Does crashing birthrate and aging society spell doom for Thailand?

[webfact]

 

The median age in Thailand currently stands at 40 years and two months, far older than the world average of 30 years and five months. This startling fact suggests that if Thailand fails to take action now, it could rapidly be overwhelmed by problems related to its aging society.

 

Thailand’s population is on course to shrink by at least 50% by 2100, according to the Social Development and Human Security Ministry.

 

“I believe Thai governments both past and present have been aware of this fact. But I don’t know if the [incoming] government will introduce clear-cut or radical policies to address this situation,” said Professor Teera Sindecharak, who lectures at Thammasat University’s Sociology and Anthropology Faculty.

Economic and social impacts

 

Teera warns that the ongoing demographic trend could mean that infrastructure designed to serve huge numbers of people will soon be left half-empty. And businesses may find it difficult to attract enough customers or staff to continue operating.

 

By Thai PBS World’s General Desk

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/does-crashing-birthrate-and-aging-society-spell-doom-for-thailand/

 

-- Thai PBS 2023-08-26

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[observer90210]

Not to worry for the infrastructures left empty. Make the visa and immigration procedures easier, and all us quality posters of AN will flock the BTS, MRT, the malls, pool villa developpments and the banks with good foreign money-money.

[Tropicalevo]

The full article is an interesting read (apart from the final paragraph).

The problem all starts with the antiquated education system here, and the ignoring of the poorer population.

No hope - no future.

Edited August 26, 2023 by Tropicalevo

[Henryford]

I think the demograhic problems here are probably better than most western countries, and especially Japan/South Korea.  The only place with masses of young people is Africa. That skews the average of 30 quoted by the OP.

[2baht]

23 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s population is on course to shrink by at least 50% by 2100

Road fatalities!

[2long]

It may spell doom for Thailand's economy, but things like this are good for the planet and the environment.

[mfd101]

No different from the rest of the world outside Africa (and THEIR turn will come as their economies are clawing their way up the status ladder).

 

The planet needs it that way even if particular countries don't like it. The future is smaller and multculti. Looks pretty good to me.

[retarius]

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

[jvs]

30 minutes ago, retarius said:

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

Covid was 3 years ago,how does that effect the birth rate in Thailand?

 

[lordgrinz]

We can't just keep expanding the population to satisfy profits for the elites, it's time to live within our means, and stop promoting overpopulation for the almighty dollar/yuan/baht/etc.

[mfd101]

45 minutes ago, retarius said:

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

B/S. The birthrate in The West has been declining for at least 4 decades, and in China for about 5.

 

The thing about demography is that it changes the shape of your country for decades ahead (as the Chinese are finding out). It changes the culture, it changes the economy for both better & worse. And noone has any longterm control over it. But you can predict your population numbers and mix with great accuracy decades ahead.

 

You might say: F...g is destiny.

Edited August 26, 2023 by mfd101

[jaideedave]

1 hour ago, retarius said:

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

Yes as a farang I also rolled up my sleeves for 2 shots.They made it so easy and I was lead to believe that I wouldn't be able to renew my 1 year visa unless I submitted.I call it coercion. No more injections for this fellow knowing what I do do now.

How many high up politicians/VIP,s have you heard of having side effects from this poison? Few and far between because they got saline or nothing.

The purebloods were right.

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

could mean that infrastructure designed to serve huge numbers of people will soon be left half-empty. And businesses may find it difficult to attract enough customers or staff to continue operating.

And Srettha's condos will be left empty.

[bkk6060]

Many countries are having similar issues making babies is not a priority.   For here, why bring a person into a place with little opportunity where many are making $1 an hour.

Will probably get much worse especially with the gender based AI robots as potential partners over the next 20 years.  Why be with a human who nags, argues gets fat and povides little enjoyment when the AI will be human like, awesome and able to take care of everything. 

[Dionigi]

https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/median-age-by-country/#thailand

ranks Thailand as 167th down and gives it a median age rating of 18 with 1.54 fertility rate.

Monaco has a median age of 42 and the Isle of man is next with 38.

Asa the pbs article said over a century ago Thai women gave birth to an average of 5 children. I suspect same as the Uk over a century ago most did not reach the age of 5.

[retarius]

2 hours ago, jvs said:

Covid was 3 years ago,how does that effect the birth rate in Thailand?

 

If you sperm and reproductive capacity was damaged by the COVID vaccine or COVID itself, there is no guarantee that it will get better. 

[retarius]

53 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Many countries are having similar issues making babies is not a priority.   For here, why bring a person into a place with little opportunity where many are making $1 an hour.

Will probably get much worse especially with the gender based AI robots as potential partners over the next 20 years.  Why be with a human who nags, argues gets fat and povides little enjoyment when the AI will be human like, awesome and able to take care of everything. 

The birthrate drop is breaking the trend line. 

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, retarius said:

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

That's true, I got the mRNA vaccines,  too (both of them!), and died soon afterwards.

Fortunately, my loving relatives buried my phone with me so I can still post on AN.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“I believe Thai governments both past and present have been aware of this fact. But I don’t know if the [incoming] government will introduce clear-cut or radical policies to address this situation,” said Professor Teera Sindecharak, who lectures at Thammasat University’s Sociology and Anthropology Faculty.

The majority of a new population comes from the masses, give them  the income to support a family and they will breed.

It's not rocket science.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

The full article is an interesting read (apart from the final paragraph).

The problem all starts with the antiquated education system here, and the ignoring of the poorer population.

No hope - no future.

Is it your contention that more education leads to a higher birth rate? That hasn't happened in any country I'm aware of. More highly educated women generally have less children, as found in Singapore and Japan.

 

It's a good thing anyway as far too many people on the planet and we need to reduce the population to about 3 billion.

 

If the Thais need workers they can allow guest workers, like Saudi does, that go back home when the job finishes. Plenty of people out there in overpopulated countries wanting jobs.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Why be with a human who nags, argues gets fat and povides little enjoyment when the AI will be human like, awesome and able to take care of everything. 

I'm sad that I'll never get the chance to have a sex android to live with me. My life would have been so much better without the toxic women I did live with.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

The majority of a new population comes from the masses, give them  the income to support a family and they will breed.

It's not rocket science.

That only applies if they are kept ignorant, as proven in the west, where the poor and ignorant have most babies as they get money from other people to have them. Clever women don't want to have lots of babies anymore. Many are even having none.

[mfd101]

19 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

The majority of a new population comes from the masses, give them  the income to support a family and they will breed.

It's not rocket science.

Nonsense. Give them a decent wage and the education to plan a future and they stop breeding like rabbits. As has happened in every First and Second World country.

 

It's not rocket science.

[hotchilli]

1 minute ago, mfd101 said:

Nonsense. Give them a decent wage and the education to plan a future and they stop breeding like rabbits. As has happened in every First and Second World country.

 

It's not rocket science.

Thailand is really 3rd world.

[mfd101]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Thailand is really 3rd world.

BKK & 'Eastern' region - 2nd world by any reasonable definition. The rest 3rd world.

[rattlesnake]

1 hour ago, jaideedave said:

Yes as a farang I also rolled up my sleeves for 2 shots.They made it so easy and I was lead to believe that I wouldn't be able to renew my 1 year visa unless I submitted.I call it coercion. No more injections for this fellow knowing what I do do now.

How many high up politicians/VIP,s have you heard of having side effects from this poison? Few and far between because they got saline or nothing.

The purebloods were right.

Thank you, much appreciated.

[JensenZ]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

The full article is an interesting read (apart from the final paragraph).

The problem all starts with the antiquated education system here, and the ignoring of the poorer population.

No hope - no future.

There's quite a bit of nonsense in the full ariticle. 

 

Here's a good example:

 

Quote

Technology will likely play an even bigger role in people’s lives,” Teera continued. “Some people will likely turn to the virtual world for social interaction as there will be fewer people around them, fewer relatives or in-laws.

Where has Professor Teera been the last 10 years? The young Thai population already live inside the virtual world with their heads buried deeply inside their social media apps during all waking hours. It's probably the main reason why they are not interested in procreating.

 

Quote

Thailand’s population stands at 66 million people, but at least 20% of citizens are over 60 and this is expected to grow to 30% by 2036.

The current population is something like 71,801,279. Someone has been sleeping.

 

Thailand - population 2023

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

What a load of nonsense.....

[JensenZ]

30 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Thailand is really 3rd world.

If it was, you wouldn't be here. If you want to live 3rd world, go to Africa and experience the real thing, then come back and assess Thailand.

 

A low birthrate is actually a sign that Thailand is approaching developed nation status. Compare Thailand with the Philippines. The median age there is 24, nearly half of Thailand, and in the 1970's their populations and birthrates were similar. Now the Philippines has nearly 50 million more people than Thailand with over 117 million currently.

Edited August 26, 2023 by JensenZ

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

Many doctors and scientists now emerging in the US are implicating the COVID mRNA vaccine as the cause of this in the West. But Thailand mainly used the Sinovac vaccine on Thais, unfortunately for me, foreigners got the Pfizer vaccine, which poisoned me but didn't prevent COVID.

Gee, I got both Sinovac and Pfizer.

I should be dead, it's only the opportunity of responding to richardhead anti-vaxxers on social media that is keeping me alive.