Government prepares Thailand for an aging society
Thailand celebrates the National Day for the Elderly on April 13 each year, which coincides with the traditional Thai New Year Day. The celebration of the National Day for the Elderly is to underline the importance of older persons and to show gratitude and respect to them.
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As Thailand is entering an aging society, the Government is preparing to cope with the situation. According to the National Statistical Office, Thailand will become an aged society in 2021, as Thai people aged over 60 years will account for 20% of the country’s total population.
In 2031, Thailand will become a "super-aged” society. By then, the aging population is expected to account for 28 percent of the country’s population. The number of older persons in Thailand now stands at 11 million.
Statistics show that, in 2017, Thailand had a population of 67.6 million. Out of this number, 33 million were male and 34.6 were female.
The number of working senior citizens was 3.9 million, accounting for 35.1 percent of the total aging population.
Most of them were mainly engaged in businesses, without employees. Their occupations were mainly involved with agriculture, services, sales of products, and skilled labor.
Older persons who continue to work cited the reasons that they are still healthy for work, or they need to support themselves and their families, or there is no one to replace them in the job. As for older persons’ income, it comes from their children most, at 34.7%, followed by income from their work, at 31%.
Most of them have received welfare allowances from the Government, and they also have access to medical care, under the Universal Health Care Coverage Policy, or the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme, or the Social Security Health Insurance Scheme.
The Cabinet on November 8, 2016 approved four measures to cope with the aging population. The first measure involves employment for senior citizens to provide them with income security. The second measure seeks to construct senior complexes equipped with safety facilities for the elderly.
In the third measure, reverse mortgages will be provided for senior citizens who may pledge their debt-free house as collateral and in return receive a regular sum of the loan for making a living. The fourth measure seeks to set up a compulsory pension fund for all employees who are not yet members of the Provident Fund.