Dataset on Ethnic Human Achievement Indicators (HAI) in Thailand--Ethnic Inequalities in Education, Health, and Other Areas of Human Development

Data derived from three sources: a) provincial-level data from the United Nations (UN) Human Achievement Index (HAI), b) a landmark study of the geospatial distribution of ethnic groups headed by Mahidol University (Office of the National Culture Commission, 2004) c) district-level intra-provincial income data, we present the country’s first dataset on ethnic inequalities on health, education, employment, income, housing and living environment, transport and communication, family and community life, and political and civil participation. To compute the ethnic HAI, we combine data on ethnic group population sizes within each province with the provincial-level UNDP HAI. A group’s final score on any given HAI component is averaged across each of the provinces in which an ethnic group lives, taking population size into consideration. Thus, a province contributes more or less to the group’s final score depending on its proportion of the group’s overall population. Before this cross-provincial weighting, a group’s provincial-level HAI score is first adjusted based on its location of residence. We know from a vast qualitative literature (and on-the-ground knowledge) that most minority groups (Tai-Kadai and non-Tai-Kadai) tend to live in remote, mountainous regions, hence the government category of ‘Hill Tribe’. We use information on the average income levels in these most remote districts compared to the provincial average income level to adjust the score. This adjustment further depends on the degree income correlates with a given HAI component. Thus, a group’s score may be adjusted up or down at the provincial level before the cross-provincial weighting depending on whether the correlation is positive or negative.