The government has vowed to focus on supporting the education of students from low-income families, digital access, social protection and infrastructure development in each region, in a move to tackle income and social disparities.
According to a source from Government House who requested anonymity, the government recently established an integration committee for social equity and equality development chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, aiming to create better, integrated administration among related agencies in assisting low-income earners and fighting poverty.
The new committee's first meeting, held on Dec 2, approved in principle four frameworks of action to drive Thailand to better income and social equality outcomes after efforts hit a snag because of the Covid-19 outbreaks.
The first framework builds tools and mechanisms to assist special students from low-income families who are not in the education system or fail to further their studies, or are without jobs.
Under this framework, the government aims to offer them financial support to continue their studies or take training programmes to upgrade skills, or pursue other measures to help their families.
The scheme requires the cooperation of related agencies including the Education, Interior, Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, and Social Development and Human Security ministries, local administrations, civil society networks, the Equitable Education Fund and the private sector.
The second framework aims to help low-income earners obtain better access to digital services.
The target group is the 40% of the population with the lowest incomes, which covers 32.7 million people, as well as the elderly, local businesses and community ventures.
Related state agencies and the private sector need to speed up providing assistance to those groups to access public health services, education, training to reskill and upskill, as well as to support community businesses to access research and data in order to upgrade, said the source.
The third framework is designed to help low-income earners access social protection schemes.
The source cited information from the Thai People Map and Analytics Platform (TPMAP), a data analytics tool, that shows many people have yet to receive assistance from the government's social protection scheme and struggle to meet basic minimum needs.
The fourth framework involves development infrastructure and digital infrastructure in key cities in each region.
The cities include Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Songkhla, Phuket and 10 provinces where special economic zones are located.
The source said the government promises to support people accessing infrastructure and digital services to encourage them to upgrade skills and their quality of life by increasing opportunities to generate more income.
Each province should have the potential to handle the preservation of their cultural uniqueness, prevent disasters and have better urban management, said the source.
The committee ordered the National Economic and Social Development Council to work with related agencies to drive the four frameworks into real action.