Background

From June 2011 to March 2012, the UN Social Protection Floor Joint Team in Thailand led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) carried out an Assessment-Based National Dialogue (ABND) within the United Nations Partnership Framework (UNPAF). During this process, a dialogue was facilitated with the national government, social partners, civil society organizations, the academia, and the UN country team to assess the social protection situation in Thailand, identify policy gaps and implementation issues and draw suitable policy recommendations for the achievement of a comprehensive Social Protection Floor in the country.

To complement the assessment, a costing exercise was carried out. A technical working group including the ILO, HISRO and TDRI was established in order to finalize the costing and the assessment exercise in Thailand. Recommendations were translated into “costable” scenarios, i.e. specific social protection provisions that need to be introduced in Thailand or further expanded to fill the gaps and guarantee at least a comprehensive social protection floor for all the population. The costs of these provisions were then calculated and projected over the 2012-2020 period using the ILO costing tool called the Rapid Assessment Protocol (RAP).