A national agency dedicated to addressing poverty should be established, according to the Program Management Unit on Area-Based Development (PMUA) under the Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Ministry.
Such an agency would make poverty alleviation efforts more effective because various government agencies, especially under the Interior Ministry, have their own projects and self-defined indicators, resulting in fragmented and uncoordinated efforts, said Kitti Satjawattana, director of PMUA.
PMUA is responsible for allocating research and innovation funding for regional development in communities and localities.
The goal is to improve the quality of life for people, elevate the competitiveness of new businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises, and strengthen mechanisms in economically robust areas, helping to lift people out of poverty, said Mr Kitti.
"The vital mechanism to address poverty is to increase collaboration with universities and local administrative organisations," he said.
"PMUA believes this should be led by local administrative organisations, employing poverty mapping, while universities should work to analyse household situations.
"This is necessary because poverty in Thailand takes various forms, such as 'absolutely poor', chronic poverty, debt-driven poverty and vulnerable poverty. Each type has unique causes and requires a tailored approach with local knowledge and participation in knowledge transfer and skill development."
Previous research found Thais experience poverty for a variety of reasons. These include natural disasters such as flooding and droughts, as well as the Covid-19 crisis.
In addition, some people experience poverty because of government development projects that require them to relocate because their land was expropriated, such as for dam construction, said Mr Kitti.
This can disrupt their way of life, leading to significant changes, and the displaced people often lack the necessary skills to generate income and sustain their livelihoods in a new location, he said.
Some people are poor because of their own behaviour, such as aversion to work, excessive spending or drug or gambling addictions, which require a more targeted approach to deal with, said Mr Kitti.
These factors require deeper study using a target-based approach, he said.
Collaboration with local communities is also crucial for providing education, training and skill development to empower individuals and enhance their knowledge and livelihoods, said Mr Kitti.
The government must also promote community-based entrepreneurs to create jobs and income for low-income earners, providing financial literacy, financial liquidity and business acumen, as well as enabling price optimisation for products, he said.
Universities are prepared to serve as incubators to foster community residents, helping them to make use of appropriate technology, said Mr Kitti.
Some 2,000 technologies are ready for use, but seed money should be provided to foster local innovation and increase income, he said.
The government should not solely focus on industrial development in the hope that the sector will increase employment, as rapidly changing technology presents an increased risk, said Mr Kitti.
The use of artificial intelligence, robots and chatbots in various industries is expected to result in a significant loss of jobs in the industrial workforce, he said.
"Agriculture and services will be the key to increasing employment and alleviating poverty. The focus should be on biodiversity, community-based business promotion and the utilisation of local content to create unique products," said Mr Kitti.
"The government must promote the industrial sector and take care of the grassroots economy through agriculture and services."
According to the World Bank's analysis of Thailand's poverty rate and income disparity trends, the rate rose from 7.2% to 9.8%, or from 4.85 million people to 6.7 million people, between 2015 and 2018.
People living in poverty are scattered throughout the country, in 61 out of 77 provinces nationwide.
The National Economic and Social Development Council reported the situation improved in 2021, with the number of people living in poverty decreasing to 4.4 million, accounting for 6.32% of the population, down from 6.83% the previous year.
The number of impoverished households tallied 1.24 million, representing 4.79% of all households, a decrease from 1.4 million households in 2020.