A continuously intense political conflict in the Thai society is linked to the economic structure with monopolized authority, deriving from the government’s policy such as the concession system that cause huge economic discrepancies and led a major businessperson to grab the political power through corruption. Another was the great economic inequality and a lot of labors in an informal sector. Those meant that many people could not gain proper compensation for their work and need the government supports for health service, education, loan, and other essentials.

The monopolized authority and economic inequality are the major economic problems that influence Thai politics and are the root causes of the social conflict. The discrepancy in society would continue until the said problems have been solved. The economic reform for social justice would be another solution for such problem, according to the research of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).

Prof Dr Nidhi Eoseewong, an Independent Scholar said at the 2009 Year-End Conference on Economic Reforms for Social Justice held by TDRI, that the social dispute derived from economic, political and social factors as well as economic inequality. Most people could not access the economic resources , they accordingly needed the supports from the government. Thus, the welfare state was a required system that must be adopted along with the improvement of natural resources as a long term solution for income distribution and to decrease people’s cost of living.

In the same seminar, Dr Ammar Siamwalla, a Distinguished Scholar of the TDRI Foundation, stated that tax measure could solve the income inequality, the Thai government had very little utilization of taxes. As for the survey on the people’s preference, they were likely to support the welfare state system but they were not confident of the government’s transparency if the welfare was for specific party such as the poverty group. Most of them understood the system and agreed to tax measures to support welfare management. Dr Ammar added that the welfare state would be smoothly achieved only the government could run the financial management system well and clean off the corruption in every process.

The welfare state system would be the solution for an income and authority inequality of most people. The tax measure would definitely be used to support the system, otherwise such expenses in procedures would become the government’s burden. However, the government must implement the measure deliberately as it may affect some parties and cause the problem thereafter. To acknowledge people’s inequality would help people understand the process. As for the economic efficiency, the government also needs to develop and improve other related aspects including natural resources, environment, financial management system, and corruptions. Those could give people access economic resources and opportunities to earn incomes which would lead to the growth of Thailand’s economy with social justice.