Thailand Facing Population Crisis

[TAWP]

Which is the motto of many alarmists. They seem to like the idea of backwards-living and are with every political trick in he book trying to convince others that it's a good idea.

[backflip]

"The US and some other countries don't seek births to solve their social issues they do it by allowing migration."

Please name one US social issue that was solved by allowing immigration.

[hammered]

Which is the motto of many alarmists. They seem to like the idea of backwards-living and are with every political trick in he book trying to convince others that it's a good idea.

In Thailand the first people that will need convincing are the young people who have drifted from their farming communities, in many cases with the blessing of their own parents to the urban areas on mass, and in here I dont include the seasonal urban workers who are really still farmers at heart. However, those that have sought a life living near urban centers and working in factories, or in jobs that support these seem quite happy to be able to wear cheap but nicer clothes than at home and be able to change mobile phones often and go shopping in urban markets and the ubiquitous supermarkets. It is a life style very different from that back on the farm and one that even allowing for many of them sharing a rooom with several others seems to be popular in my experience. The meeting of people from other regions, and forming strong relationships with them, the escaping the in many ways restrictive and traditional roles imposed in the village and getting away from elders telling them how to lead their lives also seem things this group like. In fact many seem happy to laugh at what they see as the backward and old fashioned manner of living back in the village. It is easy to sit back and idolise rural or pastoral tradional life as an escape from the rigors and stress of modern urban living, but if it does not appeal to those leaving the land in their droves it is not much more than an academic pursuit or a life choice by those wealthy enough to make it.

[PeaceBlondie]

"The US and some other countries don't seek births to solve their social issues they do it by allowing migration."

Please name one US social issue that was solved by allowing immigration.

For two hundred years, migration solved the problem of cheap, unskilled labor; then their grandchildren became managers and professors. Migration made the gene pool more diverse, created more customers for the military-industrial economy, more cannon fodder for the rich people's wars, etc. Even the forced immigration of African slaves served similar purposes.

Today in Thailand, illegal immigration by Burmese, Laotians, et al, provides cheap labor. Illegal farang contribute to the economy. Thailand might benefit enormously from a more relaxed immigration policy. They need workers in the industrial estates near the cities. But Thailand doesn't need a million more rice farmers and buffalo drivers.

[otherstuff1957]

IMHO the real problem is that people in power regard the shortage of unskilled labor as a problem. It's actually an oportunity to let market forces give working people a decent income and standard of living.

[JR Texas]

IMHO the real problem is that people in power regard the shortage of unskilled labor as a problem. It's actually an oportunity to let market forces give working people a decent income and standard of living.

Not sure if you actually meant to use the word "shortage" above. But in case you did, note that there is no shortage of unskilled labor on the planet. In fact, there is a huge surplus of labor, skilled and unskilled. This is causing massive economic problems for the vast majority of the people on the planet. Here is something I figured out a while back.......reprinted here to emphasize the magnitude of the poverty problem on the planet and #s of people left out of the system:

DAILY COST OF FEEDING A DAIRY COW

In order to provide milk, butter and cheese for hungry Americans, dairy farmers in the USA spend an average of $4.13 per cow per day on feed.

(data from 2006, http://www.das.psu.edu/user/dairy/newslett...cfm?newsID=842)

ABOUT THREE BILLION PEOPLE ON PLANET EARTH (ROUGHLY 50 PERCENT OF HUMANITY) LIVE ON LESS THAN TWO DOLLARS PER DAY, source 1

LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT WE SPEND ON A COW

1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar per day

3 billion live on less than two dollars per day

IS THIS PROGRESS?

[Tony Clifton]

Another interesting moment.

Knowing my amazement at the amount of pregnant women walking around, while waiting at the noodle stand, my wife asked if I saw anything particular. I looked around puzzled... Wife and 4 more women wearing maternity dresses were waiting for their noodles.

[Tony Clifton]

Our son will be born in about a month from now. We had our monthly visit with the doctor yesterday, also head of the department at the hospital, and we asked him what he thought about the population crisis in Thailand.

He says it's on the rise, not declining.

Last month, he couldn't remember the exact number but mentioned there were between 500-600 births at his hospital only, and the numbers keep climbing slowly but steadily and that roughly the same is happening all over . He also mentioned that his opinion doesn't take into account the immigration factor.

Edited November 23, 2007 by Tony Clifton