THA · snapshot 2026-08-09

Thailand

High

Overall risk score

47.6

Percentile of scored universe

51th

Data coverage

93%

vs Australia (16.1)

+31.5

Category breakdown

Political Stability & Governance

High
61.7+48.9 vs AU

6 indicators · 100% coverage

Economic Resilience

Medium
37.2+26.1 vs AU

7 indicators · 100% coverage

Financial & Currency Risk

Medium
28.6+22.7 vs AU

5 indicators · 100% coverage

Business Environment

Medium
40.9+6.1 vs AU

3 indicators · 75% coverage

Security & Crime

Very High
65.9+40.8 vs AU

3 indicators · 80% coverage

Climate & Social Compliance

High
53.5+43.1 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Technology & Digital

Medium
30.0+16.3 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Cultural Distance

Very High
62.6+61.8 vs AU

9 indicators · 100% coverage · not in overall score

Key risks and considerations

Thailand rates High for market entry — an overall risk score of 47.6, riskier than 51% of rated economies and 31 points riskier than Australia.

The main risk drivers are pervasive organised crime (6.4/10), political instability and armed conflict (0.1 battle deaths per 100k/yr).

Relative strengths: FX reserves, current account, currency stability all rate Low, the least-risky rating band.

Possible mitigations

  • Political violence. Consider political-violence and political-risk insurance, keep asset footprints light, and maintain an exit/continuity plan with defined triggers.
  • Organised crime. Expect extortion, counterfeiting, and cargo-theft exposure: harden supply-chain security, vet logistics partners and distributors carefully, and avoid cash-heavy channels.
  • Payment fraud. Experts nominate this market as a cybercrime origin (World Cybercrime Index, 2021 survey): verify any change of bank details out-of-band, enforce MFA and dual authorisation on payments, and be sceptical of unsolicited counterparties.
  • Cultural bridging. Large cultural distance: invest in local partners, bilingual advisers, and longer relationship-building timelines — assume negotiation and management norms differ materially.

Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.

Indicators

IndicatorValueRisk scoreRating
Political Stability & Governance
Voice & accountability (WGI)47.163.2High
Government effectiveness (WGI)56.339.8Medium
Regulatory quality (WGI)56.540.7Medium
Rule of law (WGI)53.353.9High
Control of corruption (WGI)37.264.5High
Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV)54.277.1Very High
Economic Resilience
GDP growth (3-yr average, %)2.5% (3-yr avg)45.0Medium
Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp)±3.0 pp40.1Medium
Government net debt (% of GDP)64.760.0High
Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target)-0.135.0Medium
Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP)2.2% (3-yr avg)15.0Low
FX reserves (months of import cover)8.0 months10.0Low
GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $)$26,25043.5Medium
Financial & Currency Risk
Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN)0.4260.0High
Currency stability (regime-aware classification)Floating — low volatility (<8%)15.0Low
Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification)Category 3 / 728.0Medium
FATF listing (grey / black list status)Not listed0.0Low
Double-tax agreement with AustraliaIn force0.0Low
Business Environment
FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI)0.2466.5High
Logistics performance (World Bank LPI)3.524.6Low
Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average)Insufficient data
Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter)In force0.0Low
Security & Crime
Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr)0.176.3Very High
Intentional homicide rate (per 100k)4.8Insufficient data
Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score)6.479.4Very High
DFAT Smartraveller advisory levelLevel 2 — Exercise a high degree of caution40.0Medium
Climate & Social Compliance
Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability)0.44348.2Medium
Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index)4.363.4High
Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000)5.750.9High
Modern-slavery vulnerability score46.544.7Medium
Technology & Digital
E-government development (UN EGDI)0.826.7Medium
Internet users (% of population)90.927.7Medium
Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index)1.030.0Medium
Secure internet servers (per million people)3150.037.9Medium

Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.

Cultural distance

GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score

ThailandAustraliaGLOBE practice score · scale 1–7
Power distanceVery High
5.63
4.74
Uncertainty avoidanceMedium
3.93
4.39
Institutional collectivismMedium
4.03
4.29
In-group collectivismVery High
5.70
4.17
Humane orientationHigh
4.81
4.28
Performance orientationHigh
3.93
4.36
AssertivenessVery High
3.64
4.28
Gender egalitarianismLow
3.35
3.40
Future orientationVery High
3.43
4.09

Context — not scored

Unemployment

0.8%

Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)

Trade agreement

Free trade agreement with Australia in force

Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.

Regional advisories

Higher levels apply in some areas (up to Level 4)

DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.

Compare with

A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to Thailand in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.

All 218 economies · How to read these ratings