UNICEF and Thai Government unite to launch nation's biggest study into families and children

BANGKOK, 2 September 2026 – The Royal Government of Thailand and UNICEF are collaborating on the largest study into the lives of children and families in the country.  Under a new agreement signed recently, the National Statistical Office and UNICEF will carry out a nationwide survey in 2027 to understand children’s well-being across the country and where more support may be needed.

The survey, known as the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey or MICS, was developed by UNICEF to collect reliable information about children and women around the world. Thailand has taken part regularly since 2005, with the most recent round completed in 2022. This round, MICS 7, will be implemented and funded by the Royal Thai Government with support from UNICEF.

Over the past two decades, MICS has grown into one of Thailand's most comprehensive sources of information on children and families. It provides robust data on key challenges and children’s well-being, from nutrition, breastfeeding and to early childhood development, education, health, parenting, violence, and children's living arrangements. The findings have helped shape policies and programmes over the years and have supported Thailand's progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

For MICS 7, the questions have been updated to reflect Thailand’s priorities today – such as nutrition, education and parenting - while keeping the results comparable with earlier surveys in Thailand. The results can also be compared with more than 120 other countries that use MICS worldwide to help Thailand see where it is achieving strong results for children and where it is falling behind.

For the first time, the survey will also place a special focus on children with disabilities, helping to better understand their needs and experiences, and giving policymakers better data to build more inclusive policies for them. 

When MICS 7 data collection begins in 2027, survey teams will visit thousands of households across the country, including in remote and hard-to-reach communities. As the teams go directly to families, the MICS survey will reach children who may not show up in official government records such as children who are out of school, migrant or stateless. This helps make sure that every child is counted and included.