Help Children in Thailand Thrive with UNICEF

Why UNICEF works in Thailand

In the heart of Southeast Asia, Thailand has achieved rapid development and middle-income status. Despite impressive growth, inequality remains a persistent threat, particularly for the most disadvantaged. Children across Thailand, especially ethnic minorities, stateless children, migrant families and those affected by poverty and natural disasters, continue to face mounting challenges.

About 1 in 5 children in Thailand are in multidimensional poverty, which is an index measuring deprivations beyond monetary poverty experienced in daily life, such as poor health, lack of education and inadequate living standards.

Challenges facing children in Thailand

In a diverse country like Thailand, there’s no such thing as an ‘average child.’ While national averages provide an overview of progress in many areas, realities and disparities are lurking below the surface. Children in Thailand, especially the most vulnerable, are faced with many challenges, including: 

• inequitable access to health care, sufficient nutrition and quality education
• statelessness and barriers to legal identity
• violence, trafficking and exploitation risks
• climate and economic shocks impacting children

Keep reading to learn more about UNICEF’s work to alleviate these challenges for all children in Thailand.

How UNICEF is making a difference

Since 1948, UNICEF has worked across sectors with the Thai government, partners, communities and civil society to promote child rights and equality. The overarching goal for UNICEF Thailand is to help provide a fair chance for every child in Thailand to grow up in a safe, healthy and protective environment and reach their full potential, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or legal status.

Health and nutrition programs

While national child health care and immunization rates in Thailand are almost universal, not all children and families benefit equitably. Thailand’s wealth inequality is among the highest in the world, and children with disabilities and those who are migrants, ethnic minorities, stateless or from a poor family are often left behind.

UNICEF estimates that around 1 in 10 children under age 5 experience food poverty, threatening their overall health and development. An increasing number of children in the same age group are either overweight or suffer from stunting or wasting. Young people in Thailand are increasingly at risk of mental health challenges.

Several factors are fueling the child food poverty crisis, including:

• food systems that fail to provide children with nutritious, safe and accessible options
• families’ inability to afford nutritious food
• parents’ inability to adopt and sustain positive child feeding practices

UNICEF works with the Thai government to develop research that informs health policies and services for children and young people, addressing their specific challenges like nutrition, obesity and adolescent pregnancy.

In 2016, Thailand became the first country in Asia, and among the first in the world, to achieve the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, bringing the rate to below 2 percent. UNICEF and partners work to keep children free of HIV and to help them live a healthy and fulfilling life when testing positive.

Improving access to education

In recent years, Thailand has seen improvement in access to education, with primary school enrollment reaching almost universal levels. However, disparities start to emerge in secondary schooling, when close to one-third of children drop out — the largest proportion from disadvantaged and migrant communities or children living with a disability.

The quality of education in Thailand is also an issue, with basic reading and numeracy skills in early grades rating low based on international and national assessments. Student performance across grade levels is often dependent on socioeconomic status and whether Thai is spoken at home, disproportionately affecting children from rural areas and migrant communities.

Without quality education, children in Thailand are more likely to suffer adverse health outcomes and face major barriers to employment and earning potential, threatening their ability to shape a better future for themselves and their communities. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, over 13 million children and young people in Thailand have experienced learning loss due to school closures.

With a focus on developing foundational learning and skills in the early years, UNICEF Thailand supports projects for mobile libraries, hill tribe schools and mother tongue-based multilingual education, as well as honing transferable skills at the secondary level to help learners transition from school to work.

UNICEF is working with the Thai government to develop and implement a new, inclusive curriculum that addresses the needs of all learners — especially migrant, stateless and ethnic minority children — and embraces digital learning. Teachers are being trained to improve the areas most relevant to young learners, including STEM, digital competencies and workforce skills.

In addition to project work, UNICEF is engaged in research to examine why vulnerable children are dropping out at the secondary level and supporting interventions to help them stay in school. Research, particularly on gender-based and school-related violence, discrimination and mental health, is key for helping to develop a national school safety and student well-being framework to guide schools.

UNICEF aims to ensure that more boys and girls in Thailand complete inclusive, equitable, quality basic education with improved and relevant learning outcomes.

Protecting vulnerable children

Many children in Thailand experience physical, emotional or sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. For children with disabilities and those who are migrants or stateless, protection is even more imperative. More than half of parents in Thailand use violent discipline, and one in five young women are married during childhood.

COVID-19 has only heightened safety risks due to family separation. An estimated 55,000 children are growing up without parental care and are likely to live under institutional care, which is often unregulated. As children spend more time than ever online, they face greater risks of sexual exploitation and abuse.

UNICEF Thailand, in partnership with the government, is working to strengthen child protection systems for prevention, surveillance of and response to violence and exploitation, including online sexual abuse.

Within the education system and other institutions that accommodate children, UNICEF works to develop child safeguarding policies. Caregivers, children and communities are learning how to detect and prevent abuse through UNICEF advocacy, and harmful gender and social norms that promote or tolerate violence are being shifted through public campaigns and communication.

UNICEF also works to strengthen child protection and juvenile justice services for improved case management, especially for migrant and stateless children, as well as developing cross-border agreements with Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos on protecting migrant children.

UNICEF aims to ensure that more children in Thailand, especially the most vulnerable, are better protected from violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) efforts

For many children and families in Thailand, especially refugees displaced from other countries, one of the most urgent priorities is access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, the lack of which can lead to health risks for the wider population of Thailand due to factors like waterborne diseases.

UNICEF Thailand works with partners to assess the challenges facing displaced families and put in place much-needed support to help with water, health and sanitation needs.

How you can help

UNICEF will continue to work in Thailand, across Asia and around the world to protect and empower all children. Help support the children in Thailand who need it the most. Donate now.

Help UNICEF reach more children in need. Please Donate

Frequently Asked Questions 

Why does UNICEF work in Thailand?

Although Thailand is a middle-income country, many children—especially migrant, stateless and minority populations—face challenges like poverty, lack of education and limited access to healthcare. UNICEF works to ensure all children are protected and given equal opportunities.

What are the main challenges children face in Thailand?

Children in Thailand face barriers to legal identity, unequal access to education and healthcare, child labor and exposure to violence, trafficking and climate-related risks.

Can I donate to support UNICEF’s work in Thailand?

Yes. Donating to UNICEF supports the delivery of lifesaving support and helps expand educational opportunities to children in need across Thailand and around the world.

What kind of programs does UNICEF run in Thailand?

UNICEF’s programs in Thailand include health and nutrition, inclusive education, WASH, child protection and advocacy for children’s rights.