SOUTHEAST ASIA — Thailand faces a demographic shift, with projections indicating its population could halve within two generations and more than half of its citizens becoming elderly. The nation's birth rate is 0.9 children per woman.

Piyachart Phiromswad, an economist with the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, stated, "Thailand is on track to become one of the first developing countries to experience such an extreme change in the core structure of society." Phiromswad added, "It's quite alarming," and noted that the country "isn't rich enough to throw money at young people and ask them to have babies."

The replacement birth rate required for a country's population to remain steady is 2.1 children per woman. Thailand's current birth rate is similar to South Korea and Singapore, and slightly lower than China's. Projections also show that children aged 14 and under will make up 3% of Thailand's population in two generations.

A government-affiliated poll indicated that nearly half of childless Thai adults have no plans to raise children. Tou Manomaiphibul, a factory manager in Bangkok, commented on the financial considerations of raising children. "To give a child a good life, you must save a lot of money from the time they're born," Manomaiphibul stated. He remarked that parents will "give that one child the maximum amount of love and resources."

Tuition for primary grades in private schools in Bangkok can exceed $5,000 annually. Sirada Krittayaruesiriwat, a bank employee in Bangkok, has been married for over 20 years and does not have children. She stated, "I don't catch any flak for my choice." Krittayaruesiriwat added, "My husband had notions about kids when we first got together. But I'm just not the type of person who loves children enough to take on such a big responsibility."