Thai App Transforms Access to National Childcare Data 

Despite women’s labor force participation being historically high in Thailand, there has been a significant decline over the past decade, due to the rising burden of childcare and eldercare. Without access to childcare, urban working women must either send their children to live with grandparents in rural areas or leave the workforce. In Thailand, nearly one in five children aged zero to four live away from their parents due to a lack of affordable childcare. The country also faces declining birth rates and an aging society—challenges made worse by inadequate childcare options.  

Research shows that accessible, affordable childcare can boost both maternal employment and fertility rates. Providing high-quality early childcare and development has broader economic benefits and reduces inequality. Recognizing this challenge in Thailand, childcare and parental support emerged as a prominent topic during the election campaigns leading up to Thailand’s May 14, 2023, election.  

Homepage, Thang Rat application 
After months of planning and development, on October 28, 2024, the Thang Rat app introduced the “Kids Landmarks” feature, a comprehensive map of private childcare centers across Thailand. Each location pin includes the provider’s contact information and basic details, helping families make informed decisions about childcare options.  

Researchers estimate that around 500,000 children in Thailand need childcare. While the supply of nurseries is insufficient in both urban and rural areas, particularly for children between the ages of 3 months and 3 years, a common barrier is that families often struggle to find information on available centers. Thailand has both private and public childcare providers, but there is no single portal where this information is consolidated for easy access. 

To bridge this gap, The Asia Foundation’s Australia Thailand Economic Resilience Partnership,  to make information on existing childcare centers more widely available. This collaboration enables the Department of Children and Youth to transfer its data on registered private childcare centers, previously difficult to access to the public, to the Digital Government Development Agency, which manages the Thang Rat Application. Launched in September 2021, the Thang Rat application provides access to government services such as bill payment, credit bureau status, and checking welfare status. The application has achieved significant success, with around 36 million across Thailand. Given the success of the app and its high usage, making this data available on the Thang Rat Application meant it was more widely available and more easily accessible for Thai families.  This is one of a series of other steps to improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of public and private childcare centers in Thailand. 

Information of a childcare center appears after a query

The Australia-Thailand Economic Resilience Partnership is funded by the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, partnered with the Digital Government Development Agency and the Department of Children and Youth under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. 

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