Thailand's population situation has reached a crisis point as newborn numbers in 2025 fell to the lowest level in 75 years, while deaths have surpassed births for the fifth consecutive year, continuing the trend.
On 16 April 2026, Ms. Nattaya Boonpakdee, a candidate for the People’s Party, posted online that Thailand's 2025 population data is alarming. The birth rate dropped to just 416,574, nearly 50,000 fewer than the previous year, while deaths reached 559,684. This has caused the population to decline for five consecutive years. Projections suggest that next year births may fall below 400,000, and if this trend continues, the working-age population will shrink by more than 2.5 million in 10 years, while the elderly will make up one-third of the country.
Although the figures seem discouraging, a Mahidol University survey shows that younger generations (Gen Y and Gen Z) still want children but face major concerns about expenses and quality of life, especially questions about who will care for their children if they must work. This reflects that the problem is not reluctance to have children but the government's lack of concrete family-supportive policies (Family-friendly Society).
The People’s Party noted that in the government’s Anutin 2 policy statement covering 70 topics, there was no clear policy supporting families raising children. Even the April 11 oil price relief measures did not include household cost-of-living support, despite the upcoming school term in May, which is when parents face the highest expenses.
To address this, the People’s Party proposed a two-phase welfare transition. In the urgent phase, to cope with back-to-school costs and oil prices, the government must provide universal child subsidies, expand newborn subsidies to all without means-testing to prevent children from being left out, and increase budgets for low-income households, farmers, and fishers to prevent children dropping out of the system. Free two meals per day should be provided, increasing per-student funding so schools can offer breakfast and lunch, easing parental burdens and addressing malnutrition.
For the long term, starting in fiscal year 2028, the government should provide child-rearing funds with monthly payments from five months of pregnancy until the child is six years old; establish community nurseries by supporting localities to care for infants (0-2 years) and extend care hours to 6:00 p.m. to match actual work hours. Private companies should be incentivized with tax deductions up to 1 million baht if they establish childcare centers or lactation rooms at workplaces. Minimum wages should be realistically livable, with work hours capped at 40 per week and increased family leave days. Schools nationwide should be made safer, teachers developed, and sufficient budgets allocated for special needs and disabled children.
“We must stop urging citizens to have children for the nation; instead, the state must create a society that supports families, transitioning from welfare to quality human investment,” said the People’s Party representative. The party affirmed it will closely monitor the government’s work to push for seamless investment in children and youth to prevent a future labor shortage crisis that would impact Thailand’s economy.