Thailand Faces Population Crisis: Minister Calls for Action

[webfact]

 

Thailand's ageing population poses significant structural challenges, according to Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Social Development and Human Security. Speaking at the "Thailand Strategy and Government Challenges" Forum in Bangkok on Thursday, he outlined the imminent issues and necessary measures.

 

Currently, 20% of Thailand's population is elderly, classifying it as an "Aged Society." Within the next 10 to 15 years, the nation is expected to transition to a "Super-Aged Society" similarly to Japan, with an ageing rate projected at 30%.

 

This shift is driven by a low birth rate, averaging 500,000 births annually and an average of just one child per woman—lagging behind even Japan's figures.

 

The condition surfaces multiple family and societal changes. "The structure of Thai families is shifting," said Varawut. He explained that smaller families and fewer children result in diminishing intergenerational support.

 

Traditional family roles weaken, leading to more single-parent households and elderly individuals living alone. This creates a burden on the working-age population, who must look after children, themselves, and ageing parents simultaneously.

 

In five to ten years, today's 50-59-year-olds will themselves be elderly, with responsibilities for parents over 80 years old. This demographic change hints at deep economic ramifications.

 

The national population is forecasted to drop from 70 million to 58.26 million within 25 years. Coupled with the shrinking workforce, this signifies potential for increased social support expenditures, which could strain government budgets.

 

Varawut announced that the Ministry has introduced a "5x5 Policy" to tackle the crisis, approved by the Cabinet on April 2, 2024.

 

The policy emphasises five strategies, each with five key measures, aimed at adjusting to these challenges:

 

1. Empowering the working-age population to form and sustain families.
2. Enhancing child quality through life skills and development.
3. Leveraging the elderly's experience for societal and economic contribution.
4. Creating opportunities and value for people with disabilities.
5. Establishing a supportive environment for family life and sustainability.

 

"Our approach aims to leave no one behind, using various strategies to harness untapped potential across all demographics," Varawut emphasised. He concluded by urging the media to help drive Thai society toward sustainable stability.

 

Picture courtesy: Thai population online

 

-- 2024-07-06

 

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[retarius]

No crisis. The world managed to get by with many fewer people in the past. The crisis if there is one is with the obscenely rich. Bigger markets mean bigger profits which the obscenely rich capture to increase their wealth. Few people mean smaller markets and less profits as service providers, manufacturers and retailers have to compete. Our notion of measuring everything by GDP growth is flawed. 

[Gsxrnz]

Follow the West's solution to the economic impact of a declining birth rate - encourage mass unchecked immigration from Africa and India.

 

Nothing could possibly go wrong. 

[ikke1959]

it seems a bit out of order.. Thailands age will go up indeed, but the reason is not only that people live longer but the average is surely influenced by the many young deaths in traffic accidents for example...These deaths will not be parents, besides that the very very low wages in Thailand don't make it easy to get children..Parents have to work, grandparents bring up the kids, but with the costs of schools for many reasons  and rising living costs, although the government want to make us believe something else with their low inflation rate, makes it difficult to make ends meet.

Than all Governments and elite don't care about it as this problem could be foreseen already decades ago, but the greed of them and the mai pen rai, because it will not affect us, is causing this problem.

 

Solutions are possible, but there will be a big resistance for example no company is willing to raise the salaries, as they make us afraid that everything will be more expensive,,, They forget to tell us that if people can buy they will make more profit too.. 

Another solution is that everybody has to fill in a tax form so that the Government knows what people do for a living, how much money they have and earn, and probably have to pay tax, as almost nobody in this country pays tax. That money could be used for a kind of state pension.

 

Stimulate more births by giving parents some money every few months extra for 3 or 4 kids ...

 

And do something about the tragic traffic accidents with decent education, a working policeforce, and updated fines instead of 100 to 500 THB. If for not wearing a helmet a fine need to be paid of 1500 tHB the first time and the second time 2500 THB, you will see how quickly everybody will wear a helmet, and for overloaded trucks, let them stop and take what is too much from the truck...They will complain but \with the correct load they can move on with a fine of 10k....and for the things that is too much they have to find a solution...And drunk drivers??/ let them sleep in a celll till they are sober, fine them with 10k to 25k and with a very high alcohol level leave the car behind until the judge in court decided .... But I will hear we need the car/motorcycle for work/ no work no income..... but that is the result if you think that nothing will happen and you can do as you want.. The more the punishments hurts the quicker people will follow the rules

[brianthainess]

I'm trying my best........

[mfd101]

Fairly soon - as its population begins to shrink - Thailand (its people as a whole, led by an enlightened government) is going to have to transform its whole approach to life.

 

Living behind high cultural, linguistic and legal barriers, shut off from the outside world, will no longer work. Change is already happening but very slowly and without explicit acknowledgement because of the dinosaur social arrangements.

 

What Thais - and other Third World countries - will have to construct is immigration policies similar to those of 'Western' countries: importing skilled & high-tech workers to become citizens and drive a new economy with new population & cultural structures that reward work skills not birthright.

 

But none of this can happen in a corrupt feudal state that regards all non-Thais as outsiders to be treated with suspicion and complex bureaucratic barriers.

[phetphet]

So much poverty here that people can't afford to have more children.

[ChipButty]

People in Thailand cant afford the ones they already have, I wonder how many have already been subsidized by Farangs? 

[Pouatchee]

do like other civilised countries and allow foreigners to get permanent residency more easily. it would be a lot easier and more interesting for me to start a family if i werent always subnitted to stringent visa regulations that keep changing all the time. there are also other ways i could earn a living other than teaching if i were to get a green card. most importantly i would offer better quality services than thais... if i had permanent residence. the biggest reason my wife and i did not start a family is because of the uncertainty of my stay here and the difficulty to take her back home.

 

[renaissanc]

27 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

do like other civilised countries and allow foreigners to get permanent residency more easily. it would be a lot easier and more interesting for me to start a family if i werent always subnitted to stringent visa regulations that keep changing all the time. there are also other ways i could earn a living other than teaching if i were to get a green card. most importantly i would offer better quality services than thais... if i had permanent residence. the biggest reason my wife and i did not start a family is because of the uncertainty of my stay here and the difficulty to take her back home.

I've been here 40 years and I still have to renew my marriage visa annually. Maybe in 10 to 15 years they will change our visas and even allow us to contribute to Thai society in new ways, especially elderly foreigners. But dinosaurs are running the country.

[Pouatchee]

7 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

Maybe in 10 to 15 years they will change our visas and even allow us to contribute to Thai society in new ways,

 

unfortunately they have already started doing that with the new taxation scheme on remittances... thailand the hub of taxation

 

no taxation without representation... unfortunately here the answer is  TIT while the wokes are going on about human rights back home they should now how foreigners are treated abroad...

[Almer]

If you start to tax my pensions you will be one more light in your perfect country

[Will B Good]

5 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

encourage mass unchecked immigration from Africa and India.

 

Which countries are encouraging this to happen?

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

This shift is driven by a low birth rate, averaging 500,000 births annually and an average of just one child per woman—lagging behind even Japan's figures.

Give people a livable wage they will breed... it's not rocket science.

[hotchilli]

Just now, Will B Good said:

 

Which countries are encouraging this to happen?

I think UK is in the mix

[Almer]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

People in Thailand cant afford the ones they already have, I wonder how many have already been subsidized by Farangs? 

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

do like other civilised countries and allow foreigners to get permanent residency more easily. it would be a lot easier and more interesting for me to start a family if i werent always subnitted to stringent visa regulations that keep changing all the time. there are also other ways i could earn a living other than teaching if i were to get a green card. most importantly i would offer better quality services than thais... if i had permanent residence. the biggest reason my wife and i did not start a family is because of the uncertainty of my stay here and the difficulty to take her back home.

 

 

Let me work I have skills that will aid the population of Thailand and any money earned would end up back in the big pot, why are Thai such bad drivers and why can't you find a craftsman in the building industries, because there are no teachers plus at 21 with no training everybody is encouraged to think they are experts, in a gov office last week the simplest of calculations had to be done on a calculator, 438 baht tendered 500 completely through the lady aged around 50. Thailand is stuck in a vicious circle of need but is infested with greed. 

. 

[Will B Good]

18 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

I think UK is in the mix

As much as I am thrilled that the Tories are toast they were correct in allowing people in with the skills we need......from fruit pickers to brain surgeons.....surely???

[hotchilli]

3 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

As much as I am thrilled that the Tories are toast they were correct in allowing people in with the skills we need......from fruit pickers to brain surgeons.....surely???

And the other 99% who crossed via the leaky border called the English channel looking for the welfare office and NHS service

[john donson]

they could start taxing every dirty farang living here more than 179 days on worldwide income to support the lazy bums and government 

 

oh wait...

[koolkarl]

There are already far too many people in this world, especially 1 group.

[koolkarl]

28 minutes ago, john donson said:

they could start taxing every dirty farang living here more than 179 days on worldwide income to support the lazy bums and government 

 

oh wait...

They will.

[Andycoops]

Thailand is oblivious to the scenario.

 

Throw in no parental responsibility on behalf of the male population who sire children and then disappear because there is no enforcement of their financial support for the child/children, it's hardly surprising women are opting out of having any.

[Pouatchee]

1 hour ago, john donson said:

they could start taxing every dirty farang living here more than 179 days on worldwide income to support the lazy bums and government 

 

oh wait...

 

dont give them any ideas... theyll prolly even start taxing falangs globally because THIS IS THAILAND sorry about the caps lock... but this is how angry thais without any valid argument answer when they are wrong

[PETERTHEEATER]

Falling birth rate? Try Boris Johnson. Standing at stud. No groom required.

[klauskunkel]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

increased social support expenditures, which could strain government budgets.

could always pawn a submarine... 

[RobU]

After the second world war the UK government introduced 'child allowance' and numerous other maternity benefits to stimulate repopulation of the UK and increase the post war birth rate. Child Allowance was paid until the child's 16th birthday for every child born to a family or single mother. This noticeably increased birth rates since people could then afford to raise children whether married or single. The problem here is that raising children is  considered a luxury privilege. You can only raise them well if you earn enough money Intelligent Thai's will not birth children into poverty or reduce their lifestyle to have children. 

[Will B Good]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

And the other 99% who crossed via the leaky border called the English channel looking for the welfare office and NHS service

You do know they are a drop in the ocean compared to legal migration? Don't believe everything you read in the Daily Excess.

[Callmeishmael]

So here is the answer.  Like it or not, we will see massive amounts of immigration from the blue countries to the the tan colored countries.  Obviously some tan countries are more desirable in the eyes of potential immigrants, but when push comes to shove, immigrants escaping from the overcrowded hell-holes will settle on the countries that they view as second rate!

[Peterphuket]

5 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

do like other civilised countries and allow foreigners to get permanent residency more easily. it would be a lot easier and more interesting for me to start a family if i werent always subnitted to stringent visa regulations that keep changing all the time. there are also other ways i could earn a living other than teaching if i were to get a green card. most importantly i would offer better quality services than thais... if i had permanent residence. the biggest reason my wife and i did not start a family is because of the uncertainty of my stay here and the difficulty to take her back home.

 

They call that in Europea transformation, they don't want that in Thailand either.
Thailand for the Thais, we just hang around.

[Peterphuket]

Concerning taxing the foreigner in Thailand.
Is it true if you purchase property in Thailand worth more than 4 million Thb, you have to pay 35% tax on it as well?