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Happiness Levels as a Factor of Socio-Economic and Political Changes in Thailand

Thailand’s Happiness Measure between 2006 and 2016

            According to the UN’s World Happiness Report for the period between 2005 and 2016, Thailand’s happiness levels have increased positively 0.581 (Helliwell, Huang & Wang, 2017). These statistics caused the country to be ranked as position 19 overall out of the 126 countries considered in the study to establish the progress made by countries in terms of happiness for the past 10 years (Helliwell, Huang & Wang, 2017). In the 2017 study on the levels of happiness, Thailand was ranked at position 32 out of 156 countries, an improvement from position 33 according to the 2016 world rankings on happiness levels (Helliwell, Huang & Wang, 2017). Happiness levels across the world are mainly considered based on the social aspects within the environment being studied. Such factors include good governance, incomes, health, trust in government systems, among others. Basically, the noted improvement illustrates the likelihood of the improvement levels in the listed factors. Considering a factor such as healthcare, in case the government was able to increase the accessibility and efficiency of the health system, more people were able to access this care and this must have increased their satisfaction with the health system, meaning an improvement in their levels of happiness. If their freedom to decision making and free will was respected, they had a better chance of influencing their systems leading to improved participation and inclusion.

Social, Economic and Political Changes between 2006 and 2016

In order to understand how the progress made by Thailand over the past decade was able to yield positive and remarkable results, an overview of the social, economic, and political  factors over the period of time are noted.  From an economic perspective, Thailand’s GDP has grown from USD $262.94 billion to USD $406.84 billion in 2016. This growth has been steady throughout this period and its highest growth was in 2012 when the GDP hit USD $420.53 billion as indicated in the graph bellow (Trading Economics, 2017).

The country’s GDP Per Capita also grew from USD 4744.3 in 2006 to USD 5901.4 in 2016 as indicated in the second graph below (Trading Economics, 2017).

Both factors illustrate an increase in the country’s output which also symbolizes its rising industrialization and growth in businesses as these are the main industries that support the rise in GDP through taxation and incomes to populations (Helliwell, Huang & Wang, 2017). The stability of the country’s economy has also enabled it to survive two coups during the period in 2006 and 2014. The economy’s resilience can also be linked to the people’s commitment to trade and economic activities. Socially, health care is also a factor of happiness and according to Piensiwatchara and Patcharanaumol (2017), the country has continued to increase its funding of the health sector. By 2011, universal care accounted for 13% of the country’s overall budget from 8.1% in 2004, thus allowing an increase in the number of health institutions, professionals, and resources as indicated in the charts below (Piensiwatchara & Patcharanaumol, 2017).

Source: Piensiwatchara and Patcharanaumol (2017)

            Notably, healthcare was more accessible to the Thai people in 2016 than it was in 2006. Life expectancy has also improved from an average of 72.53 years in 2006 to an average of 74.9 years in 2016. The country’s political environment has always been challenging with 2 coups taking place between 2006 and 2014 (Farrelly, 2013; Robbins-Early, 2014). Although such cases have put the country at risk, they have also promoted good governance and created a chance for accountability leading to trust in the government and public institutions during this period.