Poverty in Thailand is caused not by economic deprivation, but rather by preventing poor and marginalised people from exercising their rights to resources, namely land and water. A huge gulf between rich and poor proves that national development benefits only the already-wealthy. Since 2001, the centralised government has aided rapid corporatisation and multinationalism across the country, while essentially silencing the voice of civil society.
ActionAid started its work in Thailand when the ActionAid Asia Regional Office moved to the country in 2000. In the beginning, ActionAid Thailand gave short-term support to local non-government organisations and people’s organizations working in the areas of food security, sustainable development, and offsetting the negative impacts of globalisation on the rural and urban poor. We have now extended our work to strengthen public support for just and sustainable development. We help poor and marginalized communities demand collective rights to natural resources, fight against unsustainable development projects and participate in decisions that affect their lives.
Our other areas of engagement are tsunami rehabilitation, youth work, development education, labour rights in the informal sector and womens rights. We support social movements, peoples organisations and local NGOs through funding, policy advocacy, alliance building and campaigning.