Sharjah24 - Reuters: Thailand is scrambling to encourage its people to have more babies to arrest a slumping birth rate, offering parents childcare and fertility centres, while also tapping social media influencers to showcase the joys of family life.
The campaign comes as the number of births has dropped by nearly a third since 2013, when they started declining. Last year saw 544,000 births, the lowest in at least six decades and below the 563,000 deaths, which were also swelled by coronavirus-related fatalities.
While Thailand's demographic path is similar to other Asian economies like Japan or Singapore, as an emerging market relying on cheap labour and a growing middle class the implications for Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy are far more profound.
"The data reflects a population crisis ... where the mindset towards having children has changed," said Teera Sindecharak, an expert on demography at Thammasat University.
Senior health official Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai told Reuters the government recognised a need to intervene.
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