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BANGKOK, Dec 11 (AFP) - Poverty in Thailand has grown by nearly 50 percent in the aftermath of the 1997 regional financial crisis, leaving some 10 million Thais struggling to survive, an official said Tuesday.

Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Ladawan Wongsriwong said the number of poor people in Thailand had risen from 6.8 million to 10 million as a result of the crash.

Ladawan said at a seminar on poverty reduction hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific from December 11-13 that some 16 percent of the population now qualified as poor.

The deputy minister outlined anti-poverty policies introduced by the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which swept January elections.

These include debt relief for farmers, a cut-price healthcare scheme and a fund that offers a million baht (22,800 dollar) for each of Thailand's 70,000 villages.

In November, the World Bank said block grants and other anti-poverty measures would be a better use of public money than universally distributed funds.

Prior to the regional economic crisis, the percentage of impoverished Thais dropped from 32.6 percent of the population in 1988 to 11.6 percent in 1996, according to the World Bank. 

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