The Government is proceeding with its plan to expand the Time Bank initiative in easing issues of the growing elderly population, as Thailand has become an aging society.

Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin said that he had recently chaired a meeting of the National Older Persons Committee, which acknowledged policy proposals concerning the population crisis and ageing society.

One of the proposals involves the expansion of the Time Bank project, under which members who are providing basic services to older persons, such as taking them to a hospital or a market, will be given time credits. In the future, when the members have become older and need assistance from others, they will be able to use those credits to get free services from this project.

The Time Bank project is regarded as a social contribution, and participants are both givers and takers. This concept has been adopted in 32 countries, such as New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan. 

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the project has been implemented in 80 areas across Thailand, but the deposited time cannot yet be exchanged for money. The meeting of the National Older Persons Committee proposed that time credits under this project be kept in the digital form, as well, since they can be recorded for a long time.

The meeting also voted unanimously to select Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman of Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, as the country’s exemplary senior citizen for the year 2024. Aged 85, Mr. Dhanin is recognized for his contributions to society for over four decades. He has launched the TRUE Plookpanya project, which offers equal educational opportunities to young people.

Latest statistics show that the registered number of Thai people aged over 60 years was around 13 million, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s total population. The Government has been preparing to cope with the aging society situation.