[Caursedus]

Maybe you's lot like working a drudgery all day every day, but I'm semi-retired and I prefer the woman to go out to work while I potter around my home, giving me the freedom to do what I like when I like.

[elalmhicabalp]

Seems to me that much of the breakdown in family these days is due to the fact that the younger generation wants everything right now and are not prepared to wait.Banks and lending institutions make this easier by giving out money to just about anyone.But getting back to Thailand I think it's compounded there because Thais have been thrown into the 21st century in the last 50 years or so with no time to adjust to the massive changes that have taken place in the country.See foreigners just about everywhere,all the high rise buildings in BKK,big supermarkets and the younger generation want a peice of the action.Cheers

Seems to me that's a universal problem

[tearidrusydet]

LOL= Lots of Laughter.

[Knillagrarp]

I see a lot of improvements over the old Thailand, Not all social changes are bad ones. Can you cite any specific examples of what might have been wrong with the old Thailand and what recent changes comprise improvements? Specifically, how was the old situation bad, and what is it about the new situation that makes it good? I would sure like to understand your position better on this one.

[DownloadMan]

Yea, I guess he effects folks more than they know, my spelling used to be OK when I recieved my sheepskin..


No, I am not that kinda sheep skin, I ain't Kiwi, mine was for EDU.

[ibiDb4uu]

Bassai from Northren California? 55555

[tearidrusydet]

What ails the Thai family?

Social problems mount as the traditional institution caves in to present-day pressures

Family bonds are fraying, nuclear households are taking over from traditional extended families, and family members are forced by economic pressures to leave for the big city, recent studies show.

"Our family institution is weakening more and more, and it leads to a number of social problems," Public Health Minister Mongkhol na Songkhla said last week.
The latest statistics revealed by the Public Health Ministry indicate that the social structure is shifting towards the Western pattern of nuclear families. The percentage of nuclear families has reached 60 per cent already. A survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) confirms the trend, although with different figures.

"Growing numbers of kids and youths 'living alone', increasing teenaged mums and dads, and rising divorce rates" are the top three concerns, researcher Amornwich Nakhornthap told The Nation from the observations of his Child Watch Project.

One in every four primary students is living away from his or her parents, while for secondary students it's one in every three, and one in every two among university students, he said.

"More kids are no longer living with their parents for various reasons. Their parents leave them for work in big cities. They are sent for schooling in town. That puts them at greater risk of premature and unsafe sex and drug addiction," Amornwich said.

The disintegration of the extended family has seen the number of "teen" mums and dads exploding. In a year, the number of teen girls giving birth at hospitals is as high as 70,000, accounting for 10 per cent of all new mums nationwide, he said.

"The problem is they aren't ready to have children, or not mature enough to be good mums and dads. They need special counselling services to make them take care of their families," he said.

"In one case, I found a woman who already had grandchildren at the age of only 30. She raised her daughter the same way she had had been raised, and both had babies when they were teens," he said.

Thus the phenomenon of failed marriages may not come as a surprise. The divorce rate is alarming today. For every four marriages registered, one divorce is recorded, he said.

"This is a fact that we need to face with a strict conscience and not be frightened," he added.

Economic pressure is likely to be one of the main reasons for family ties unravelling, according to several surveys and research studies.

The report of the Public Health Ministry released to mark National Family Day yesterday stated that 36 per cent of families admitted that their income couldn't cover the daily expenses of the whole family. And 30 per cent of them are in debt.

The situation is little better for families in greater Bangkok, according to a survey conducted by Assumption University's Abac Poll Research Centre for the same occasion.

About 72 per cent of families in the metropolitan area said they talked to their family members every day. And 63 per cent of their conversation revolvedaround financial issues.

Health Minister Mongkhol said 62 per cent of the families studied had members drinking alcohol, 16 per cent had members gambling and 39 per cent had members committing domestic violence.

"It may be partly a consequence of economic stress," he said.

For families outside the capital, economic reasons have pushed members out to migrate to bigger cities for better incomes. According to the NSO, the number of migrant Thais is over two million for all reasons, and almost 80 per cent of them are of working age.

An NSO survey on heads of families has put the spotlight on women.

"Among those living alone, 52 per cent are women. For one parent living with children, 80.3 per cent are female. Among the families of grandparents living with grandchildren, 89.7 are female," the survey said.

Another big trend is society moving towards an "elderly" structure, said Pramote Prasartkul, a demographer at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research.

"While total population growth is less than 0.5 per cent annually, the growth rate of those over 60 is as high as 3 per cent per year. So society is going to face an elderly explosion in the near future," he said.

"We need to prepare for both the growing number of the elderly and their growing problems," he said.

As families splinter along generational lines, homes for the elderly are the first problem society needs to tackle, followed by the growing medical bill and their income, he said.

"Thai seniors living alone in 2004 were as much as 17 per cent, and 12 per cent of them were jobless living hopelessly in a home for the aged. About 80 per cent of them were still working both for themselves and for their daily expenses," Dr Yaowarat Porapakkham of the Health Systems Research Institute disclosed in her latest study.

"We found some elderly people were living with up to eight diseases. Many of those with geriatric diseases also have difficulty accessing state medical services," she said.

Dr Siriphan Sasat of the National Health Foundation said one sustainable way to reduce such problems was to promote local administrative organisations in taking a more active role to care for the elderly. Such community-based approaches should be a lot more efficient than pinning all hopes on the past policy of sending senior citizens to institutions.

Mongkhol said his ministry would launch an initiative to encourage healthy families among Thais, called the "warm and self-sufficient family" project. The ministry has set 12 criteria for such families and targets at least 80 qualified families per tambon or 560,000 nationwide.

"We hope it will improve things," he said.

Responding to the juvenile problem, Amornwich said the government should develop more "good" spaces for kids and youths in every province across the country. The Child Watch research head describes pub and bar areas as "bad" spaces for kids and adolescents while areas that provide creative activities are "good" areas. Exercise and sports spaces would also help.

"We have to face the truth that it is not feasible to decrease bad spaces; increasing the number of good spaces is easier and more practical," he said.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation

[DownloadMan]

I knew when VC asked that you would come up with something about women and paying for a date.
You are a very small minded person Paul, I sure would hate to be like you.
Your whole life revolves around how cheap you are and how everyone, even your parents, is trying to get in your pocket, and how you will not stand for it.

I feel very sorry for you Paul.And I hope that you have your burial suit already made with the pockets where you can put all your earthly possessions because I know how much they mean to you.

[DownloadMan]

OK,, ROFLMFAO at you guys..LOL,,555

[Knillagrarp]

The younger generation in the States are finally beginning to realize that money isn't all that matters in life. With a university education, you have an opportunity to do work that is meaningful and enjoyable. Additionally, you can earn a comfortable income. What matters most is flexibility. People these days want more "quality time." Why wait until you are old or near death to stop and try to smell the roses.

[oplapofffe]

I always wondered what 555 stood for as well but got that now.Next one is, what does LOL mean?Thanks for the info.

[indahouweres]

Back to the original thoughts on this thread. I think that certainly there have been signifcant changes in the last 50 years in Thailand and certainly that has led to break downs of the family, and greed and pollution....but we would be remiss if it didn't also bring more choices and more financial freedoms. My ¤Ø³áÁè didn't finish junior high and married a man chosen by her parents. My sisters both have master's degrees (their choice) and have married people outside of the village of their choosing.

Take the good with the bad...

[ibiDb4uu]

OOOOHHHKay..White Zinfandel.....Barefoot....great year 2005. Like, Take up some space, and let your mind turn to mush. Could be an improvement...

[Knillagrarp]

The funniest part about all this is the Emperor's New Clothes.

[DownloadMan]

I am with you on this one VC, I can not see what he is talking about, I found the Thailand of 50 years ago to be far better than what is going on today.
But then I do not have the insight or vast worldly experience of our resident expert on all things Thai.

[Knillagrarp]

My work is highly interactive and intellectually stimulating, which those of us who are actually alive tend to enjoy. If everyone layed around just taking up space and letting their minds turn to mush, there wouldn't be any cars, computers, telephones, or anything else that (self-professed) rich bums play with.

[ibiDb4uu]

What the... whatever does 555 mean?

[Caursedus]

The only people in her village that made it to Uni were the ones with farang benefactors.

Well a university education is not every thing, you will find the majority of people in the wealthiest 20% bracket of most western countries, don't actually have a degree.

[DownloadMan]

55555

[Caursedus]

Can you cite any specific examples of what might have been wrong with the old Thailand and what recent changes comprise improvements? Specifically, how was the old situation bad, and what is it about the new situation that makes it good? I would sure like to understand your position better on this one.

The number 1 improvement is the Fact Thai woman have now got the financial capacity to be financially independent of men, meaning men don't need to pay for them from the day they go out on there first date to the day they enter the grave, relieving the financial; pressure off men, so men don't have to bare the burden, distress, responsibility and drudgery of working like a dog most of there lives, working a 14 hours day 7 days a week to pay for every one else's demands.