Population Policy

The Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan
 (1997-2001). Part II, Chapter 6, p.28-32.

Date:     1997-2001

Source:     Office of the Prime Minister, National Economic and Social Development Board, Bangkok, Thailand

Subject:     population policy, children, child labour, disabled, women, sex workers, HIV/AIDS, elderly, disadvantaged groups, poverty

1.  Development for Children in Difficult Circumstances.

1.1  Accelerate legislation making the minimum age for labor 15 rather than 13 years, and ensure its prompt enforcement. The formulation of protective measures and provision of decent welfare benefits for young labourers, both in the agricultural sector and informal sector, must be assured.

1.2  Assure a thorough understanding of the issue of child labour by community leaders and labour union leaders; encourage them to assist in protecting young workers, preventing and reporting cases of abuse of child labour and of violations of the rights of children.

1.3  Encourage employers to provide or improve the welfare of child employees on a continuing basis, particularly regarding adequate education, skills training, recreation and development of quality of life.

1.4  Develop an efficient and systemic process for protecting the safety of child wanderers, based on concerted efforts by the public and private sectors and religious institutions.

1.5  Develop a system for collection and maintenance of valid and updated information about children in especially difficult circumstances in Thailand; apply this knowledge in social planning.

1.6  Give due consideration to the amendment of laws and regulations regarding the protection of children; design comprehensive measures for effective and timely action in this regard.

1.7  Encourage an improvement in the attitudes and working methods of public officials in promoting the improved status of distressed children, e.g., resolving the problems of educational documentation for child wanderers; redesigning patterns and methods of investigation and judicature to be more suitable for young people.

1.8  Strengthen the understanding of communities and school societies about HIV/AIDS, thereby improving the acceptance of children who come from AIDS-affected families and the willingness to treat them in the same way as other children. This will depend on a concerted effort involving the public and private sectors, religious institutions and communities in generating a secure social environment for these children while avoiding investigation of their serological status.

1.9  Strengthen the capacity of families, kinship groups and communities in giving health care and primary nursing care to children with AIDS, through joint planning and supportive relationships between families and health service centres or private care-giving agencies.

1.10  Development a process for assisting and supporting indigent children in rural areas and children in difficult circumstances to have access to further education and job training, taking into account the needs and potentials of each target group, and the local resource endowment.

1.11  Advocate systematic occupational development for rural youth, making available a job-opportunities information service, and developing skill in making use of such data for selecting appropriate employment.

2.  Development Aimed at the Problem of Children and Women Engaged in Commercial Sex and/or Subject to Violence, and Eliminating the Sexist Suppression of Women.

2.1  Promote the networking of people’s organizations, particularly at the village level, committed to exploring, guarding, dissuading and assisting children and women who are likely to be induced or deceived into commercial sex work.

2.2  Carry out campaigns and apply public relations techniques, through the mass media, to increase public understanding of the problems associated with commercial sex, promote a shift away from existing values which condone or promote the availability of commercial sex; while, at the same time, integrating a deeper understanding the values of a successful and supportive family life into educational curricula at all levels.

2.3  Assist those engaged in commercial sex by: building insight into the risks and impact of their occupation; providing health surveillance, counseling services, and alternative occupational training. Make alternative employment available, and provide capital for those intending to quit the sex industry. In this connection, attention is to be given to the use of communications media appropriate to each target group and locality.

2.4  Advocate the elimination of gender prejudice and discrimination in response to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the UN Operational Plan for Progress of Women.

2.5  Block the recruitment/enticement of children and women, both Thai and foreign, for the purpose of commercial sex, especially along the border routes between Thailand and its neighbouring countries.

2.6  Provide parents with knowledge of the law regarding preventive and remedial measures against commercial sex.

3.  Development of Disabled Persons.

3.1  Take earnest and continual action to assist individuals to cope with disability, embracing the following: precautions to be taken in pre-natal, neonatal, infancy and childhood to prevent disability; foster research into the causation of disabilities and effective preventive measures. In this regard, existing agencies will be assigned to be the focal point for efficient coordination.

3.2  Promote educational programmes to assure understanding among family and community members and responsible agencies, of the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of disabilities, aimed ultimately at the development of greater self-reliance among affected members of society. Campaigns are needed to raise public understanding and improve attitudes, as well as to promote acceptance of disabled persons, in guaranteeing full citizenship rights for affected individuals. Disabled persons must be helped to understand their conditions better, to become increasingly aware of their rights and responsibilities in society.

3.3  Give increased attention to extensive and sustained provision of medical and rehabilitative services to disabled persons, particularly the indigent disabled, who should be provided with free health services.

3.4  Provide access of disabled persons to all levels of the educational services, promoting their enrollment in general schools; reserve special schooling for individuals absolutely unable to attend such schools.

3.5  Include vocational training in the rehabilitative process, stressing preparedness for entering the labour market or for self-employment. Particular attention will be given to the rural impoverished disabled.

3.6  Amend laws, regulations and operational procedures to facilitate the protection of rights and benefits, provision of welfare and rehabilitation to cover all categories of disability, both in urban and rural areas. Buildings and other facilities will include provisions to enable easy and convenient access for disabled individuals.

3.7  Advocate the formation of networks of disabled individuals to facilitate mutual assistance and support; provide adequate funding for public and private organizations working with the disabled; assist existing agencies to improve their ability to carry out their missions efficiently and effectively.

3.8  Assure that families caring for disabled or chronically ill dependants receive assistance from the community, and the public and private sectors on an appropriate, timely and equitable basis.

3.9  Arrange special living allowances for disabled persons whose disabilities are not remediable or amenable to rehabilitation.

4.  Development for the Isolated Indigent Elderly

4.1  Make universal provisions for the elderly to be covered by social welfare benefits, encompassing: an increased living allowance, free health services, discounted fares for all transportation services, both in urban and rural areas.

4.2  Encourage and assist families to understand and care for their aged members; consideration will be given to providing incentives to persons caring effectively for their indigent elderly family members and associates.

4.3  Encourage private hospitals, NGOs, religious institutions and communities to share in caring for the aged; apply legislative measures to regulate private enterprises involved with providing service to the elderly, ensuring that their services meet minimum requirements for quality and equity.

4.4  Appoint an effective focal point for the management of care for the elderly, including collection of data and coordination of activities for a comprehensive approach.

5.  Development of the Urban and Rural Poor

5.1  Increase the access of urban and rural poor children to basic educational services through special provisions including the following: making scholarships available; granting subsidies to indigent families as a replacement for the opportunity costs of sending their children to school; developing educational approaches more suitable to these target groups.

5.2  Encourage the establishment and development of people’s organizations and a variety of community funds: local fund-raising to provide local solutions to local problems.

5.3  Promote improvements in the environment of densely-populated communities; provide residents with adequate social services; diffuse knowledge about disease prevention and health protection, particularly in reference to HIV/AIDS; assist in the abatement of pollution.

5.4  Encourage rural inhabitants, particularly small-scale farmers, to engage in small- and medium-sized cottage industries and community industries.