SOCIAL SAFETY NETS: OPPOTONITIES AND CHALLANGE FOR THAILAND IN THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

This article aimed to review literature and knowledge about social safety nets and study the situation of Thailand’s social safety nets in the 21st century, including analyzing the opportunities and challenges faced by Thailand’s social safety net. Social safety nets are the basic standard of government in safeguarding and supporting the livelihoods of marginalized and disadvantaged groups to enable them to survive. Currently, Thailand has four categories, namely social insurance, labor protection, welfare, and other social services. The opportunities and challenges for the government in developing a more efficient social safety net are as follows: 1. The changing population structure towards an aging society, which increases the financial burden on the state. Therefore, the government needs to devise appropriate care for the elderly in the long term.
2. The transition towards digitization, requiring the government to become a smart government in utilizing digital technology for administrative purposes and income generation, such as income from the digital economy. 3. The decentralization of power and the new public governance (NPG) approach, emphasizing participation and empowering local administrative organizations to provide better public services to the growing population.