THAILAND 

1. Name and address of the organization responsible for the census:

National Statistical Office, Larn Luang Road, Bangkok 10100.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000.  The present description relates to the 2000 census (held on 1st April).

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope:  Whole country.

(b) Persons covered:  All persons of all ages, except: Hill-tribes with no permanent place of residence; foreign military and diplomatic personnel and their families stationed in Thailand; civilian nationals of foreign countries who were temporary residents and had been residing in Thailand for less than three months before the census date; and immigrants located in camps provided by the government.

4. Reference period:

Last week occupation (i.e., from 25 to 31 March 2000) was asked on a 20 per cent sample basis, while last year activity status (i.e. from 1st April 1999 to 31 March 2000) was asked on a complete enumeration basis.

5. Main topics:

(a) Total population, by sex and age:  yes

Economically active population by:

(b) Sex and age group:  yes

(c) Industry:  yes

(d) Occupation:  yes

(e) Status in employment:  yes

(f) Highest educational level:  yes

(g) Hours of work:  no

(h) Other characteristics:  no

 

Re (a): The age is defined both in terms of year of birth and of age at last birthday.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population:  It comprises all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week, were either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below.  The definition includes all members of the armed forces. 

(b) Employment:  Considered as employed are all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference periods, performed on any day any work of an economic activity, at home or out of home.  The questions used to determine whether or not a person was to be counted as employed were:  “On what job did X spend most of his/her work time last year (1st April 1999 to 31 March 2000)?” and, for persons in the sample: “On what job did X spend most of his/her work time during the week 25 to 31 March 2000?”.

 

It is reported that the following categories are included:

 

i)         persons doing unpaid work in family firm or business;

ii)        employed persons, temporarily absent from work;

iii)       working students with a part-time job;

iv)       seasonal or occasional workers;

v)         conscripts for military/civilian service.

 

None of the above categories can be identified separately.

 

(c) Unemployment:  Considered as unemployed are all persons who did not work but who had been looking for work during the reference week.

7. Classifications used:

Employed persons are classified by industry and by occupation.

 

(a) Industry:  Based on the question: “Last year, in what kind of industry, business or service did you work most of the time?  (Record characteristics of goods/services, for example: farming, aerated water factory, government school)”.  The United Nations industrial classification, ISIC-rev.3, was adopted for the first time in the 2000 Population and Housing Census.

           

(b) Occupation:  Based on the question: “Last year, in what kind of job did you spend most of your work time?  (Record job explicitly, for example: rice farming, vegetable farming, statistics, accountancy)”.   The ILO occupational classification, ISCO–88, was adopted for the first time in the 2000 Population and Housing Census.

 

(c) Status in employment:  Based on the question: “What is your work status?”.  For coding this variable the ILO Status in Employment classification, ICSE-93, was used, which adds one more status to those used in the 1990 Census, i.e. ‘member of a producers’ cooperative’.

 

(d) Level of education:  Information not available.

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

In the 2000 Census the minimum age limit used for inclusion in the economically active population was 15 years, whilst in the 1980 Census it was 11 years and in the 1990 Census it was 13 years.

9. Publication of the census results:

The title of the publication containing the final census results is “2000 Population and Housing Census”, which consists of Whole Kingdom, Regional reports, 76 Provincial reports, the Preliminary report, and the Advanced report.

 

The census results are also available in the form of CD-ROM and on the website of the National Statistical Office (www.nso.go.th).

The organization responsible for the publication of the census data is the National Statistical Office, Social Statistics Division, Bangkok 10100.