Home to about 70 million people, Thailand is a Southeast Asian nation sharing land borders with Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar (Burma) and a maritime border with Vietnam. The country sits between the Gulf of Thailand to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east.
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a hereditary monarch as the head of state. In the last 40 years, the country has made significant strides in social and economic development, moving from a low-income to an upper-middle-income country. Poverty rates have fallen from 58% in 1990 to 6.8% in 2020 and affordable access to health and education has risen sharply. However, significant disparities in wealth remain, particularly between urban and rural populations. Half of the population remains in precarious employment. Thailand has experienced political turmoil in the last century, with 10 successful and five attempted coups between 1945 and 2014. The country has had 20 constitutions and charters since 1923. However, Thailand's relative stability compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors has led to it hosting several waves of refugees. In the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia found sanctuary in eastern Thailand. Since 1984, tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar have sought sanctuary on Thailand's western border. As of March 2023, approximately 90,000 verified refugees from Myanmar reside in camps in western Thailand. However, rising conflict and instability in Myanmar since the February 2021 coup have pushed thousands more to cross the border seeking temporary shelter. |
University Degree Scholarships
Community Partners International supports scholarships for master's and bachelor's degrees in Thailand to study public health, primary health care management and other disciplines. The scholarships are awarded to individuals working with community organizations providing essential services to vulnerable communities in Myanmar and along the Thailand-Myanmar border.
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Telehealth
Community Partners International supports local partners to provide telehealth services to people from vulnerable communities on the Thailand-Myanmar border. This includes online counselling sessions with doctors and referral for further care. This service focuses especially on pregnant women needing support for prenatal care and safe births.
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