Long-time New Mandala contributor and commentator, Dr Michael H. Nelson, has brought a new World Bank report, from their Thailand Social Monitor series, to my attention. For anybody interested in the social issues in Thailand today it is certainly worth a look. There is a short executive summary available here and the full report is available here. The executive summary explains that:

This Thailand Social Monitor provides an overview of the challenges facing Thai youth today, identifying the factors that make them vulnerable and outlining possible policy directions in moving forward. This Social Monitor studies three key transitions faced by Thai youth, using the youth development model proposed by the World Development Report 2007. This model helps provide an understanding of the interactions among the various factors that affect youth development and how they influence in three important life transitions, namely: growing up healthy, learning for work and life and moving from school to work. In this model, the role of public policy is to help youth succeed in the transition to adulthood by broadening their opportunities, expanding their capacity and providing them with second chances to overcome negative outcomes. These areas are the three youth policy lenses through which policy priorities are assessed throughout this report.