poverty
- Thailand News
Elderly Thai singer impersonator battles cancer and poverty
The heart-wrenching story of a 71 year old man, known for mimicking the voice of the legendary Thai singer, Chai Mueangsing, has surfaced, highlighting his struggle with terminal cancer and poverty. Living in Chon Buri, the elderly man now finds himself collecting garbage to sell, his home devoid of electricity and water, and his health rapidly declining. Adun Wongnoi’s Facebook…
- Thailand News
Young Thai girl dreams of police career amid severe poverty
A heartrending story has emerged about a nine year old girl who dreams of becoming a police officer despite facing extreme poverty, often left hungry while waiting for her grandmother to return from hospital appointments. The situation came to light after a Facebook user named ศรุต ธานินมงคล posted a picture of the girl, Ice, sitting outside her home, clutching her…
- Thailand News
UNICEF Thailand launches campaign for children’s brighter future
UNICEF Thailand has launched an ambitious campaign titled A Better Tomorrow, Today, urging collective action for a brighter future for children. Faced with global challenges like conflicts, health crises, poverty, and climate change, UNICEF is pressing for immediate measures to safeguard children’s rights and potential. The campaign, which will include public events, social media initiatives, and celebrity participation, is designed…
- Thailand News
Thailand halves poverty in seven years despite ongoing challenges
Thailand has achieved a significant milestone in its battle against poverty, reducing the number of people living in poverty by half in just seven years, according to the 2024 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Despite this impressive progress, many Thai citizens endure inadequate living conditions, particularly in rural areas, where access to essential services such as healthcare, education, and sanitation…
- Thailand News
Meatball mishap prompts prosecutors to grill Buriram thief
Prosecutors have called for additional investigation into a case involving the theft of grilled meatballs, which were stolen out of desperation to cook for a man’s children and to share with his elderly, ill parents. This case raises concerns about whether it should be classified as a non-beneficial prosecution. The Lawyers Council of Thailand offered assistance, noting that the crime…
- Business News
TBA urges integration of informal economy for digital growth
The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) has advocated for integrating the informal economy into the national economic framework to enhance transparency and bolster the country’s digital economy. The recovery index of Thailand’s GDP post-pandemic in 2023 was marked at 110, underperforming the worldwide average of 80, according to the TBA. A higher score on this index indicates a lengthier recovery period.…
- Thailand News
Trang single mother of nine faces dire straits on 200 baht a day
Battling against overwhelming odds, a 30 year old single mother, identified only by her nickname Dam, shoulders the responsibility of caring for nine lives in a cramped rental home in Trang province. Her household includes her five children, two siblings with support needs, and a nephew. The family’s struggle is compounded by a meagre income, making their daily survival a…
- Economy News
Shocking poverty report exposes Thailand’s hidden crisis: Top 10 struggling provinces revealed
In a groundbreaking summit titled Bridging the Gap: Thailand’s Path to Inclusive Prosperity, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), in collaboration with the World Bank, has unravelled an alarming reality about poverty persisting in certain provinces despite an overall reduction in inequality. According to the latest assessment of Thailand’s situation last year, the nation has witnessed a commendable…
- Thailand News
Triumph over adversity: Teenage Thai girl peddles to provide for family
A 15 year old Thai girl found herself as the breadwinner of a family of three following a family accident. The girl, her grandmother, and her 8 year old sister, who is suffering from anaemia, are now living in a makeshift home on some temple premises, where the structure is on the verge of collapsing and the family is obliged…
- Crime News
Thief leaves an apology note in Chiang Mai, Thailand
A thief stole over 12,000 baht from an electrical appliances store in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand on Sunday morning and left behind a note apologising for his crime. CCTV footage captures a masked assailant, a man estimated to be around 30 years old, breaking into an electrical appliance store next to Wat Tha Mai-i Temple in Chiang Mai’s…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya officials continue to struggle with homeless problem
Pattaya officials are continuing to struggle with the city’s homelessness issues. On Tuesday, Pattaya’s deputy mayor inspected a homeless encampment under Motorway Route 7, after nearby residents complained about the growing number of homeless people. Deputy Mayor Wuttisak Rueimkitkan said he found three to four makeshift tents at the encampment. He said one family included a father and his two…
- Economy News
One-third of adult Thai citizens applied for welfare
Applications for welfare have seen a huge jump, with 22 million Thai people requesting a state welfare card in the latest round of registration. That massive figure equates to about one-third of the entire adult population of Thailand. It is a huge jump from the current 13.5 million people now carrying welfare cards in the country. The figures come after…
- Thailand News
Poverty in Thailand has been halved says govt
The Ministry of Interior insists that 1.9 million poor families have been rescued by the Thai government and that the state has halved the poverty problem in Thailand. The Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Suttipong Juncharoen, said poverty is a problem residents have to face and that the government cannot solve the problem by itself. Suttipong announced that the…
- Crime News
Teenager stabs school bully after he made fun of his poverty
A 15 year old schoolboy in the northeastern province of Buriram stabbed one of his friends in the neck after he bullied him and made fun of his poor family. The teenager, named A, attacked his friend in the classroom of a school in the Pakam district of Buriram province last Friday, September 2. He launched at him stabbing him…
- Things To Do
25 houses collapse into canal in Samut Prakan
25 Samut Prakan houses fell into the Khlong Bang Hia canal last night in the Bang Phli district. Local people said embankments along the canal and pond had been sinking since Monday, and a subcontractor unsuccessfully tried to repair them. The earth embankment finally broke on Thursday night, and water from the canal flooded into the nearby pond. After the…
- Bangkok News
Hundreds of Thailand slums at risk of Covid-19 as many can’t afford to quarantine
Following the Covid-19 outbreak at the Khlong Toey slum neighbourhood in Bangkok, there have been more than 1,000 slum communities have been identified as having similar living conditions as the Khlong Toey slum, and are now communities at high risk advised to be under watch to prevent another outbreak. The Social Development and Human Security Ministry’s Community Organisations Development Institute…
- Covid-19 News
Hong Kong partially locks down, forcing thousands to undergo Covid screening
Hong Kong’s government is forcing a partial lockdown until 10,000 residents of an area in the Kowloon peninsula, complete a Covid-19 test. The 2 day lockdown in the city’s poorest neighbourhood of Jordan, comes after a new strain of the coronavirus was identified, making it the 1st lockdown that the city has seen. The area, which features many deteriorating buildings…
- Phuket News
Can Phuket survive? Interview with Bill Barnett | VIDEO
Interview with Bill Barnett from c9Hotelworks. Phuket has now been hit with a 3rd major crisis, each one more profound than the long-term effects from the 2004 tsunami. Now the island has new restrictions imposed on arrivals on the southern island, imposed by the Phuket Provincial Authority.
- Pattaya News
Pattaya residents call on officials to sort out homelessness crisis – VIDEO
Pattaya residents are urging officials to do something about the escalating homelessness problem in the city. Pattaya is usually one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations but, like the rest of the country, it has been left ravaged by the economic fallout of Covid-19. Many of the city’s homeless have taken to squatting in abandoned bars; others simply sleep on…
- Economy News
Household debt on the rise, as Thailand’s economic index decreases
The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt around the country as Thailand’s economic index decreases and unemployment and debt continue to rise. Experts predict the country’s economic index will decrease from 37.4 to 36.8 over the coming 3 months. A report by the National News Bureau of Thailand says household debt is on the increase, with consumers…
- Covid-19 News
Welfare officials visit homeless people living in Pattaya’s abandoned bars
Social welfare officials have paid a visit to a group of homeless people in Pattaya, who have taken refuge in some of the city’s abandoned beer bar complexes. Following a report in The Pattaya News, officials pledged to allow those living there to continue to do so and to provide them with further help. Most of them have lost their…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya’s homeless population seeks refuge in abandoned bars
Despite the easing of nearly all restrictions imposed to suppress the Covid-19 virus, Thailand’s people are still very much feeling the lingering effect of the shutdown. An ongoing ban on nearly all international arrivals has crippled the tourism industry, meaning many nightlife venues in places like Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket remain shut. A report in The Pattaya News shows the…
- Covid-19 News
Thai food giant to provide a million meals priced at 20 baht
Thai food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Foods says it plans to offer heavily discounted ready-to-eat meals for those facing financial difficulties as a result of the economic fallout of Covid-19. CEO Prasit Boondoungprasert says a million meals will be distributed to Fresh Mart shops around the country and will cost just 20 baht. There will be a choice of dishes on…
- Education
e-learning leaves many students locked out of new school term
Many Thai children, with no smartphone or internet to access online classes, find themselves unable to begin their new school term and participate in the online learning. The issue has become a hot topic among netizens after cases emerged in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province of children unable to join online classes. One 54 year old woman there says that…
- Economy News
Academics say virus will make inequality in Thai society even worse
Leading academics from Malaysia and Thailand say the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus will only exacerbate the substantial wealth inequalities in Thailand, a country where so many citizens are already at a significant economic disadvantage. Writing in The Diplomat, M Niaz Asadullah from the University of Malaya and Ruttiya Bhula-or from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, say the collapse in tourism…
- Covid-19 News
Hungry residents in Bangkok queue for rice handouts
Thousands of Bangkok residents who have had their income cut off or severely reduced by the Covid-19 restrictions have been queueing for supplies of rice donated by some of the city’s Good Samaritans. Thai Residents reports that officials were on hand yesterday to check the lines of people in Santiphap Park in the city’s Ratchathewi district and ensure social distancing…
- World News
Yangon’s boom falls short across river – waiting to bridge the gap
by Su Myat Mon and Dene-Hern Chen “An enormous industrial zone spanning the area south and west of the river, largely funded by money from Korea and China, is under consideration.” On her scruffy, downtrodden bank of the river, teashop-owner Khin works just a few hundred metres over the muddy water from Myanmar’s capital Yangon, and dreams of the riches…
- Economy News
Focus on quality over quantity, says leading Thai economist
PHOTO: Sbs.com.au One of Thailand’s leading economists says we’ve got it all wrong and the country needs to change the way it thinks about the economy. Pasuk Phongpaichit from Chulalongkorn University says Thailand should stop focusing on growth and consumption and prioritise quality of life instead. She was speaking at the Fukuoka Prize Symposium in Japan earlier this week. Pasuk…
