FROM 2018 onward, about 1 million Thais will reach retirement age each year. But very few have hefty savings put aside for their dreams of comfortable golden years.

To tell the truth, available statistics show more than half of all elderly Thais have no savings at all.

“This is on top of the fact that the elderly usually have significant expenses, particularly in regard to their medical needs,” Sukanya Paisanthum said in her capacity as director of the Labour Ministry’s Informal, Handicapped and Elderly Workers Division.

Citing the Foundation of Thai Gerontology Research and Development Institute, she also suggested the elderly would be unable to depend as much on their children and grandchildren as in the past.

Growing urban areas have spawned the explosion of nuclear families, while extended families living under the same roof are less prevalent. The birth rate has also fallen significantly in recent decades.

In the face of such circumstances, it appears the elderly will need to rely more on themselves. Without savings of their own, they will badly need jobs.

Under current regulations, civil |servants must retire at the age of 60. Meanwhile, several private firms have agreed to keep employees on only until the age of 55 years.

Employers are prone to choose younger candidates, too, even for |positions where age is not mentioned in the qualifications.

Recognising the problems facing so many elderly Thais, the Labour Ministry has been preparing a project to promote job opportunities for this sector of society.

“The ministry has also engaged the private sector. This project will be done in collaboration with the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers Association,” Sukanya said. She said the project would officially kick off next month and focus on part-time jobs first.

The Labour Ministry has also been preparing to compile databases within the six months of employed people aged between 55 and 60 years of age, according to Sukanya.

“We will check their number and the positions they are now holding,” Sukanya added.

She said the information could be useful in planning job opportunities for persons about to retire.

She disclosed that the Labour Ministry and the Foundation of Thai Gerontology Research and Development Institute would be working together in determining wage guidelines and laws that could be used to protect elderly workers.

At present, 14.9 per cent of the population or about 10 million Thais are over 60 years old. The percentage is expected to rise to 20 per cent by 2021 and 30 per cent by 2035.

“2035 will mark the start of a ‘super ageing’ period. By then, the number of Thais reaching 60 years old will exceed the number of people jumping into the labour market,” Sukanya said.

The Employment Department has said it is also helping elderly Thais find jobs. An official said 102 elderly people had registered with her department and their qualifications matched about 3,700 job vacancies in which employers did not stipulate age limits.

“Most of these jobs are unskilled types – such as sales clerks, security guards or workers on assembly lines,” she said.

Because of the growing elderly population, several parties are pushing hard for the mandatory retirement age to be changed to 65 instead of 60 years.

However, a senior civil servant said that such a change should by no means take effect across the board. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she pointed out that not all civil servants at the age of 60 were fit and keen to continue working.

“A blanket measure would only hurt the bureaucracy’s performance,” she said.

She recommended a performance system to determine which civil servants should be eligible to continue working, and which fields of work were appropriate for the elderly.

Last Friday, hundreds of people from elderly and workers’ groups submitted a petition to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to provide more comprehensive welfare assistance for the elderly.

“Each elderly Thai should earn Bt2,500 a month, the poverty line in Thailand, as a state-provided pension,” Nooken Intajan of the Four Regions Slum Network said.

Presently, the government provides subsidies of between Bt600 and Bt1,000 a month to each elderly citizen in need. The amount provided grows according to age.

Oranuch Lertdilokkul, a representative of an elderly network, said she was aware the government had already allocated a budget of Bt63 billion this year for the payment of subsidies. Still, she believed state subsidies for the elderly should increase even if the budget had to double.

“A budget of more than Bt100 billion is well worth it if it can provide a guarantee that all elderly Thais will have enough money to subsist,” she said.