2. Human Development Policy and Quality of Life

Mr. President,

The Aim of the Development Policy is to make people happy which consists of good health, caring families, harmonious environment, and a peaceful and sharing society. The Government believes in the importance of developing human resources and a quality society as well as strengthening the social capital of Thailand, which will serve as the foundation for a sustainable economy.

The Government will establish a life-long, knowledge-based society by developing knowledge and morality from birth by creating a suitable environment, caring families and educational institutions which will look after the youth by providing up-to-date knowledge and good values based on Thai culture. The Government will establish a mobile caravan to offer advice to parents on child development and guidance according to their individual capabilities.

The Government will promote cooperation among monks, regional institutions, boy scouts, girl scouts, schools and family institutions as well as media to actively engage in the above role as well as providing places for studying religion around the country.

The Government will accelerate educational reforms and teaching methodologies to keep up with the economic and social changes as well as encouraging the life-long learning process while keeping in mind the value of the local identity. The Government will systematically encourage a life-long love for reading to support a knowledge-based society, skill development, learning technology and provide the opportunity for those who wish to complete compulsory education to grade 12. The Government will establish an Income Contingency Loan (ICL) to extend educational opportunities from vocational college to university level. The Government will offer an opportunity to the applicants to pay by installments when they start earning salaries.

It is an urgent matter to create an appropriate environment that supports the learning process within and outside the system to turn Thai society into a knowledge-based society. The Government will foster cooperation with other parties to establish knowledge institutions around the country, for example, a modern libraries network, museums, design centers, recreation centers etc. The Government will establish an Internet network among schools. The Government will offer tax benefits to companies in the private sector who participate in the above projects.

The Government will support those who have special knowledge in science and technology by increasing the numbers of science schools, encouraging research institutions to participate in producing master’s degree or doctoral degree students as well as encouraging people’s awareness of the importance of knowledge in science and technology.

The Government will support well-known schools which have the ability to raise their own capital to establish school networks and encourage those schools to look after schools in other areas which wish to raise their teaching quality as well as establishing a vice free zone by introducing laws and measures to eradicate drugs, gambling and sexual misdoings from the youth.

Cultural Policy: Over the next four years, young people will be encouraged to learn, love the country, care for other people in the right way, and understand the value of art. New artists can be created by (1) establishing a permanent art exhibition area for young artists to participate as well as meet other artists, (2) providing scholarships to those who have potential in art, (3) promoting art contests at local, national and international level, and (4) cooperating with educational bodies to provide cultural learning locations to encourage the creative study of art.

Health Development: The Government will improve the quality of the 30 baht medical care system as well as reforming health management by adjusting public health services to prevent diseases. The Government will introduce tax measures to encourage people to decrease or give up consuming harmful products and use tax income to promote health and social activities. The Government will raise the standard and quality of public health to allow people to enjoy the services on an equal basis as well as establishing a medical research center to study new diseases.

The Government will promote sports as a means to create opportunities for the youth to develop their athletic skills to create excellence and a sense of national pride. Furthermore, the Government intends to instill in the youth the love for sports and how to use their spare time rewardingly in order to divert them away from drugs and other temptations. People at all levels will be encouraged to have the opportunity to exercise through sports in order for them to keep healthy and fit.

In terms of social security, the Government will encourage the people to obtain a sense of security through ownership of property, both for those with low incomes who desire to own affordable property through governmental projects, and for those with middle incomes who would like to purchase property by paying in installments through a system of long-term loans with appropriate interest rates and with consumer protection measures. Apart from enabling ownership of property, the Government will develop community environments to make them pleasant to live in, such as communal health gardens.

The Government will seriously continue to clamp down on influential persons and eradicate drugs from Thai society, by adhering to the principle: “Addicts are patients who are in need of treatment while traffickers are those who must be punished under the judicial process”. The said principle will be implemented through a combination of community participation and law enforcement measures, and by cutting off all channels for acquisition of illegal wealth by those influential persons, namely drug trafficking, illegal logging, human trafficking and control of gambling.

The Government will ensure the sense of equality and human dignity in women and children, through the eradication of all manners of human trafficking, of discrimination, and of the violation of the rights of women and children, as well as through the promotion of knowledge and careers for women so that they are self-dependent.

In providing aid and assistance to the elderly, the Government upholds the belief that the elderly are valuable resources for the national economic and social system. Furthermore, the Government supports the well-being and maintenance of good physical and mental health for the elderly through the creation of sufficient financial guarantees and savings during their working career so as to benefit them in their old age. The Government also will encourage appropriate health lifestyles for the elderly, support strong families able to take quality care of family members, exempt those aged over 65 from income tax, and promote the use of the experience of the elderly in the country’s development through the system of brain bank.

The Government will create happiness for Bangkokians through the policy of keeping Bangkok strong and appealing, by speedily enhancing the quality of life and a good environment with schools close to home, safety in people’s lives and properties, and traveling convenience. The Government will reform the bus transportation system and develop the mass railway transit system to cover the whole of Bangkok and its outskirts in order to reduce fuel consumption and pollution.