Citizen support for democracy in Thailand
Thailand: Citizen support for democracy was -1.74 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Thailand, 2002–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Thailand recorded -1.74 for citizen support for democracy in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 19 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and down 1,100,160.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Thailand peaked at 0.427 in 2003 and was at its lowest, -1.74, in 2020.
That places Thailand 141st out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Citizen support for democracy in Thailand, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 0.4222 | — |
| 2003 | 0.427 | +1.1% |
| 2004 | 0.1696 | -60.3% |
| 2005 | 0.0657 | -61.2% |
| 2006 | -0.0397 | -160.4% |
| 2007 | -0.3142 | +691.6% |
| 2008 | -0.2019 | -35.8% |
| 2009 | -0.0991 | -50.9% |
| 2010 | 0.0002 | -100.2% |
| 2011 | -0.0568 | -36007.0% |
| 2012 | -0.0998 | +75.7% |
| 2013 | -0.1449 | +45.1% |
| 2014 | -0.8763 | +504.7% |
| 2015 | -1.08 | +23.4% |
| 2016 | -1.3 | +20.4% |
| 2017 | -1.51 | +16.3% |
| 2018 | -1.73 | +14.4% |
| 2019 | -1.74 | +0.4% |
| 2020 | -1.74 | +0.2% |
Thailand compared with similar countries
- Thailand's -1.74 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is -0.9114, 1.9× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Thailand's -1.74 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is -0.4405, 4.0× the median. (14 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Thailand changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | -36007.0% | 0.0002 | -0.0568 |
| 2007 | -691.6% | -0.0397 | -0.3142 |
| 2014 | -504.7% | -0.1449 | -0.8763 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.0537 | -0.3142 | 0.427 | 8 |
| 2010s | -0.8543 | -1.74 | 0.0002 | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.74 | -1.74 | -1.74 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Thailand
- 138 Kazakhstan -1.69 compare
- 139 Mozambique -1.71 compare
- 140 Kyrgyzstan -1.72 compare
- 142 India -1.79 compare
- 143 Pakistan -1.81 compare
- 144 Vietnam -1.85 compare
More social development data for Thailand
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 84,017 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 327 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 327 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0012 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Thailand?
- Citizen support for democracy in Thailand was -1.74 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Thailand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.427 in 2003.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Thailand?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.74 in 2020.
- How does Thailand rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Thailand ranks 141st out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Thailand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1,100,160.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Thailand data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.