Multi-Dimensional Review of Thailand

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Acronyms and abbreviations
Executive summary
	Developing the potential of Thailand’s North
	Improving the management of water security in the North
Chapter 1.  Synthesis of multi-dimensional analysis: New capabilities for Thailand
	Initial Assessment: Thailand’s aspirations and key constraints to development
		Well-being: Thailand offers a good quality of life for many, but work, skills and the environment present challenges
		The five pillars of Agenda 2030: Thailand has showed impressive performance, the remaining constraints point to the need for further transitions
			People
			Prosperity
			Partnerships
			Planet
			Peace
		Distilling the cross-cutting challenges
	Building policy recommendations: Thailand must implement three transitions to reach the next level of development
		A new growth path: Unlocking the potential of Thailand’s regions
			Moving towards more broad-based and innovative regional development policies
			Supporting intermediary cities as engines of growth outside of Bangkok
			Adjusting the education system to the regional ambitions
		Making multi-level governance work for Thailand’s transitions
		Towards effective management of water security
	References
Chapter 2.  Developing the potential of Thailand’s North: An action plan
	The Northern Region: Context, challenges and opportunities for socio-economic development
	Proposed actions: Building capabilities to exploit the full potential of the North
		An effective strategy and strong LAOs drive the development of the North of Thailand
			Create a strategy for developing the Northern Region, building on local discovery (Expected result 1)
				Smart Labs for entrepreneurial discovery of business and innovation potential (Recommendation 1)
				Support strategy process with analysis of product and innovation data, as well as crowdsourcing (Recommendation 2)
				Define optimal provincial clusters to target smart labs and the development strategy (Recommendation 3)
			Strengthen LAOs in the Northern Region – experiment with innovation in tax collection and transfers (Expected result 2)
				Test innovative methods for property tax collection to increase LAO revenues (Recommendation 4)
				Invest in local capacity building and peer learning for improved local fiscal capacity (Recommendation 5)
				Experiment with a simplified but more effective system of transfers (Recommendation 6)
		Northern cities drive regional development
			Re-organise urban policies for performance and accountability (Expected result 3)
				Re-define metropolitan areas based on functionality (Recommendation 7)
				Establish a metropolitan authority for Chiang Mai, then also for other Northern cities (Recommendation 8)
				Experiment with participatory budgeting (Recommendation 9)
			Inclusive and sustainable urban infrastructure (Expected result 4)
				Create a transport authority for Chiang Mai, then also for other Northern cities (Recommendation 10)
				Build a data system to monitor the quality of urban infrastructure (Recommendation 11)
		Universities and colleges become key drivers of regional development
			Universities promote entrepreneurship education (Expected result 5)
				Integrate technical education with entrepreneurship education (Recommendation 12)
				Create incentives and space for universities’ autonomous initiatives (Recommendation 13)
			Universities support entrepreneurship (Expected result 6)
				Create networks of universities and private sector to support SMEs and start-ups (Recommendation 14)
	The Action Plan: A summary
	Notes
	References
		Annex 2.A. Robustness test for the outcome of the Max-p clustering method
		Annex 2.B. Operationalising the product space methodology at the subnational level
Chapter 3.  Towards better management of water security in Thailand’s Northern Region
	The Northern Region: Context, challenges and opportunities for water management
		An Action Plan for improving water management
	Clear vision and organisation empower regional actors to deliver their water management responsibilities
		The national strategy is structured to empower the development of localised and prioritised regional strategies (Recommendation 1)
		Clarity over roles, responsibilities and reporting requirements should be ensured (Recommendation 2)
		Position the National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) as the multi-stakeholder platform for decision making on water issues (Recommendation 3)
		The role and responsibilities of River Basin Management Organisations must be clear and add value (Recommendation 4)
	Robust, evidence-based decision making and policy frameworks prioritise regional action
		Data must be centralised and include information on floods, droughts, water supply and demand, and water quality (Recommendation 5)
		The level of risk and priorities should be identified at the national and regional level (Recommendation 6)
		A revised list of policy tools should be deployed to achieve national and regional objectives (Recommendation 7)
		Information must be used to inform decision making, and prioritise compliance and enforcement activities, water allocation and infrastructure needs (Recommendation 8)
	Appropriate infrastructure solutions are selected with adequate capital and O&M budgets allocated
		A robust financial plan should be developed and aligned with delivery of the strategic plan (Recommendation 9)
		Infrastructure solutions should be appropriate for the regional context, aligned with land use planning and embed innovation and long-term climate change thinking (Recommendation 10)
	The Action Plan: A summary
	References
Chapter 4.  A scorecard to track sustainable development in the North
	The scorecard proposes indicators for measuring implementation and performance of the action plan until 2037
	Northern provinces develop capabilities to exploit their full potential
		An effective strategy and strong LAOs drive the development of the North of Thailand
			Create a strategy for developing the Northern Region, building on local discovery (Expected result 1)
			Strengthen LAOs in the Northern Region – experiment with innovation in tax collection and transfers (Expected result 2)
		Northern cities drive regional development
			Re-organise urban policies for performance and accountability (Expected result 3)
			Inclusive and sustainable urban infrastructure (Expected result 4)
		Universities and colleges become key drivers of regional development
	Northern provinces adopt a risk management approach to water security
	Going forward: Measuring the SDGs at regional level for an integrated performance measurement framework
	References