Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith is concerned a great number of Thais risk an uncomfortable retirement as nearly 40% of the population is prone to spend rather than save.
He said the Covid-19 outbreaks have worsened Thailand's fragile household debt levels.
Speaking on Thursday at a seminar on financial literacy, Mr Arkhom said Thailand's household debt surged to 86.6% of GDP in the third quarter of 2020 because of the impact of the outbreaks, up from 78.9% in the same quarter of 2019.
The 2019 rate was considered relatively high compared with other countries, reflecting the fragility of Thais' financial status during the Covid crisis.
He said Thailand is becoming an "aged" society, meaning the number of people aged 60 or older as of Dec 31, 2020, amounted to 11.6 million, or 17.6% of the total population.
The country has been deemed an "ageing" society since 2005, meaning at least 10% of the population is 60 or older. The proportion aged 60 or older is expected to reach 20% later this year.
Thailand's trajectory sees 28% of the population being 60 or older in 2031.
Mr Arkhom cited a survey by the National Statistical Office in 2017 that found after retirement 34.7% of people have to rely on their family for income, with 31% continuing to work to support themselves, and only 2.3% with ample savings to be independent in retirement.
This means the great majority of Thais are likely to face uncomfortable retirement years, he said.
Mr Arkhom said Thailand's household saving survey in the third quarter of 2017 revealed that 15.7 million households or 72.9% of the total have some savings, with 5.8 million households or 27.1% with no savings.
In addition, 38.9% of respondents prefer spending to savings, with 38.5% uncertain or undisciplined about saving, while 22.6% prefer saving to spending.
He said the joint survey by the Bank of Thailand and National Statistical Office found Thais' financial literacy remains lower than other countries surveyed.
"These figures lead to problems for Thailand's economy and society, both structurally and individually," said Mr Arkhom. "Efforts to tackle such problems need to be continued and integrated among several parties."
He said Thailand's financial and capital markets need to focus more on developing an ecosystem for fintech products and applying digital technology, in addition to upgrading financial literacy, personal finance management and planning.
LEARNING TO EARN
Pakorn Peetathawatchai, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), said the SET joined the Government Pension Fund (GPF), the Student Loan Fund (SLF), and the National Saving Fund (NSF) to expand the "Happy Money" programme created in 2009 to promote financial literacy.
Mr Pakorn said the initiative aims to grow the number of participants to 3 million nationwide this year, up from 2.4 million. It plans to increase the financial mentors from 3,000 to 9,000, and participating organisations from 523 to 600 this year.
GPF has 1.16 million members with an average age of 44 years. It has 209,367 members aged 51-60 and 2,185 members at retirement age. The SLF and NSF plan to help students and non-formal workers, respectively.