Page 208 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

This study finds that, over the five years since Thailand enacted the Social Enterprise Promotion
Act in 2019, the number of social enterprises registered under the law has remained relatively
small, particularly when compared to countries such as the United Kingdom, South Korea, and

several European Union member states. To strengthen the ecosystem supporting the growth of
social enterprises and social businesses in Thailand, the following recommendations are
proposed.

1. The Social Enterprise Promotion Act, B.E. 2562 (2019), established the Social Enterprise
Promotion Fund as a key mechanism to support social enterprises. However, the fund
currently lacks the financial resources needed to fulfill its mission, whether through
providing financial assistance or offering low-interest loans. This is because the Act does not
require the government to allocate seed funding or provide an annual budget to the fund,
unlike other legal funds such as the Cooperative Development Fund, the Fund for the

Promotion and Development of Quality of Life for Persons with Disabilities, and the Social
Welfare Promotion Fund, which are mandated to receive annual government subsidies.
Even the Environmental Fund, which by law draws its seed capital from the Fuel Fund but
does not receive an annual government budget, has faced persistent depletion. Relying
solely on contributions from registered social enterprises (most of which are small
businesses barely able to survive) and on donations makes it practically impossible for the
Social Enterprise Promotion Fund to operate effectively.

One potential solution is to amend the Social Enterprise Promotion Act, B.E. 2562 (2019),

to expand its funding sources to include seed capital and annual budgetary allocations from
the government. However, this path would take time and depend on political will and policy
priorities. Another approach is to study foreign legal models, such as the United Kingdom’s
Dormant Assets Scheme (DAS), introduced in Chapter 3, which redirects dormant assets
from bank accounts, insurance policies, pensions, securities, and other inactive private
sector holdings into projects that benefit society and the environment. Pursuing this
approach would also require the enactment of enabling legislation.

2. A review of international experiences and legal frameworks shows that many countries in

Europe, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and ASEAN place considerable importance on
public procurement policies that prioritize social enterprises. The degree of success varies
depending on the strength of government commitment. For instance, some European
countries allocate contracts to work integration social enterprises (WISEs) through service
agreements such as cleaning government buildings and maintaining public parks and green
spaces. South Korea’s Social Enterprise Promotion Act of 2007 requires the heads of
government agencies to promote the procurement of goods or services produced or
supplied by social enterprises and to report to the minister on plans to increase the share
of such procurement, as well as results from the past year. Similarly, the United Kingdom’s

Public Services (Social Value) Act of 2012 obliges public sector managers overseeing public
services to consider the economic, social, and environmental benefits to the local
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