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.

“Sunan Thongnet is our hero,” Muang Yala district chief Kongsakul Jantrach declared yesterday.

Driving a pick-up truck laden with explosives into the town on Tuesday morning, Sunan mustered enough courage to remove the shirt wired with explosives that he had been forced to wear and, upon arriving at the targeted Toyota plant, running and shouting, “Run away. There are bombs in the vehicle.”

He acted heroically despite being worried about his wife, Renoo Jitbarn, who was being held hostage while the kidnappers tracked his vehicle with a GPS device.

“They said that my wife and I would be safe if I drove the truck to the designated spot,” the 53-year-old said. Yet his humanity would not allow the bomb attack to take place.

As he drove, he secretly cut off the T-shirt wired with a bomb that he had been made to wear with a pair of scissors and threw it out of the vehicle on to a field. He then bravely drove to the designated site in Yala town, hoping his wife was safe. However, he could not bear the thought of others getting hurt, so he jumped out of the vehicle and started screaming.

Kongsakul said that thanks to Sunan’s timely warning, security officials were able to immediately jam mobile-phone signals and cordon off the area to prevent the explosion.

An explosives ordinance disposal (EOD) team also arrived at the scene and successfully defused the bomb.

“We also applaud the EOD team,” Kongsakul said.

The district chief said the 180 kilograms of explosives inside the vehicle would have caused extensive damage and taken many lives if the bomb had detonated.

“There is also a petrol station in the compound of the Toyota facility, owned by Toyota Phithan,” he said.

Fortunately, nobody was killed or injured and Renoo was released safely.

Both Sunan and Renoo are in a witness-protection programme because they have provided useful information to authorities.

Yala’s police chief Maj-General Ittipon Achariyapradit said the incident was the first time that insurgents had taken hostages and forced them to take part in a bomb attack.

“Since the vehicle was hijacked on the same day, it did not arouse suspicion when it was driven into town,” he said.

A source disclosed that police had already identified three of the alleged kidnappers, who were natives of Yala province.

“We expect to have arrest warrants for them in a few days,” the source said.

The 800-metre section of preventive walling on Ruammit Road – that would otherwise look intimidating, signifying underlying danger – have morphed into the beautiful canvases of artistic expression.

The project, operated by the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC)’s Yala branch through Muang Yala district and Nakhon Yala Municipality, aims to be completed by April 10, just in time for the Songkran festival from April 13 to 15.

“Earlier, when people walked past these bunkers, they looked over their shoulder out of fear and the atmosphere was unpleasant. So we wanted to have these bunkers covered with colourful patterns and pictures, hence softening the atmosphere so people feel more at ease,” said Panu Uthairat, SBPAC’s secretary-general.

A deeper hope for this project is these paintings will represent local people’s wish for peace and their desire to welcome guests, Panu added.

“Hopefully this positive gesture will lead to people expressing their objection to violence and unrest. These paintings intend to depict good and beautiful things of Yala and aim to boost the atmosphere, heal traumatised hearts and restore public confidence,” he added.

The project to paint cement bunkers with thematic images follows a previously successful project dubbed “Sisan Pimai Chaidaen Tai” (Southern Border’s Colourful New Year) in January, when buildings in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces were painted with vivid colours.

Muang Yala district chief Kongsakul Chantharat said yesterday that the provincial governor had come up with the idea and proposed it to SBPAC. He also earmarked Bt300,000 for the project.

The different parties including Yala Rajabhat University, the Educational Area Office, municipal schools and local artists as well as residents were brought together to learn about the project’s objectives – and they, in turn, offered to cooperate.

“Many images depict good things about Yala such as hornbills and other attractions. Moreover, what people want to see is the ugly concrete bunkers being turned into something vivid and beautiful,” he said.

In the future, Ruammit Road will be turned into a walking street if local residents agree, Kongsakul said, adding the area was marked “safety zone” because there have been no violent attacks over four years. He also said the area would see more creative activities after Songkran. Asked if the art works are in line with healing the traumatised hearts of people in the region, Kongsakul said the project aimed to use art therapy to heal people.

Since many of the paintings are already complete, he said locals had shown up to take pictures, which he added was a move towards a change for the better.

The pills are known to cause drowsiness, although at this point it is not known if Jenpop Weeraporn, the driver of the Mercedes, had taken one before driving.

However, Jenpop does have a record of seeking treatment for depression and this would not be the first time that motorists with symptoms of mental illness have been involved in fatal accidents.

Nine years ago, Kanpitak “Mu Ham” Pachimsawat, the son of former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pachimsawat, slammed his Mercedes-Benz into people standing at a bus stop, killing two and injuring 10.

After running them over, Kanpitak got out of his car to argue with a bus driver who had allegedly cut in front of him. The suspect’s father later defended his son, saying he had psychiatric symptoms and was being treated at the Galaya Rajanagarindra Institute.

Then on March 7, a video clip went viral showing a white car going against the traffic and crashing into a taxi on Lat Phrao Road. A naked woman emerged from the car and began walking up and down the road until passers-by tried to cover her up. Police later learned that the woman suffered from bipolar syndrome.

With so many similar cases, road-safety expert Raksit Thitipattanapong has come to believe that accidents are not just caused by recklessness and the violation of traffic laws, but also by drivers who are unable to control their emotions like normal people. Hence, he said, the Land Transport Department should step up measures to have drivers undergo physical and psychiatric examinations before issuing or renewing driving licences.

There should also be exams for elderly people who might not be physically fit to control a car, he added.

“I have urged the Land Transport Department many times to come up with these measures because if people with mental and physical problems are allowed to drive, they risk causing accidents, especially drivers with mental disorders. They cannot make decisions like normal people,” he said.

Deputy Bangkok police chief Pol Maj-General Adul Narongsak supported Raksit’s idea, saying that revoking the driving licences of mentally ill people after they caused an accident was not really solving the problem. “This problem will continue if it is not addressed at the root,” he said.

“Police can only address the problem after it occurs. The Land Transport Department can solve the problem before it occurs. Getting a driving licence in Singapore and the United States is very difficult. Here, you apply in the morning and get it in the afternoon,” he said.

He added that it was time for Thailand to meet international standards and make mental examinations mandatory for driving licence applicants.

“If physicians give a person a clean bill of health and later they are found to have caused an accident due to mental illness, then the physician should be held responsible,” Adul said.

Land Transport Department deputy director general Nanthapong Cherdchu, meanwhile, insisted that it was mandatory for people to submit a medical certificate when applying for or renewing a licence. The certificate has to guarantee that applicants do not suffer from a disease that can pose a threat on the road, and that they do not have Elephantiasis, tuberculosis or muscular atrophy.

Before being granted licences, motorists have to undergo physical fitness and vision tests. Those seeking to renew their licences also have to submit a medical certificate that is less than a month old.

A psychiatric test is not yet required as the Land Transport Department feels it might become an extra burden for motorists. The department, however, has met with the Medical Council and discussed the option of adding mental illnesses to the medical certificate. If a physician finds a motorist is mentally ill, his or her driving licence would be revoked for a year. However, the plan has not yet been implemented.

Nanthapong said motorists who applied for a licence or a renewal might not be ill at the time of the application, but might develop symptoms due to stress, drug abuse or alcohol. “These reasons could be behind weariness or drunk driving,” he said, adding that given repeated accidents, state agencies were moving to amend traffic laws and tighten regulations on granting driving licences.