Educational Finance in Thailand - UNESCO Bangkok

Table 2: Budget Appropriations by Function (millions of baht)
FY 1998 % FY 1999 %
General governmental services 172,079 20.73 164,261 19.91
General public services 39,987 4.82 36,855 4.47
Defense 83,103 10.01 77,140 9.35
Public order and safety 48,989 5.90 50,266 6.09
Community and social services 357,022 43.01 348,848 42.28
Education 206,945 24.93 208,614 25.29
Health 64,071 7.72 60,180 7.29
Social security and welfare 34,048 4.10 36,636 4.44
Housing and community amenity affairs 39,538 4.76 35,105 4.26
Religious, cultural and recreational
affairs
12,421 1.50 8,315 1.01
Economic services 215,517 25.97 196,257 23.79
Fuel and energy 2,004 0.24 2,482 0.30
Agriculture, forestry and fishery 63,284 7.62 61,288 7.43
Mining and mineral resources,
4,167 0.50 4,715 0.57
manufacturing, and construction
Transportation and communication 115,953 13.97 92,852 11.25
Other economic services 30,110 3.63 34,920 4.23
Miscellaneous and unclassified items 85,382 10.29 115,633 14.02
Total 830,000 100.00 825,000 100.00
Source: Bureau of the Budget
2.7 But there are critical problems in the education sector that need to be addressed.
These problems have their roots in the past pattern of educational development which are
difficult to overcome in a short period of time due to the long gestation period required of
educational investment. Thailand’s “development diamond” is shown in Figure 1 and
highlights the incongruous nature with respect to school enrollment and per capita GNP.
Compared with countries in the lower middle-income group as defined by the World
Bank, Thailand’s success in the social sectors as measured here in terms of life
expectancy, access to safe water, and gross primary enrollment falls short of what its per
capita GNP would indicate.
2.8 When secondary enrollment is considered, the blunter end of the diamond shape is
further depressed so as to more closely resemble a triangle. In fact Thailand has been
notorious for low secondary enrollment for decades. International comparisons of
enrollment ratios, educational attainments, and sectoral employment show that Thailand’s
situation is inconsistent with the pattern seen in other countries of comparable income.
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