In a bid to reverse a falling birth rate, Thailand’s Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew has announced plans to make fertility a priority on the national agenda. The decision came after a meeting with the ministry’s executive officials on Friday, wherein Dr. Cholnan outlined ‘birth promotion’ as a significant quick win policy that should take effect within the next 100 days.
Dr. Cholnan indicated that the ideal birth rate should stand at 2.1 births per 100,000 population, a stark contrast to the current 1.5 births per 100,000. This means that annually, Thailand should ideally welcome around 2 million new babies, yet the figures reveal that only about 500,000 babies grace the nation every year.
This dwindling fertility rate could have potentially grave consequences, including a sharp reduction in the number of eligible adults who are currently in their prime working years. On forecasts based on these numbers, 20% of the population could soon be categorized as senior citizens, tipping Thailand into a bracket known as a “super-aged” society.
Addressing the low birth rate is not an overnight task and a measured approach is needed, according to Dr. Cholnan. He presented a strategic proposal for the premier to tackle this urgent matter by including it as a national agenda item. A few steps within this proposal include: government-backed support towards tuition fees for second and third children up to their graduation from university, and an increase in the monthly stipend for newborns, hiking it up from 600 baht to 3,000 baht until they reach six-years-old.
In a parallel event, Dr. Prateep Thanakijcharoen, the Secretary-General of the National Health Commission Office (NHCO), echoed similar sentiments at a seminar on fertility. Low fertility, he said, was a national matter of utmost urgency given its potential to significantly impact Thailand’s economy, society, and the wider health sector.
A chilling snapshot of the situation reveals a staggering number of deaths surpassing the annual number of newborns. Records from 2021 and 2022 show death numbers rising from 560,000 to 595,965 respectively, while the number of newborn babies dipped from 540,000 to a concerning 502,107 in the same period. Dr. Prateep warned, “If this trend continues unchecked, the resulting aging society would fundamentally jeopardize the competitiveness of the industrial sector.”
In conclusion, there is an urgent mandate to increase the young population in Thailand for the nation to sustainably support its burgeoning ageing demographic and maintain its socio-economic vibrance.
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