Suphannada Lowhachai, (Ph.D.)
August 30, 2018As a development economist by training, Dr. Suphannada Lowhachai has always been interested in development policy, particularly poverty- and inequality reduction. With the aim of being able to make an effective development policy, she had pursued a PhD in Economics with a thesis on Provincial Disparities and Poverty in Thailand. After graduation, she has been assigned to the Social Database and Indicator Development Office of the NESDB. The office is responsible for producing data as well as formulating policies relating to poverty and inequality of Thailand. Her job assignments include drafting of inequality-reduction strategy under 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan, writing a MDG8 chapter in the 2015 Thailand MDGs Report and developing the National Transfer Accounts data—a crucial tool for analyzing economic effects of ageing society. She has also had an opportunity to be part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process for Thailand. This has broadened her perspective on mechanisms that can be effective in poverty- and inequality reduction. The UPR has made her realize that legislative mechanism can be a powerful instrument in driving government actions. She is therefore certain that the TIJ Workshop will best enhance her understanding of the rule of law and how to use it for driving effective poverty- and inequality-reduction policies. Hopefully, this will ultimately lead to a true sustainable development of Thailand in the future.