:

Thailand has the third biggest rich/poor divide after Russia and India

Can you link to more details please?

[cowslip]

54 minutes ago, Wackamole said:

Can you link to more details please?

No _ I don't respond to sealioning. get them yourself.

Edited November 11, 2022 by cowslip

[Wackamole]

37 minutes ago, cowslip said:

No _ I don't respond to sealioning. get them yourself.

wow.

so I just landed on this ranking of countries by wealth inequality

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wealth-inequality-by-country

and they have Thailand nowhere near the top it's actually between the UK and Spain, which I find harder to believe than what you wrote, I must be looking for something else..

 

[KaptainRob]

4 hours ago, Wackamole said:

wow.

so I just landed on this ranking of countries by wealth inequality

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wealth-inequality-by-country

and they have Thailand nowhere near the top it's actually between the UK and Spain, which I find harder to believe than what you wrote, I must be looking for something else..

That fits with my views as stated in earlier posts.   IMO many folk judge poverty on appearances, type of dwelling etc.  Like comparing apples and grapes, both are tasty fruit but grow and look completely different.

[Marc26]

9 hours ago, Wackamole said:

wow.

so I just landed on this ranking of countries by wealth inequality

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wealth-inequality-by-country

and they have Thailand nowhere near the top it's actually between the UK and Spain, which I find harder to believe than what you wrote, I must be looking for something else..

Well if you think about it

 

There is not a huge difference between being "poor" or just getting by in Thailand vs being successful 

 

An unskilled factory worker will make 12-15k baht/mo

While a successful hotel front desk worker makes 25-30k

 

Where as in the west the disparity is much more 

[Soidog]

On 11/9/2022 at 12:08 AM, cowslip said:

over 14.5 million in the UK now.

14.5 million what in the U.K.? Surely you don’t mean poor?

[oldschooler]

On 11/11/2022 at 11:28 AM, palooka said:

Probably the 600 baht per month line that the Govt give pensioners

Believe poverty line 1900 baht month.

can’t even eat on 600 baht monthly ) 20 baht/ day)

[Wackamole]

7 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Well if you think about it

There is not a huge difference between being "poor" or just getting by in Thailand vs being successful 

An unskilled factory worker will make 12-15k baht/mo

While a successful hotel front desk worker makes 25-30k

Where as in the west the disparity is much more 

yes in that sense I feel the same as you. But you could also look at the number of Lamborghinis in contrast to the number of people who have the bare minimum. 

Maybe it's just a matter of visibility but there might be different ways to answer the question depending on how much weight you give to the extremes.

[palooka]

22 hours ago, oldschooler said:

Believe poverty line 1900 baht month.

can’t even eat on 600 baht monthly ) 20 baht/ day)

Pure existence line, about ten levels below poverty line.

If not for their children and friends supporting them many would probably pass on, still plenty of old and under nourished in our village even with this limited support.

To give the Govt some credit they do give certain sections of the populace 150 baht credit at designated shops every now and then, usually New Year or other special times.  Can be monthly sometimes or bimonthly haven't got the full gist of how it operates.  Just know it exists and I pick up a car load of people going to the next village to a shop where they get what they want and produce a phone with the required details and go home with a few bags of essentials.

[Faraday]

*Post hidden, no link provided*

Moderator 

[cowslip]

 

The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline[1] is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country.[2] The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for the average adult.[3] The cost of housing, such as the rent for an apartment, usually makes up the largest proportion of this estimate, so economists track the real estate market and other housing cost indicators as a major influence on the poverty line.[4] Individual factors are often used to account for various circumstances, such as whether one is a parent, elderly, a child, married, etc. The poverty threshold may be adjusted annually. In practice, like the definition of poverty, the official or common understanding of the poverty line is significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries.[5][6]

In October 2015, the World Bank updated the International Poverty Line (IPL), a global absolute minimum, to $1.90 per day[7] (in PPP),[8] where it currently stands (as of 2022),[9] and also as of 2022, $3.20 per day in PPP for lower-middle income countries, and $5.50 per day in PPP for upper-middle income countries.[8][9] Per the $1.90/day standard, the percentage of the global population living in absolute poverty fell from over 80% in 1800 to 10% by 2015, according to United Nations estimates, which found roughly 734 million people remained in absolute poverty.[10][11

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_threshold

 

 

 

[oldschooler]

8 hours ago, palooka said:

Pure existence line, about ten levels below poverty line.

If not for their children and friends supporting them many would probably pass on, still plenty of old and under nourished in our village even with this limited support.

To give the Govt some credit they do give certain sections of the populace 150 baht credit at designated shops every now and then, usually New Year or other special times.  Can be monthly sometimes or bimonthly haven't got the full gist of how it operates.  Just know it exists and I pick up a car load of people going to the next village to a shop where they get what they want and produce a phone with the required details and go home with a few bags of essentials.

Yeah it’s an absolute disgrace. Probably 10-12 million like this. 
monarchy- owned land in Bangkok alone worth 90-100 Billion $US. That would lift the entire country out of poverty, reform health & education systems and rebuild untold hospitals, roads, schools, ports etc.

maximum levels of corruption, wealth disparity, indifference and inhumanity at play , under guise of “Buddhism” … “ culture” and “ people” : two reasons I’m NOT in Thailand for …..