Thailand's National Statistical Office and UNICEF are collaborating on what the organizations describe as the largest study of children's and families' lives in the country, under an agreement signed recently, UNICEF said in a press release dated 2 September 2026. The nationwide Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, or MICS, would be carried out in 2027, implemented and funded by the Royal Thai Government with UNICEF support.

Thailand has taken part in MICS regularly since 2005, with the most recent round completed in 2022. The survey collects data on topics including nutrition, breastfeeding, early childhood development, education, health, parenting, violence and children's living arrangements. Organizers said questions for the new round, MICS 7, have been updated to reflect current priorities while remaining comparable with earlier Thai surveys and with more than 120 other countries that use MICS.

For the first time, the survey would place a special focus on children with disabilities, aiming to help policymakers better understand their needs. Survey teams planned to visit thousands of households, including in remote and hard-to-reach communities, to reach children who may not appear in official records, such as those out of school, migrant or stateless.