# STATE OF SOCIAL PROCUREMENTCountry Profile: Thailand

Advancing social procurement through innovation and policy support.


## Overview

Thailand’s long-standing history of impact-driven entrepreneurship is rooted in initiatives like agricultural cooperatives and community enterprises. Iconic examples such as the Cabbages & Condoms project by the Population and Community Development Association highlight the country’s innovative approaches to addressing social challenges. With the Social Entrepreneurship Promotion Act (2019) establishing the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion (OSEP), Thailand now has 327 registered social enterprises, though the broader ecosystem includes many informal and unregistered impact-driven enterprises, particularly in rural areas.


## Environment and context

A 2020 report published by the British Council found that only a portion of impact-driven enterprises have registered or report an intent to register under the Act – while noting that the geographic distribution of registered enterprises concentrates in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area at 56.2%. The same report points to the higher incidence of women leadership working in various sectors, led by food and agriculture, education, and health; and over half of registered enterprises report earning all income from business operations. As such, the landscape of entrepreneurial organisations with a strong impact mission can be understood to stretch beyond currently-registered social enterprises under the 2019 Act. Moreover, with a noticeable income inequality and ubiquitous informal sector, Thailand’s low-income micro-entrepreneurs sustaining their livelihoods in the informal economy are in the millions. Despite significant developments, social enterprises in Thailand continue to face a wide range of challenges including access to finance and markets.


## Current State of Social Enterprise

Social procurement in Thailand to date has evolved in large thanks to direct market-based partnerships. Yunus Thailand and Yunus Social Business co-developed a market analysis of the current state of social procurement in Thailand, in partnership with SE Thailand, ChangeFusion and the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion (OSEP). 50 social enterprises were questioned on with B2B products or services on their business opportunities, their experience with corporations and the challenges that they face. Among those enterprises, 46% are registered at the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion, and most of them have a limited company legal status. They mainly operate at a national level and are of small size, counting less than 10 employees for more than half of them. Most of these enterprises represent the food and agricultural sector, including community enterprises who empower smallholder farmers, and the manufacturing sector. The main purpose of these enterprises is to address a specific social or environmental challenge, with 78% of them generating both a social and environmental impact. The majority reaches a profit or surplus, and mainly re-invests it into organisational growth, the enterprise working capital, followed by the social and environmental mission.As for their experience with corporate partners, half of them are already selling to corporate clients but don’t seem to be quite mature and advanced yet. For 62% of enterprises, corporate revenues represent less than a fourth of their total revenues, and the majority has sold to less than five companies for now. Among those clients, we count international brands such as Walmart and Target, as well as national Thai companies such as the Thailand National Bank. For 41%, social procurement contracts last less than 6 months, which is a key challenge they face. The research also shows that there is a correlation between the size of the enterprise and its corporate readiness level, with 71% of micro-enterprises who can be considered at a ‘beginner’ level (assessed based on their financial stability, their number of clients, size of clients, and proportion of corporate revenues over total revenues). This level of maturity also varies across sectors, with the Business Services and Waste Management sectors counting more experienced and advanced enterprises, compared to the Food and Agriculture sector where most enterprises, which are mainly community enterprises, are less mature.


## Outlook

The way ahead to cultivate and scale corporate partnerships with social enterprises via social procurement models is long but underway and involves continued and enhanced efforts to unlock access to markets and support to entrepreneurs. Support mechanisms for social enterprises in Thailand continue to advance and a wide number of actors continue to deepen collaborative mechanisms to bridge credibility and position impact-enterprises as key drivers of outcomes for people and the planet. Ongoing efforts to increase financial and non-financial support to entrepreneurs extend to certification and other visibility and networking opportunities to identify and connect social enterprise suppliers and potential clients. This includes certifications such as People Planet First network introduced by the Social Enterprise World Forum, and online communication platforms highlighting enterprises and their offerings. Other areas of support include efforts to facilitate access to knowledge resources and capacity development programming for entrepreneurs to strengthen marketing and business development competencies.


## Case study: moreloop

moreloop is an award-winning social enterprise transforming Thailand’s fashion industry through the circular economy by upcycling surplus fabrics from over 90 garment factories. Founded in 2017, moreloop has upcycled 89,811 kilograms of fabric, reducing emissions by 1.35 million kg of CO2e. With 75% of its revenue from B2B sales, moreloop provides tailored uniforms and merchandise to clients like Allianz Ayudhya, Accenture, and Deloitte. It also curates an online marketplace for surplus fabrics and conducts educational workshops on circular economy practices, positioning itself as a key partner for companies pursuing waste reduction and social impact goals.


### National Partners

This country profile has been prepared by Yunus Social Innovation and Yunus Thailand.


*Partner organizations and sponsors*

Last update was made on 15 January 2025.