Democracy in Thailand

Thailand: Democracy was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
80th
of 128 countries
All-time high
4
in 2005
All-time low
1
in 2015
Years of data
11
2005–2025

Democracy in Thailand, 2005–2025

12342005201520252005: 42007: 22009: 32011: 22013: 32015: 12017: 12019: 12021: 12023: 12025: 1

Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, democracy in Thailand stood at 1. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.

The figure is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Thailand peaked at 4 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 1, in 2015.

That places Thailand 80th out of 128 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Democracy in Thailand, year by year

Annual values for Democracy in Thailand, 2005 to 2025.
Year Value Change
2005 4
2007 2 -50.0%
2009 3 +50.0%
2011 2 -33.3%
2013 3 +50.0%
2015 1 -66.7%
2017 1 +0.0%
2019 1 +0.0%
2021 1 +0.0%
2023 1 +0.0%
2025 1 +0.0%

Thailand compared with similar countries

  • Thailand's 1 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 3, 33% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
  • Thailand's 1 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1.5, 67% of the median. (14 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3 2 4 3
2010s 1.6 1 3 5
2020s 1 1 1 3

Countries ranked near Thailand

  1. 80 Afghanistan 1 compare
  2. 80 Azerbaijan 1 compare
  3. 80 Bahrain 1 compare
  4. 80 Belarus 1 compare
  5. 80 Burkina Faso 1 compare
  6. 80 Burundi 1 compare
  7. 80 Cambodia 1 compare
  8. 80 Cameroon 1 compare
  9. 80 Central African Republic 1 compare
  10. 80 Chad 1 compare
  11. 80 China 1 compare
  12. 80 Congo 1 compare
  13. 80 Cuba 1 compare
  14. 80 Democratic Republic of Congo 1 compare
  15. 80 Egypt 1 compare
  16. 80 Eritrea 1 compare
  17. 80 Ethiopia 1 compare
  18. 80 Guinea 1 compare
  19. 80 Haiti 1 compare
  20. 80 Iran 1 compare
  21. 80 Kazakhstan 1 compare
  22. 80 Kuwait 1 compare
  23. 80 Laos 1 compare
  24. 80 Libya 1 compare
  25. 80 Mali 1 compare
  26. 80 Morocco 1 compare
  27. 80 Mozambique 1 compare
  28. 80 Myanmar 1 compare
  29. 80 Nicaragua 1 compare
  30. 80 Niger 1 compare
  31. 80 North Korea 1 compare
  32. 80 Oman 1 compare
  33. 80 Pakistan 1 compare
  34. 80 Qatar 1 compare
  35. 80 Russia 1 compare
  36. 80 Rwanda 1 compare
  37. 80 Saudi Arabia 1 compare
  38. 80 Somalia 1 compare
  39. 80 South Sudan 1 compare
  40. 80 Sudan 1 compare
  41. 80 Syria 1 compare
  42. 80 Tajikistan 1 compare
  43. 80 Turkmenistan 1 compare
  44. 80 Uzbekistan 1 compare
  45. 80 Venezuela 1 compare
  46. 80 Vietnam 1 compare
  47. 80 Yemen 1 compare
  48. 80 Zimbabwe 1 compare

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for Thailand

All data for Thailand →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Thailand?
Democracy in Thailand was 1 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Thailand?
The highest recorded value was 4 in 2005.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Thailand?
The lowest recorded value was 1 in 2015.
How does Thailand rank for democracy?
Thailand ranks 80th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Thailand?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Thailand data come from?
The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Democracy in Thailand. Statizoid, drawing on Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-regime-bti/thailand/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-regime-bti/thailand/">Democracy in Thailand</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
128 places, 1,394 data points, 2005–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between hard-line autocracies (score 1), moderate autocracies (score 2), highly defective democracies (score 3), defective democracies (score 4), and consolidating democracies (score 5).