Assessing the Impact of Transport and Energy Infrastructure on Poverty Reduction - Chapter 6

THAILAND COUNTRY STUDY - Thái Lan đạt được một trong những tốc độ tăng trưởng kinh tế cao nhất trên thế giới trong thời gian từ năm 1975 và 1995. Nói chung, chính sách phát triển của Thailand xoay quanh một  "door mở" cho thương mại và đầu tư lớn vào cơ sở hạ tầng để thúc đẩy phát triển công nghiệp, đặc biệt là trong các ngành công nghiệp thâm dụng lao động. Thái Lan có phần lớn thành công trong việc đáp ứng nhu cầu cơ bản của con người và có các chỉ số xã. | Chapter 6 THAILAND COUNTRY STUDY National Context In comparison with other Asian countries Thailand is a medium-sized country of about 62 million people with a gross national per capita income in 2001 of nearly 2 000 6 550 in 1993 purchasing power parity terms . Thailand achieved one of the highest economic growth rates in the world during the period between 1975 and 1995. Broadly Thailand s development policy has revolved around an open door for trade and heavy investment in infrastructure to promote industrial development especially in labor-intensive industries. Thailand has largely succeeded in meeting basic human needs and has good social indicators an average life expectancy of 69 and an adult illiteracy rate of only 5 . The economy experienced a setback during the Asian financial crisis of 1997 98 but recovered fairly rapidly due to continuing strong growth in exports. Thailand s long experience of sustained growth good communications and labor force mobility has led to rising expectations and perceptions of increasing inequality between the poor and the nonpoor. According to 1998 data less than of the population is living below the extreme poverty line of 1 a day per person. However about 28 of the population is still poor by world standards with incomes of less than 2 a day per person. The Gini index is showing that income inequality in Thailand is relatively high. Poverty Reduction Thailand has an enviable record in poverty reduction the poverty level having dropped from over 57 in the early 1960s to around 13 in 1992 World Bank 1997 . The remaining poverty is geographically concentrated in the North and the Northeast with pockets of poverty in rural areas of the Central and Southern regions. Poverty is increasingly concentrated among farm households with low levels of education that tend to preclude participation in the nonfarm rural or urban labor markets. Consequently income inequality is rising both between urban and rural areas and between .