Thailand is a marginal performer (“D”) under the VACI, on par with Korea and Egypt. Despite a relatively low level of meat consumption, Thailand has a high level of farmed animal production and very poor legislative protection for farmed animals.
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Thailand is a net importer of livestock animal-based products (such as beef), and an exporter of live cattle. With the advent of factory farming, it has also become a major exporter of chickens and other farmed birds. Its livestock production system combines large commercial farms and backyard non-commercial farms. The country slaughters around 19 land-based animals per person per year, almost double the global average of 10.1. The country’s dependence on farmed animals is slightly higher than average, 4.5 farmed animals per person versus a global average of 4.1.
The Thai diet contains a relatively low proportion of animal products, with around 31.5% of the average person’s diet made up of land-based animal protein, compared with a global average of 35.2%. Each person consumes around 16g of land-based animal protein per day, versus a global average of 27.2g. Between 3-5% of the population is vegetarian.
Thailand is rated as a marginal performer (“D”) under the Animal Protection Index (API), and its farmed animal protection legislation achieved a very poor performance rating (“F”) under the same index. While some farmed animals are protected from cruelty during rearing and transport, they have no legal protection during slaughter. Cages for laying hens are also not banned. Learn more about the quality of Thailand’s legislative protections on the API here.