Policy Gap of the Thai Elderly Housing Among Aging Population within Middle-and Low-Income Group

Abstract

Objectives: The purposes of this research were 1) to study Thai elderly housing policy, and 2) to analyse the adequacy of Thai government in preparing the elderly housing.   Method: This research is a descriptive research which applied secondary data collection method and a study of policy gap of the Thai elderly housing among aging population within middle-and low-income group. SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix Analysis techniques were used by collecting data to study the details and regulations of the government policy concerned with the elderly housing and compared to the current statistical data on population aging to determine the current adequacy of policy support towards the increasing number of the older population, and to provide recommendations for appropriate policy solutions.   Result: Thailand will become a full-fledged aging society. Population with low income earning less than 60,000 baht per year. There is a decrease in the elderly income in comparison to the increase in elderly population. Moreover, there are only 4.3 percent of the total elders who have more than 3 million baht in savings whereas the government has issued the policies to provide assistance to the aging population, such as the housing loan policy. However, there are still a number of 2.25 million low-income people who do not possess certification of land ownership and yet cannot access to this aid pro-vided. Elder Social Welfare Development Center provides the supports to the elders in difficult condition, but only 0.057 percent are reported. Never-theless, the Baan Pracharat scheme covers only the elder who have income relatively range from middle to low. Furthermore, the project focuses on living in the same place which is suitable for the elders with low income and already have relative accommodations.An analysis result using SWOT and TOWS showed that the current policy was insufficient to the needs. There is a need of additional budget to be prepared approximately 1.42 trillion-baht accounting to 56 percent of the tax revenue from the Parliamentary Budget Office after an allocation in the year 2019. This is considered to be a very high budget.   Conclusion: the housing policy provides for the elders with low- and middle-income is not a sustainable solution. The government should create a solution for the long term.