I think the number is BS. The Thai government lies at least as much as the US government.<p>Forget the government numbers. The reality is that in Thailand, as in most countries, the public assistance/social safety net available is so inadequate it might as well not exist. Its not that the government doesn't try. Its just that the reality of contemporary economics means that providing an adequate social safety net, even in the wealthiest countries, is difficult to impossible. Well, let me qualify that a bit. The last I heard, they did have public healthcare, although the standards lag far behind private providers.<p>There may be a way to make the rules more fair for poorer people or poorer countries or to make people more secure in terms of basic needs. Right now though the structures don't align well with those goals. And most countries have to work within the same economic structure but with vastly fewer resources than the US.