Heading towards an ageing society

By Pradit Phulsarikij 
Nation Graphics

 

 

Thailand is set to become a full-fledged ageing society in fewer than 20 years, when elderly citizens (age 65 and over) will exceed 20 per cent of the total population.

 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30353981

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-08

Get rid of all farangs over 60.

so basically they're shitting out less children

very wise, especially in a third-world country

age yes, but,childlike eternal...this is Neverland...no one ever grows up ...

Considering that most of the elderly peoples' retirement plan is their own children, will be interesting to see how filial piety plays out.

Hollywood solved it over 40 years ago.

 

There was a report last week about the Rich Asians, for Thailand 96% of the wealth created by 1% of the population, the 1% wont worry too much about growing old and will a long life probably as well, but what of the other 99%? I suspect most of them are poor and not benefiting from the rich getting richer, in fact what I see is that most Thais are struggling to cope, pilling up the debts and likely distill with those debts. The life expectancy of poor Thais is not high, all done and gone by 60 most of them so they will not be the problem. The middle class is getting smaller with most slipping down towards the poor end especially when they finish work and a few lucky one moving up too the richer end.

The plan that the family will take care is not the family care plan it once was, Thailand has moved one, mobile smart phones need more attention now and as for the Government, as per usual no plan for care of the elderly that is someone else's problem, money for new military equipment is it seems more important and the current administration don't seem to have the welfare of the people on the agenda, perhaps it will just go away or perhaps it will raise its head in any forth coming election.

12 minutes ago, nong38 said:

I suspect most of them are poor and not benefiting from the rich getting richer, in fact what I see is that most Thais are struggling to cope,

We are living in a time of unparalleled greed and selfishness, I'm actually horrified at the way the entire world is moving.

A few people seem to own everything, nobody thinks of anyone but themselves, and the middle class is being reduced to the level of the poor.

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

We are living in a time of unparalleled greed and selfishness, I'm actually horrified at the way the entire world is moving.

A few people seem to own everything, nobody thinks of anyone but themselves, and the middle class is being reduced to the level of the poor.

Its not just here though its seems to be all round the world, a very sad reflection on the society we live in. even in "socialist countries" like Russia and China, get to the top and stay there enjoy the pickings and forget the rest.

Prayut says the government is preparing for an aging society.

http://thailand.prd.go.th/1700/ewt/thailand/ewt_news.php?nid=6617

But Thailand is already an aging society.

• The aging demographics will constrain the Thai economy's potential to grow in the years ahead.
• Slower economic growth will exacerbate Thailand's looming social problem of insufficient retirement assets.
• Countries with aging populations tend to be hit by soaring government debt due to higher spending on healthcare and public pensions.
• Thailand's heavy reliance on defined-benefit pension schemes, together with rising healthcare costs, could pose a threat of fiscal insolvency.
• Most Thai savers' asset allocation patterns will not deliver the returns they expect.

https://www.scbeic.com/en/detail/product/1192

Immigration can help alleviate the burden that ageing poses. 

https://cis.org/Immigration-Aging-Society

For Thailand that means providing a quicker citizenship path for stateless refugee and immigrant peoples.

But until Thailand society is more open to national, racial and religious diversification of its citizenship such as found in Western nations, its economic growth faces further challenges.

 

 The problem is that those immigrants that come to solve today's problem become tomorrows as they grow old. Its a problem for all administrations but all they seem to be doing is kicking it down the road for someone else to deal with. Thailand nor its people have any idea of finances or how to deal with them which is why many will die in debt and then it is someone else's problem and dieing comes to all sooner or later so they just seem to accept it then the problem goes away. When the Thai Government gives a pension of 600bts a month to the poor and does not raise it p.a what does it expect? The people who make the decisions have no solutions it will never be their problem.

Edited September 8, 20187 yr by nong38
missing word which changes the meaning

1 hour ago, nong38 said:

The life expectancy of poor Thais is not high, all done and gone by 60 most of them so they will not be the problem.

The report says the life expectancy is 75 for men, 82 for women, so its about 78 on average.

I'm sure the poor live less on average, but 60 seems to be too low. Maybe 72.

5 minutes ago, soomak said:

The report says the life expectancy is 75 for men, 82 for women, so its about 78 on average.

I'm sure the poor live less on average, but 60 seems to be too low. Maybe 72.

That really depends on what figures you believe to be correct 75 for men and 82 for women seems far to high to me, my g/f's mother died at 48 and father at 52 she says that 60 is considered old.

If you go a hospital and ask for check up they often give you a leaflet and ask you what age you are, 45+ is where it ends, many Thai insurance deals finish at 60. Wiki says 72 and 78.

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

Get rid of all farangs over 60.

Why?

 

Those who can support themselves aren’t an issue. 

 

Or was that sarcasm...irony even...

Edited September 8, 20187 yr by Bluespunk

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

Get rid of all farangs over 60.

Better still - get rid of all people called mikebell!

Unparalleled greed and selfishness is not new.  For a real eye-opener, check out the You Tube piece on the party commemorating the 2,500th year of the Persian Empire put on by the Shah of Iran.  The reaction to it set off a chain of Islamic revolutions. 

The graying of the population is a problem everywhere that the birth rate is low and immigration numbers are low, especially in Japan.  I have the forlorn hope that The US Congress will enact sensible immigration reform to keep immigration numbers fairly high.  We are going to need a lot of young people before long.

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

We are living in a time of unparalleled greed and selfishness, I'm actually horrified at the way the entire world is moving.

A few people seem to own everything, nobody thinks of anyone but themselves, and the middle class is being reduced to the level of the poor.

They say Kali Yuga is about to set in...

Mai Pen Rai. The solution is evolving. As the aging population increases proportionally, the number of robots will probably increase, as technology evolves.

 

It doesn't really matter if half the population gets beyond working age, provided their production capacity, when they were working, is replaced with robots that could be even more efficient. ?

8 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Hollywood solved it over 40 years ago.

 

 

I preferred "Soylent Green"  ?

18 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Why?

 

Those who can support themselves aren’t an issue. 

 

Or was that sarcasm...irony even...

I am 76 & have lived here 14 years; work it out for yourself.

17 hours ago, Bundooman said:

Better still - get rid of all people called mikebell!

I am 76 & have lived here 14 years; sometimes humour misfires.

16 hours ago, kotsak said:

 

I preferred "Soylent Green"  ?

Could always set Logans Run age to 65 I guess.

14 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Could always set Logans Run age to 65 I guess.

 

With all those dystopian future stories/films you would think that one of them should get it right ?

19 minutes ago, kotsak said:

With all those dystopian future stories/films you would think that one of them should get it right ?

 

Soylent Green was probably closest to the future.

(Maybe 1984)

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Soylent Green was probably closest to the future.

(Maybe 1984)

So we are all eating human flesh?

35 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

So we are all eating human flesh?

We are what we eat ?