Reverse this brain drain

EDITORIAL

Published: 29 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

More than eight years have passed since Her Majesty the Queen lamented the effects of the brain drain caused by the mandatory retirement of civil servants at the age of 60. The Civil Service Commission agreed with her suggestions and in 2008 a legal amendment to the Civil Service Act was approved to allow a select number of senior civil servants in the legal and medical fields to continue working until they reached 70.

Those qualifying were mostly judges, and the regular exodus from the civil service continued each September as 60-year-old retirees filed out the door.

It is now clear that this change in the law did not go far enough and that the country is wasting productive human resources.

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ronniec
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Discussion 6 : 29 Dec 2012 at 09.056
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Such a blinkered way of looking at the issue!

Surely the problem highlights the fact that the Thai education system does not produce suitable replacements.....
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jacksprat
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Discussion 5 : 29 Dec 2012 at 09.005
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I have seen the "brain drain" in higher education and am facing it soon myself. Qualified university lecturers with decades of experience are forced out at 60, including foreign lecturers. This is not an optional retirement, it is automatic. Unfortunately, with salaries at all levels of teaching remaining comparatively low, those most qualified seldom go into education these days. One sees the result in the declining standards of Thai education. Thai students study years longer than they did in the past, but I can't say that they learn any more.
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Victor
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Discussion 4 : 29 Dec 2012 at 08.054
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What this country needs is the new brains, not the old fashion kind of brains. Time to look foreward, I say.
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onlyasking
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Discussion 3 : 29 Dec 2012 at 08.053
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It is not only the inflation rate as this is at an acceptable level for a developing country. As the education level and income of people increase the birth rate start to decline. The US and Europe are good examples of this. Many educated Thai women over the age of 30 aren't married and don't have a child yet. Middle income families have 1 child instead of 3 or more like in the past.
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oldairman
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Discussion 2 : 29 Dec 2012 at 07.242
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The problem with that is basically it is more expensive to keep people on and there will be less opportunities for the younger generation in the future. A better option might be to allow voluntary extension after the mandatory retirement age should the person wish to do so.
I retired at 65 after working for 50 years and I wanted the time to relax and enjoy myself and spend more time with my wife and family, plus I felt that at 65 I was not as good as the generations following me. The second best thing I ever did. The first was marrying my Thai wife.
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boons
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Discussion 1 : 29 Dec 2012 at 05.521
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The reason birth rates are declining is inflation caused by excessive credit creation. It destroys the country eventually, but who cares when it makes bankers and their favorite politicians so very rich in the short-term?
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