Thailand’s aged people population tops among ASEAN members

BANGKOK, April 13 (TNA) - Thailand now has most aged people among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and sufficient preparations should be made to assist the elderly who live alone and those aged couple whose children have left them for building own family, said Pramote Prasartkul, a professor at Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social Research, on Saturday. His remarks were made as Thailand celebrates National Elderly Day which falls on April 13 every year. Thailand’s total population now stands at 64.5 million and considering the law enacted in 2003 which stipulates that elderly people are those aged 60, then the country currently has 8.3 million aged people or 13 per cent of the total population, Prof. Pramote said. But if aged people are considered those above 65-year-old like many other countries, Thailand will have about 5.8 million aged people or 9 per cent of the total population, almost equivalent to Singapore in terms of percentage, while Vietnam has 7 per cent and Indonesia 6 per cent, he said. The number of elderly people in Thailand rises sharply at 5 per cent annually presently while assistance must be made urgently before it is too late, Prof. Pramote noted. The ministries of Social Development and Human Security, Public Health, and the Interior have undertaken several projects to help aged people, said Prof. Pramote. However, the ministries have to prepare in helping elderly people who live alone or those aged couple who live without cares from their children who have deserted them as they set up their own families. (TNA)