World Bank2014-04-152014-04-152014-02-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17798The Thai economy has been recovering slowly from the global financial crisis compared to countries like Malaysia and China. Growth in 2013 is projected to be 3 percent with slower than expected performance in all components of gross domestic product (GDP) - consumption, investment, next exports, and government spending. Growth is projected to be 4.0 percent in 2014 as the global economy recovers. Exports should accelerate and may well be helped by the tapering of the United States (U.S.) quantitative easing (QE) as the baht depreciates. Taking a longer perspective, there remains visible inequality in public service delivery and human achievement outcomes. Addressing the regional disparities is important for Thailand not only from a social equity perspective, but also from a competitiveness and economic growth perspective. As the population ages, Thailand is seeking to move to a high income economy. Such a transition will require a much broader base of healthy and high skilled citizens. Suggested policy responses include: (a) rebalancing public spending regionally, (b) improving the functioning of local administration by devolving more responsibility to local levels, and (c) supporting greater accountability at the local level. This report is divided into two parts: part one presents macroeconomic developments in 2013 and 2014; and part two deals with equitable public service provision in Thailand.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESSIBILITYACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTABILITY FOR RESULTSACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMSACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING SYSTEMADMINISTRATIVE COSTSADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONSAIRPORTSALLOCATIONANNUAL BUDGETARREARSASSET PRICESBALANCE OF PAYMENTSBENEFICIARYBONDBOND ISSUANCEBOND YIELDSBONDSBOTTLENECKSBUDGET ALLOCATIONBUDGET EXPENDITUREBUDGETARY ITEMSBUDGETINGCAPITAL ACCOUNTCAPITAL BUDGETCAPITAL FLOWCAPITAL FLOWSCAPITAL FORMATIONCAPITAL INFLOWSCAPITAL MARKETCAPITAL MARKETSCARCARSCENTRAL AGENCIESCENTRAL BANKCENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONSCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMMODITY PRICESCOMPETITIVE PROCUREMENTCOMPETITIVENESSCONGESTIONCONSUMER GOODSCONSUMER LOANCOSTS OF TRANSPORTATIONCURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICITDEBTDEBT LEVELSDECENTRALIZATIONDEPOSITSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIESELDIRECT INVESTMENTSDISBURSEMENTDISBURSEMENTSDOMESTIC DEMANDDOMESTIC MARKETECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC POLICIESEDUCATION SERVICESEQUIPMENTEQUIPMENTSEXCHANGE RATEEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE POLICYEXPENDITURESEXPORT GROWTHEXTERNAL BORROWINGEXTERNAL DEBTFARMING HOUSEHOLDFARMING HOUSEHOLDSFINANCESFINANCIAL BALANCESFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL SECTORFISCAL BALANCEFISCAL DEFICITFISCAL INCENTIVESFISCAL OPERATIONSFISCAL PERFORMANCEFIXED CAPITALFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTORSFREIGHTFUELGDPGLOBAL ECONOMYGOVERNMENT BONDGOVERNMENT BOND YIELDGOVERNMENT CONSUMPTIONGOVERNMENT REVENUESGOVERNMENT SPENDINGGOVERNMENT STRUCTUREGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATIONGROWTH RATEHEALTH SECTORHEALTH SERVICESHEAVY RELIANCEHIGH SPEED RAILHIGH SPEED TRAINHIGH-SPEED RAILHIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEMHIGHWAYHIGHWAYSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCOME TAXINFLATIONINFORMATION ASYMMETRIESINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTSINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTSINFRASTRUCTURESINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINTEREST RATESINVESTMENT PROJECTSINVESTMENT SPENDINGINVESTOR CONFIDENCELOANLOAN RATELOAN RATESLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL PUBLIC FINANCEMACROECONOMIC IMPACTMASS TRANSITMASS TRANSIT SYSTEMMINISTRY OF FINANCEMINISTRY OF TRANSPORTMOBILITYMOBILITY OF PEOPLEMOTORWAYSMUNICIPAL LEVELNET CAPITALNET EXPORTSNON-PERFORMING LOANSNPLOIL PRICEOIL PRICESOUTCOME DATAOUTPUT DATAPATTERN OF PUBLIC SPENDINGPERFORMANCE IN SERVICE DELIVERYPERFORMANCE INDEXPERFORMANCE MANAGEMENTPERSONAL INCOMEPERSONAL INCOME TAXPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY RESPONSESPOLITICAL STABILITYPOLITICAL UNCERTAINTIESPOLLUTIONPRICE INFORMATIONPRIVATE CAPITALPRIVATE CAPITAL INFLOWSPRIVATE CONSUMPTIONPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE INVESTMENTSPRIVATE SECTORPROCUREMENT PROCESSPROGRAMSPROVINCIAL LEVELPROVISION OF SERVICESPUBLIC DEBTPUBLIC DEBT MANAGEMENTPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURE REVIEWPUBLIC FINANCEPUBLIC FINANCESPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC INVESTMENTSPUBLIC MANAGEMENTPUBLIC PARTICIPATIONPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC SPENDINGPUBLIC SPENDING PATTERNSPUBLIC TRANSPORTPUBLIC TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTUREPURCHASING POWERQUALITY ASSURANCEQUALITY MANAGEMENTQUALITY OF LIFERAIL MASS TRANSITRAIL NETWORKRAIL SERVICESRAILROADSRAILWAYSREAL GDPRESERVESROADROAD TRANSPORTSECTOR MINISTRIESSERVICE PROVIDERSERVICE PROVISIONSMALL MUNICIPALITIESSOCIAL EQUITYSOCIAL SECURITYSTOCK MARKETSTOCKSSTRUCTURAL REFORMSTAXTAX INCENTIVESTOLLTOTAL EXPENDITURETRACK RAILTRADE BALANCETRADINGTRANSPARENCYTRAVEL TIMETREASURYTREASURY BILLTRUEWEALTH10.1596/17798