Support systems of the old in a rural community in Thailand

Abstract

The ageing of populations is an emerging demographic phenomenon for many Third World countries. This exploratory study of support systems of the old in Thailand applies integrative methods for conducting social research. Information collected included quantitative data such as field censuses and surveys and unpublished public health statistics. Qualitative information included participant observation, case studies, oral histories and in-depth and focus group discussions. These various research techniques were blended together into a field study design. The study finds that societal change has dramatically affected the village domestic farming cycle and communal interdependencies which had existed in the recent past. Old people now receive less act ive and social support, and, with monetization of the countryside are very dependent on their children's remittances . The study places emphasis on the relationship between adult children, as the main supporters, and the old as the key issue in analysing support, rather than on purely statistical proportions of the ageing of the population. Show more