Impact of the COVID-19 on the Thai Peace Index

Abstract

This study had two objectives, to 1) calculate the Thailand - Global Peace Index (TPI) for 2020 and 2022; and 2) examine how the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the TPI at the aggregate level and for each of four subindices: 1) lessening physical violence (P1); 2) safety and stability of society (P2); 3) acceptance of diversity and fair treatment (P3); and 4) social equality and fair resource distribution (P4).

Data used to construct the subindices was drawn from two surveys administered by the National Statistical Office (NSO): 1) a labor force survey with a questionnaire section developed for the purposes of this study; and 2) a socioeconomic survey. Five steps were involved to calculate each index: 1) standardizing data by Z-score; 2) statistically clustering data; 3) normalizing data to make each index unit-free; calculating national level indices; and appraising provincial level indices.

Results were that on a scale of 5, overall TPI score in 2022 (3.42) was higher than in 2020 (3.37). P1 value decreased from 3.64 to 3.61; P2 value increased from 3.23 to 3.29; P3 value increased from 3.33 to 3.44; and P4 value increased from 3.26 to 3.35. While overall P4 value increased, two subindice values declined: income inequality and land possessions. Provincial impacts varied by per capita income. Provinces with lower income per capita tended to display higher variability of COVID-19 impact on TPI values; provinces with higher incomes were able to abate such effects, displaying lower degrees of variations. These TPI values may be used for area-based policy formation. For example, in Loei Province, the P1 index showed that physical violence was significantly higher in 2022 than in 2020, calling for prioritizing policy and resource allocation to address the issue.