Nation Thailand
World Bank Urges Thailand to Build Network of Cities Beyond Bangkok
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A new World Bank report urges Thailand to invest at scale in secondary cities such as Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai to hit its 2037 high-income target.
Key facts
- Modelling of Thailand's 75 urban centres to 2050 found that once the national urban investment envelope exceeds roughly 2.1 per cent of urban GDP—about $20 billion a year—the returns from directing four-fifths of that spending towards
- Thailand should channel a large share of its next urban investment cycle into secondary cities such as Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, and Phuket rather than continuing to pour money into an increasingly congested Bangkok, according to a
- Rising heat, projected to bring close to 300 days above 35°C a year by mid-century, and flooding—which already costs Thailand around $18 billion annually, close to 3 per cent of GDP—compound the strain.
- Brent falls to US$99.25 a barrel on September 22 as Saudi flows rise, but Nagel keeps ECB rate rises open
- According to the World Bank, Thailand must pursue these strategies simultaneously to achieve high-income status by 2037
- Thailand's real GDP per capita grew by an average of just 2.2 per cent a year between 2021 and 2024—well short of the roughly 5.4 per cent needed annually to reach high-income status by 2037.
Summary
Thailand should channel a large share of its next urban investment cycle into secondary cities such as Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, and Phuket rather than continuing to pour money into an increasingly congested Bangkok, according to a new World Bank report launched in the capital on Tuesday (22 September).
Thailand Cities of the Future: Urban Foundations for a High-Income Economy —co-authored with the Program Management Unit on Area-Based Development (PMU-A) and the Urban Design and Development Centre (UDDC)—sets out a three-track policy agenda.