Page 331 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

or the Thai Life Assurance Association to back startups that seek to reduce road
accidents. In each case, the private sector would be responsible for project management.
▪ Encourage private companies to fully utilize the 2% tax deduction currently available for

social initiatives and allow an additional 2% deduction for businesses that procure goods
or services from unrelated social enterprises. This expanded incentive could also
support corporate programs that allow employees to volunteer as coaches or mentors
for social enterprises, for up to one workday per month.

4. The government should require all public agencies, including ministries, to allocate no less
than 2% of their annual budgets to procure goods and services from social enterprises.
These procurement activities must be transparently reported. In adopting this policy, the
government could scale back certain existing programs and instead delegate them to social
enterprises. Examples include:

▪ The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives could hand over the promotion of

advanced agricultural techniques, particularly in high-performing agricultural areas, to
social enterprises. These efforts could include smart agriculture platforms that deliver
real-time data, weather forecasts, and educational resources to farmers.
▪ The Ministry of Education should promote education in social enterprise at the upper-
secondary and vocational levels and allocate funding to help schools implement social
enterprise programs as long-term projects.
▪ The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security could engage social enterprises

in the rehabilitation of vulnerable populations and the development of urban slum
communities. This could include deploying the national fund for persons with disabilities,
which remains significantly underutilized despite its large size, to address the substantial
unmet needs of people with disabilities awaiting support.

11.4.2 Policy Recommendations on the Role of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth)
Instilling a social entrepreneurship mindset runs counter to prevailing global norms. As such, it

must be nurtured from a young age by strong, well-resourced, and enduring social-purpose
organizations. Given its long-standing involvement in promoting social enterprises, it is
recommended that the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) undertake the
following activities:

1) ThaiHealth may consider incubating social enterprises at the school level to foster
entrepreneurial thinking among youth. This could be implemented through support for
social enterprises or educationally oriented social-purpose organizations that cultivate
young social entrepreneurs through business project–based models or research projects

focused on local health and well-being. Potential examples include:

▪ Providing traditional massage and physical therapy services for older adults through a
Robin Hood–style model, for instance, offering free services to low-income seniors using
revenue generated from wealthier clients.
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