Thailand is fortunate to have experienced decades of high economic growth, which has helped lift millions of children and their families out of poverty and served to bring millions of others fully into the middle class.
We now have a universal healthcare system that is the envy of our neighbours, and most children in this country now complete at least a primary school education and many go on to enrol in secondary school.
Yet despite all the economic progress we have made, the benefits have not been equally shared. Far too many children are still being left behind.
For example, in the Northeast, home to nearly a quarter of country's children, 18% of the population still lives beneath the poverty line.
The impact of poverty in the Northeast is clearly evident in malnutrition rates that are nearly one-third higher than those in the Central region.
It is also shown by the more than 200,000 children of primary-school age in the Northeast region who are not in school.
It results in large numbers of children in the Northeast being raised by grandparents or other relatives after their parents migrate to other regions in search of jobs and other opportunities.
Children living in many other parts of the country also suffer from the same or similar problems due to poverty and neglect.
Some might wonder why we need to be so concerned about pockets of poor children when most children are not living in poverty, most have access to health care, most are well nourished, and most are going to school and completing at least a primary level education.
Thailand is now not only an "ageing society" _ which is defined as 7% or more of the population being 65 or older _ but we are ageing at an unprecedented rate.
Thailand is making the transition from an ageing society to an "aged society" _ which is 14% or more of the population aged 65 or above _ in just 21 years. In France the transition from an ageing to an aged society took more than 100 years.
Thailand will even eclipse the transition rate of Japan, which for years has held the record for becoming an aged society most rapidly.
In addition, our fertility rate is now at 1.5 births per woman, which is well below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to maintain a stable population.
Up until about 1990 there were 10 people of working age _ or 15-64 years old _ for every one person above the age of 65 in Thailand. The incomes earned and taxes paid by these 10 working people served to help support one elderly person.
By 2010, the ratio in Thailand had fallen to 5 to 1; five people of working age supporting one elderly person. By 2030, this ratio will be halved again, to 2.5 workers for every one elderly person.
It is therefore essential that our working population becomes more productive.
Given this scenario, it is quite obviously time for everyone in Thailand to begin treating the capacity development of every child as a national imperative. Every girl and boy being born or growing up in Thailand today is a precious resource, and we cannot afford to waste the potential of a single one of them.
The government is also legally bound by the Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect the rights of children and to provide them with every opportunity to develop to their full potential.
Where should we focus our energy? Where do we invest the resources needed to ensure the children of today will have the knowledge and skills which the future requires?
We know that learning starts in infancy, long before formal education begins. Lack of appropriate and nutritious food, inadequate feeding practices, chronic infections and lack of stimulation during the early years can affect the structure and function of the brain, resulting in poor cognitive and emotional development that can follow a child through life.
We know that programmes aimed at improving parents' ability to nurture their children during these early years can help improve children's brains and psychological development, and their social skills.
We know that attending pre-school or daycare centres can improve young children's cognitive functioning, their readiness for primary school and their future school performance.
Such interventions have even more of a positive impact on children from poor and disadvantaged families.
We know that poverty alleviation programmes, such as cash transfers or child support grants, can help poor families provide for their young children's basic needs as well as be a strong incentive for further family investment in their health and education.
We know that a cost-benefit analysis on early childhood interventions carried out by Professor James J Heckman, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, showed that interventions during early childhood yield far higher returns compared with remedial interventions later in life. He found that the rate of return for investments in quality early childhood education is 7-10% per annum, which is due to better outcomes in education, health, sociability, economic productivity and reduced crime.
Prof Heckman noted that this return on investment is better than the return from the US stock market over the period of 1945-2008.
Yet the level of funding that we devote to programmes and services for children during this all-important period of their lives is relatively small when compared to the amount spent once they enter primary school.
Early last year the government introduced a new "Best Start" policy, which contains a number of important interventions for children during their early years. This forward-looking policy has been approved by the cabinet and now awaits the finalisation of an implementation plan and budget.
I urge the government to move ahead as quickly as possible to roll out this policy and ensure that it is fully funded. If Thailand is truly serious about improving child development, reducing poverty, achieving greater equity and social stability, building capacity to meet the coming challenges of the Asean Economic Community, and to be considered a champion of child rights, investing fully in children is the only way forward.
Excerpts from a speech by Anand Panyarachun, former prime minister and goodwill ambassador for Unicef Thailand, on 'Capacity development for children and youth in Thailand towards the Asean Economic Community'.