Is Thailand a Developing Country?

Thailand has experienced significant economic and infrastructural developments in the past few decades. Hence, it is one of the biggest economies in Southeast Asia as well as one of the fast-growing economies in the world. Despite this, there are always controversies about whether Thailand qualifies as a developed country or is still a developing country.

As clearly stated by Investopedia, Thailand is a developing country as the nation still has a few of the indices associated with developing countries. However, it is considered as one of the topmost developing countries in the world as it is performing better than most other countries within the same category. Also, it has been projected that more development, political stability, etc. can make Thailand become a developed country in the near future.

Typically, Thailand is a well-industrialized country with an amazing healthcare system and a high literacy rate. Nevertheless, some issues are still making the Land of Smiles to be classified as a developing country. We will take a look at these issues in this post.

What is a developing country?

Generally, a developing country is a country that doesn’t fulfill some important socio-economic requirements. Such a country lacks several things that can aid the quality and standard of life of its citizens.

Based on the UN’s standard, there were 126 developing nations in the world. All these nations were from Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

Most of these developing countries lack in areas such as:

  • Infrastructure
  • Industrialization
  • Healthcare
  • Job availability
  • Housing 
  • Availability of clean drinking water
  • Food
  • Education

However, like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and some other developing countries, Thailand is performing well in the majority of the areas listed above. Hence, it is a top developing nation.

Why is Thailand a developing nation?

In terms of adult literacy, healthcare, employment rate, infrastructure, etc., Thailand is performing exceptionally well. In fact, the country rivals many of the developed countries in the world. For example, the unemployment rate of Thailand is lower than the unemployment rates of the UK, the USA, and Australia, which are all developed countries.

Nevertheless, Thailand is still considered to be a developing country because of the following reasons:

  • Low per income capital

Investopedia defines per capita income as a measure of the money that each person in a country or region earns. Basically, this parameter is often utilized for deciding the average per-person income for a particular region and for assessing the standard and quality of life of the people.

As noted by Trading Economics, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of Thailand was estimated to be $6199.19 in 2020. This figure puts Thailand at less than half of the world’s average. In the same year, the GDP per capita of an average developed nation was put at around $20,000, which was more than 3 times Thailand’s GDP. When compared to an average developed nation, the GDP of Thailand is significantly low.

Based on this criterion, Thailand is a developing country.

  • Employment issues

According to Macro Trends and numerous other sources, the unemployment rate of Thailand was only 1.02. Hence, the unemployment rate of this Southeast Asian country was lower than the unemployment rates in developed countries. While the figure looks great for Thailand, it does not show some hidden issues that are hindering the progress of the country.

For instance, lots of people in Thailand are grossly underpaid. This is because labor is cheap in Thailand; hence, employers are taking advantage of the opportunity to underpay their workers. Many Thais, Burmese, Vietnamese, etc. are living from hand to mouth in Bangkok due to the underpayment and underemployment plaguing this Southeast Asian country.

Also, many Thais are employed in the informal sectors. Hence, it can be difficult and inaccurate to quantify employment rates. Besides, most of the informal sectors are volatile; hence, people can be rendered unemployed quickly without any safety net. 

For instance, COVID-19 revealed the woes of some of the people working in the informal sectors when tourism was halted. As noted by Nikkei Asia, about 1.6 million individuals left urban centers to rural areas in Thailand from the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2021. This further sheds light on the reality of employment in Thailand.

  • Political instability

Another important factor that makes Thailand a developing country is its political instability. Despite having a well-established system of government, Thailand has had political turmoil. Foremost, the country has dealt with tons of military coups. Most of these coups had drawn the country backward; thus, undoing all the economic progress made in the past.

Institute of Developing Economies – Japan External Trade Organization states that protests were held at the Bangkok International Airport in November 2008 and at the site of the ASEAN summit in March 2009. Also, in 2010, the Redshirts demanded that the Parliament should be dissolved. The protest went on for more than two months and led to the death of 90 people as well as injuries to over 1800 individuals.

In line with the political unrest in the country, there have been numerous reports of infringement of human rights. In 2020 and 2021, many youths protested against the government of the country. As claimed by Human Rights Watch, the government authorities were not concerned about addressing the issues, but rather focused on preventing the spread of the protest to other parts of the country.

Similarly, the bill to torture and force people to disappear was also approved by the parliament at the first reading in 2021.

  • Dualistic economy

According to enotesworld.com, a dualistic economy is another parameter for determining a developing country. A dualistic economy is an economy that features a modern/developed sector and a traditional/undeveloped economy. Unfortunately, Thailand has a dualistic economy as the urban economy is well developed whereas the rural economy is highly deficient. Most people in the rural areas are poor farmers or overly reliant on tourists.

  • Education

Although the adult literacy of Thailand was said to be around 93.77% in 2018, the country’s education standard has always been low. According to PISA tests, the country fell below the global average in 2014. It was ranked 35th of 40 countries evaluated. Similarly, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) show that Thailand is not doing well.

Conclusion

With all the points explained, it is quite glaring why Thailand is still considered a developing country. Nevertheless, the country is doing well in some areas; hence, it can easily become a developed country in the future.

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