Children Look After Their Parents In Thailand

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Bernama) -- More than 80 per cent of the population in Thailand expect their children will take care of them physically, mentally and financially when they become old. Thailand Development Research Institute's director Dr Worawan Chandoevwit said it was quite normal in Thai culture for children to take care of their parents. According to Worawan, about five per cent of the elderly who were older than 94 years were being cared by their daughter or daughter-in-law, while 38 per cent were left to take care of themselves. "Taking care of old parents is something being done by the children," she said when presenting a working paper entitled "Social Economic Aspects of Ederly in Thailand" at the International Conference on Population Ageing: Issues and Challenges, here, Wednesday. The conference was held in conjunction with World Population Day, which is celebrated on July 11. Worawan said Thai elderly lived well socially and economically. Based on a national survey, she said 16 per cent of elderly households in the rural areas had sub-standard living conditions, while 60 per cent relied on remittances for their living. "About 20 per cent of the elderly have to work for a living and only four per cents have government pensions," said Worawan. She noted that Thailand would have 20 million elderly in the next 20 years, according to the United Nations projection. "But Thailand is already an ageing society because 14 per cent of its population are elderly," she said. -- BERNAMA