Thailand's population

[Coolkorat]

Reading a doom and gloom article predicting a global financial 'ice age' (articles which I always take with a pinch of salt, but can be read here) there is an interesting link regarding population.

Following this leads to the BBC, and this article. And this statement:

"They (Italy and Japan) are two of 23 countries - which also include Spain, Portugal, Thailand and South Korea - expected to see their population more than halve."

Interested to hear thoughts on this. The original article advocates immigration, and particularly skilled immigration, as one element of the solution; not an idea that sits comfortably with current Thai thinking.

[Hector]

Thanks for that CK.  An "economic ice age"?  Interesting article - in a way, but having got a D- in economics and being a bit tired of 'gloom and doom' theories of late, I am afraid I rather skim-read it and moved on to the BBC's article - written I see in July.  Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that the world economy is in the deep doo-doo caused to a large extent by the side effects of the Corona Virus  - in all countries except China where it all started that is, but that's yet another conspiracy theory!  I can't begin to understand how governments are going to recover/pay back the billions they have begged, borrowed, printed or stolen (?) over the past year, and Thailand is no exception, with the extra double whammy of one of their main sources of income  - tourism - virtually closed down for probably some time.  Add to that the current protest movement (subject for a different thread....?) and I can't see 2021 being a year of sweetness, light and recovery for the country.
The population issue is another subject dear to the hearts of conspiracy theorists and statisticians (I am neither), but it was interesting to read that the author concluded that Thailand's population would halve by the year 2100 and suggested that 'intelligent immigration' might help.  I can almost hear the hollow laughter that this oxymoron will generate from those of us who have lived here for a few years!  But that aside, it would appear that Thailand's birth rate has been dropping for some time (now 10/1000), the demographics slated towards more females than males (49% v 51%), more females working and the reasons for the large families of the past almost non-existent. Births exceed deaths by some 2/1000 and the net immigration increase per 1000 has been zero for many years.  So it looks as though the situation as regards population growth is not moving with the speed of an express train!
We are all only too well aware of Thailand's ambivalent attitude towards immigrants/farang - call them what you will, and the idea that they should or could somehow embrace any sort of remedial immigration policy (intelligent or not) to increase their population and thus dilute 'Thainess', is unbelievable and incomprehensible; if that crisis does occur, Thailand will almost certainly resume its traditional position of emulating the ostrich. 

[Alfie]

I don't view a fall in population as a bad thing at all. And I don't believe the predictions of a redution of over 50% of the population of some countries in the next 80 years, unless Covid-22, Covid-30, and Covid99, or some other huge worldwide pandemic, world nuclear war, or disaster, comes to the planet.

However, if you ae seriously worried about population decline, add to the population: make love and not war.