BANGKOK — Unless she lines up in the hot sun for a free meal, ketchup on bread is the only food Thai widow Noi can afford on her small government pension.
Her payout of around US$0.82 (S$1.12) a day makes cooking at home near impossible.
“If it’s too wet to come, I eat 7-Eleven bread with ketchup,” the 73-year-old told AFP at a Bangkok Community Help Foundation meal delivery tent that feeds 500 of the city’s homeless and poor daily.
Thailand is one of the world’s fastest ageing societies, according to the World Health Organization — but its economy is ill-prepared.
Research from major Thai lender Kasikorn Bank estimates that by 2029 the kingdom will join a list of super-ageing societies where more than 20 per cent of the population are older than 65.
But Thailand has not reached the same level of wealth as some other ageing societies such as Japan and Germany.
“We’ve become old before we’ve become rich,” said Kasikorn Bank chief economist Burin Adulwattana.
“We’re not ready.”
Currently, Thailand is home to more than 12 million over-60s — around 18 per cent of the population.
Low incomes, limited savings and inadequate government pensions will mean many endure extreme poverty, while fewer taxpayers and a healthcare spending bill expected to triple will be a huge fiscal burden.
‘TICKING TIME BOMB’
“It’s definitely a ticking time bomb,” said Dr Kirida Bhaopichitr from the Thailand Development Research Institute.
Poverty among older adults is already widespread, with 34 per cent of Thai seniors living below the poverty line — surviving on less than US$830 (S$1,136) a year, according to Kasikorn.
To retire well in Bangkok at least US$100,000 in savings is needed, Mr Burin said, but many Thais are retiring with less than US$1,300.
In August, the outgoing government announced it was restricting a previously universal pension of between US$16 and US$27 a month to low-income earners, cutting off six million people.
Thai PM Srettha Thavisin has vowed to eradicate poverty by 2027 and “leave no one behind”.
His party made an election pledge for an US$8.1 billion elderly welfare package but the government has not announced any pension boost.
Last month Social Development Minister Warawut Silpa-archa dismissed calls to raise the pension to US$81 a month, saying the kingdom could not afford it.
“I wish the government could provide more support because right now the cost of living is skyrocketing,” said 73-year-old Chusri Kaewkhio in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei slum.
Her 75-year-old husband Suchart Kaewkhio lies on a bed, in an adult diaper, staring up at the peeling paint and water-damaged ceiling but Ms Chusri said they had no money for repairs.
They borrow cash each month to buy expensive milk for her husband’s feeding tube and are five months behind on their electricity bills.
There is a cultural expectation in Thailand that adult children will look after their parents as they age.
But economist Burin said this is unsustainable in the long term as the economy grapples with a smaller workforce, lower growth and consumer spending.
