Welcome to the United Nations
Main Message for Thailand’s 2025 Voluntary National Review
Overview
Thailand’s 3 rd Voluntary National Review (VNR) seeks to examine overall progress and challenges in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development over the past decade as well as present recommendations from various stakeholders, including the private sector, academia, youth and the UN in Thailand, on how Thailand can accelerate our efforts in the next 5 years. This VNR builds on our 2017 VNR, which highlighted Thailand’s application of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) as our locally-driven approach to support the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and our 2021 VNR, which focused on promoting recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
SDGs Implementation
SDGs Implementation in Thailand is driven by the National Committee for Sustainable Development chaired by the Prime Minister and guided by Thailand’s SDG Roadmap. The 2030 Agenda is also mainstreamed into the 20-Year National Strategy (2018-2037) and the National Economic and Social Development Plans (NESDP). The 13 th NESDP (2023-2027) strives for Thailand to become a developed country by strategies based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, resiliency, SDGs, and the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model (BCG Model).
SDGs localization remains a priority, with the Ministry of Interior and local authorities taking
the lead. Two Voluntary Local Reviews have been conducted in Thailand, by the Nakhon
Si Thammarat City and Udon Thani City Municipalities, with a third VLR by the Koh Samui City Municipality in progress.
Progress towards the SDGs
In February 2025, Thailand launched the SDGs Dashboard [1] as an online platform designed to centralize SDGs-related data and provide public access.
As of 21 April 2025, Thailand has data for 236 out of 248 SDG indicators, covering both global and national metrics. Among them, 170 indicators have defined targets set for achievement by 2030.
A preliminary assessment, comparing the most recent data with baseline figures from 2015, indicates that SDG14 has the highest proportion of indicators on track. Conversely, SDG2 and SDG15 are facing the most significant implementation challenges. It is important to note that this analysis excludes indicators with missing data; the results may be subject to change as more data becomes available.
On leaving no one behind, the ESCAP LNOB Tool analyzed 20 SDG proxy indicators using
3 publicly available surveys to identify those left furthest behind. Between 2012 and 2022,
data shows that Thailand made significant progress in enhancing opportunities across the country where 11 out of 20 indicators analyzed are either universally accessed or nearly universal such as target 3.8.1 on universal health coverage, while slightly wider gaps remain in areas such as secondary education completion.
Key Challenges
- Notwithstanding Thailand’s overall progress on SDGs, inequality of access to basic services and economic resources remain, especially for vulnerable populations.
- Projected to become a super-aged society by 2031, this demographic shift causes change in developmental and societal needs in Thailand.
- Climate change and environmental degradation continue to pose challenges to Thailand’s development and people’s well-being.
- New technologies, including artifical intellegence, present risks as well as opportunities for present and future generations.
Key Recommendations
Thailand should:
- continue to improve SDGs data capacity to measure progress, including setting nationally-appropriate targets for achievement and building capacity to collect disaggregated data;
- increase and better utilize data and science, innovation and technology (STI) in policy-making including foresight planning, driven by the development needs of local communities;
- build a financing framework for SDGs which identifies financing gaps as well as available sources of finance;
- strengthen localization efforts by empowering local authorities and communities for development to be sustainable and truly demand-driven; and
- strengthen the engagement of all stakeholders, particularly the private sector and youth,
in SDGs implementation through inclusive and collaborative approaches.
