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Urban Studies
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Does Basic Services Privatisation Benefit the Urban Poor? Some Evidence from Water Supply Privatisation in Thailand

Saeed Zaki

Department of Urban Environmental Management (UEM), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), PO Box 4, Khlong Luang, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand, saeed.zaki.j{at}gmail.com

A.T.M. Nurul Amin

Department of Urban Environmental Management (UEM), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), PO Box 4, Khlong Luang, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand, nurul{at}northsouth.edu

Access to safe water and sanitation has been a development priority for decades. This is also included in the millennium development goal targets. Meanwhile, privatisation of water supply continues to be a subject of intense debate, particularly as to its effects on the urban poor. The arguments for and against often reflect the intellectual divide between socialist ideals and neo-liberal pragmatism. Key issues are access, quality and price. This paper reports findings from an investigation of Thailand’s first water supply privatisation scheme implemented in 1998. Household-level data for the poor, defined by community and income status, show a significant improvement in access to piped water despite an increase in the connection cost and monthly charges. The associated benefits from access include improved water quality and service. A promising plus is the prospect of improvement in tenure status for the households living in informal settlements.

Urban Studies, Vol. 46, No. 11, 2301-2327 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0042098009342902
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