As an aged society, Thailand will need to figure out how to care for elders who have no pension or income, says a Thammasat University academic.
As the national workforce continues to shrink, with people aged 60 or older accounting for about 20–30% of the population, Thailand is facing challenges in the financial and welfare sectors, says Auschala Chalayonnavin, a public policy expert at the Thammasat's faculty of social administration.
The burden of caring for the elderly has increased, Dr Auschala said, with the old-age dependency ratio rising from 10.7% in 1994 to 31.1% last year.
She previously warned that Thailand must address the growing number of elderly without pensions or other kinds of financial support.
Every 100 working-age Thais will now need to support 31 elderly people, which could lead to financial pressure at home, she said.
Many elderly people depend on support from family or the government, and the number of elders living alone has gone up from 3.6% in 1994 to 12.9% last year, she said.
This trend has raised concerns about their physical and mental well-being, she said.
Dr Auschala noted that elderly women outnumber their male counterparts, accounting for 57.9% of the elderly population.
Meanwhile, those who are aged between 60 and 69 account for nearly 60% of all the elderly in Thailand, she said.
The number of people over 60 years old is expected to surge in the next few years, and the government must "adjust its public spending to better support the ageing population, such as by expanding health insurance or financial aid schemes", she said.
Citing a potential solution, she said that in Switzerland, the government and private companies jointly contribute retirement savings under a system.
Thailand, she noted, must reform its welfare system so it can handle the challenges that an ageing population brings as the country will have to rely more on foreign workers, which may add to higher costs and pose a challenge to national security.
Meanwhile, the younger generation, torn between having to develop new professional skills and caring for the elderly, could find work-life balance nearly unattainable, she said, and this could lead to intergenerational tensions.
Auschala: Welfare reform needed