Budget for taking care of elderly rising every year

The government has been increasing its budget for taking care of the elderly every year in what is seen as proof of Thailand turning into a grey society.

The situation is also seen as a factor that prompted Deputy Finance Minister Paophum Rojanasakul to unveil a plan to encourage working people to save more for retirement by buying into a “retirement lottery”, a project that would take at least six more months to implement.

After Paophum’s announcement, the newspaper Thansettakij looked into the budget for taking care of the elderly in fiscal 2023 and found that 90.383 billion was spent.

The amount included a welfare budget of 89.675 billion baht, 448.67 million baht for awareness campaigns for the grey society, and 459.51 million baht for function budgets or missions for helping the elderly.

The budget allocations for allowances for the elderly have been rising since 2012 as follows:

- 2012: 52.535 billion baht
- 2013: 48.35 billion baht
- 2014: 60.99 billion baht
- 2015: 62.127 billion baht
- 2016: 63.219 billion baht
- 2017: 64.783 billion baht
- 2018: 66.407 billion baht
- 2019: 71.911 billion baht.