Page 79 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

Table 2.1 Summary of the Number of Organizations in the Social Economy System

Type of Organization Number Percentage (%)
1) 1. Community Enterprises 82,888 67.73
2) 2. Associations 18,506 15.12
3) 3. Foundations 14,330 11.71
4) 4. Cooperatives 6,316 5.16
5) 5. Social Enterprises (as of Mar 2025) 345 0.28
Total 122,385 100.00
Note: A single organization may be registered under more than one category.
Source: Department of Provincial Administration and the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion

2.5 Public Giving Based on Donation Recipient Data

According to a 2018 report by the National Statistical Office on nonprofit organizations, based on
data collected in 2017, Thailand had a total of 84,099 nonprofit organizations. This figure is lower
than the number presented in Table 2.2, as the table includes cases where a single organization
is registered under more than one category.
Under the National Statistical Office's definition, these nonprofit organizations can be classified
into five main categories: 48,248 religious organizations (57.37%), 26,362 social service
organizations (31.35%), 740 educational organizations (0.88%), 17 health-related organizations

(0.02%), and 8,732 associations and other organizations (10.38%). Notably, community
enterprises are not included in this count (see Table 2.2). These figures clearly show that religious
organizations represent the largest proportion, accounting for over half of all nonprofit
organizations in Thailand.

Table 2.2 Number of Nonprofit Organizations by Type, 2017
Total Number of Number of Organizations % Receiving
Type of Organization
Organizations* (%) Receiving Donations Donations
Religious Organizations 48,248 (57.37) 47,593 98.64
Organizations Primarily Providing Social 26,362 (31.35) 20,972 79.55
Welfare Services
740 (0.88) 687 92.84
Educational Organizations

Health-related Organizations 17 (0.02) 17 100.00
Associations and Other Organizations
– Trade Associations, Chambers of 3,496 (4.16) 2,082 59.55
Commerce
– Funeral Welfare Associations 3,397 (4.04) 911 26.82
– Employers’ Associations, Labor 1,757 (2.09) 1,242 70.69
Unions, State Enterprise Unions
– Foreign Private Organizations 82 (0.10) 66 80.49
Total 84,099 (100.00) 73,570 87.48
Note: * Figures in parentheses indicate percentages.
Source: National Statistical Office, 2018

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