When it comes to socio-economic progress and poverty reduction, Thailand is widely considered a success story. Despite being classified as a middleincome country with limited fiscal resources, Thailand’s economic growth has allowed for a reduced national poverty headcount ratio of 42.3 per cent in 2000 to 9.9 per cent in 2018. From 1960 ̶ 1996, Thailand’s economy grew at an average annual rate of 7.5 per cent, and after the 1997 financial crisis, the annual growth rate was still 5 per cent. Not only has this growth spurred job creation, helping to pull millions of households out of poverty, it has driven the development of Thailand’s health system. In 2002, as a result of increased investment in health delivery system infrastructure, financing reforms, health workforce capacity building, health information system development, and a high level of political commitment, Thailand achieved Universal Health Coverage (UHC). As such, the case of Thailand is often-cited as an international good practice in this area.

This country brief is part of the country briefs series: Social Protection in action: building social protection floors for all.