OECD Skills Strategy Thailand

Thailand has achieved significant economic progress over the past decades. Growth has been driven by strong exports, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture, as well as a thriving tourism sector, which remains a key pillar of the economy. However, there are signs of slowdown in the face of ongoing and emerging structural challenges. Recent years have seen little catch up in Thailand’s GDP per capita relative to the OECD, and changes in the global trading environment are a risk to the economic outlook. Progress in poverty reduction has slowed and inequalities remain significant. Building a strong and adaptive skills system is essential to overcoming these challenges. By developing robust, labour market-relevant skills and ensuring their effective use in the labour market, Thailand could further boost innovation, productivity, and growth.

Thailand’s skills system will also need to adapt to megatrends that are reshaping how we work and live. Demographic shifts, particularly an aging population, necessitate effective skills policies to maximise workforce participation and productivity. Climate change and the green transition will reshape skills demands, necessitating green skills and sustainable technologies to support Thailand’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2065. Additionally, rapid technological advancement, including artificial intelligence, underscore the need for a diverse mix of cognitive, socio-emotional, and metacognitive skills. Strengthening skills is essential to effectively harness technological progress and bridge the digital divide.

Thailand must foster the development and effective use of a diversified skills base to navigate emerging challenges and capitalise on new opportunities of a changing world. Now is an opportune moment to build on existing strengths and place skills at the core of a comprehensive policy response and strategic investment. This OECD Skills Strategy project provides the foundation for achieving this goal.

Ensuring access to high quality, relevant and inclusive opportunities in initial education is central to helping Thai youth acquire strong basic skills and develop positive attitudes towards learning. To strengthen the skills of youth in initial education, Thailand should:

• Increase the quality and relevance of initial education, including by strengthening the process for reviewing and implementing a new curriculum in initial education, and improving the relevance of TVET offers through high-quality work-based learning opportunities.

• Promote the development of higher-level skills among youth, including by promoting informed educational choices through an increased supply of well-qualified guidance counsellors in schools, and increased access to high-quality higher education programmes.

• Reduce inequalities in educational outcomes, including through enhanced access to high-quality teaching, and supporting students from low-income households to access initial education through financial and non-financial incentives.

Increasing participation in adult learning is essential to foster a learning culture throughout life and enabling Thailand to respond effectively to the challenges of a rapidly aging population and evolving global megatrends. To promote greater participation in adult learning, Thailand should:

• Increase the quality and labour market relevance of adult learning opportunities, including by improving internal and external quality assurance mechanisms for formal and non-formal adult learning, and steering the learning provision and educational choices towards areas of skills shortage.

• Address barriers to participation in adult learning, including by diminishing time-related barriers through flexible adult learning opportunities, and increasing the motivation to participate in adult learning through financial and non-financial incentives.

• Increase participation in adult learning among disadvantaged groups, including by improving access to adult learning opportunities among informal workers, and expanding access to adult learning among disadvantaged groups through online learning and community-based approaches.

Strengthening governance is essential to building a responsive and adaptive skills system. Given the cross-sectoral nature of skills policies, their effectiveness depends on effective co‑ordination of government efforts, meaningful engagement with non-governmental stakeholders, and the integration of comprehensive skills information systems. To strengthen the governance of the skills system, Thailand should:

• Enhance the strategic capacity to design and implement skills policy, including by designing a national strategy to strengthen the coherence of skills policy – building on findings of this OECD Skills Strategy – and ensuring the effective implementation of existing skills-related strategies.

• Foster a whole-of-government approach to skills policy making, including by strengthening horizontal collaboration and co‑ordination among government ministries and agencies, and vertical collaboration and co‑ordination between the national, provincial, and local levels.

• Strengthen stakeholder engagement in skills policy making, including by strengthening mechanisms and capacity for effective stakeholder engagement, and more effective engagement with hard-to-reach stakeholders.

• Improve skills information systems, including by improving the collection and use of skills data to inform skills policy, and enhancing the co‑ordination and delivery of skills information and guidance services to improve accessibility and meet diverse user needs.