Page 23 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

descriptions, instead of requiring all organizations to perform Social Return on
Investment (SROI) analyses.

2) Define the roles and funding mechanisms for the new fund under OSEP (Office of Social

Enterprise Promotion)
Clear guidelines must be established for how OSEP utilizes the budget allocated to the
newly created fund. Given OSEP's limited staffing, implementation should begin with
initiatives that can produce visible, short-term results such as:

• Create a co-payment or insurance scheme to enable social enterprises to participate
in public procurement alongside other organizations, particularly through
collaboration with local administrative organizations (LAOs). This would also help raise
awareness of social enterprises within the LAO system. The co-pay model can support

both goods and service provision, such as early childhood care, support for drug
rehabilitation patients, palliative care for the elderly, maintenance of government
premises and public parks, and monitoring pollution emissions from private
companies. Pilot projects should be launched first and then scaled up.
• Support social enterprise programs in local schools by allowing social enterprises to
design and implement curricula and activities that introduce students to real-world
social business projects. Awards should be given to schools with outstanding social

enterprise models, enabling them to launch small-scale ventures.
• Organize incubation and preparation programs for small legal entities with annual
revenue below 5 million baht, as well as for organizations already engaged in social
activities, to help them register as social enterprises. Once approved, they should
receive initial seed funding, followed by additional funding support for up to three
years.
• Social enterprises should be categorized by capacity (tiered system), for example,
based on investment size, to allow for tailored incubation efforts and transparent,
public-facing competitions within each group to ensure efficient and fair fund

allocation. In addition to capacity, enterprises can also be grouped by experience level,
such as:

• Newcomers, established for less than three years
• Enterprises with clear business plans that are beginning to sustain themselves

• Develop a centralized portal website to serve as a public database where government
agencies, customers, and consumers can learn about and connect with social
enterprises.

• Host an annual “Buy Social” fair, where social enterprises can showcase their work,
sell products, and exchange knowledge with other entrepreneurs. This event could be

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