While family gatherings are common during the Songkran festival, many elderly Thais will be spending the holiday alone just as they do for the rest of the year. At the age of 74, Buakaew is one of them.
“I am childless and now a widow,” the elderly woman said. “Although I raised a niece, she moved to another province three or four years ago.”
Her relatives have not completely abandoned her. Her niece has kept in contact. But Buakaew knows not to bother or burden her younger relative, as they no longer live under the same roof.
“I am fine. Overthinking will just worry me,” Buakaew said. “I will just live this way.”
Currently, about 12 percent of Thailand’s 12.6 million elderly people live alone. Another 21.1 percent live with their spouse – in most cases another elderly person.
Research by Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social Research reveals that many elderly people are worried about “living and dying alone”. Deep down, many are desperate for human contact and conversation.
“The country is experiencing a population shift. In the face of a falling birth rate, most elderly Thais no longer have children or grandchildren around,” said Dr Phusit Prakongsai, executive secretary of the Thailand Gerontology Research and Development Institute (TGRI).
Depressing old-age
Nan, 67, is a single woman who has devoted her life to caring for her siblings and parents. Born to a family with four children, her parents could only afford to allow her to study till Prathom 4 (age 8-9). After that, she started working to support her family.
She spent more than 20 years at a factory in Pathum Thani before returning to her home province of Nakhon Ratchasima to care for her cancer-stricken elder sister and her bedridden mother. In 2014, her elder sister passed away. Two years later, her mother also died.
The losses were too big for Nan to handle. After her mother’s passing, she became severely depressed and suicidal.
“Our team called her every day during her difficult time to ease her grief and help her cope,” said Kesara Vimonkasem, a member of the Mirror Foundation’s Volunteer to Visit Project.
With help from the project, Nan has been getting better. She now has the courage to live on and work hard to support herself.
The project has donated a bicycle to Nan so that she can use it to buy wholesale vegetables to sell. Each day, she rides a kilometer or two to a farm to buy about 30 kilos of greens. She then returns home back to prepare the vegetables before heading out at 3pm to sell them. She usually cycles a distance of six to seven kilometers during her afternoon trip.
“There is a small profit of between 100 baht and 120 baht a day,” Nan said.
The elderly woman admitted that she feels discouraged from time to time, especially when her back aches. Her back problems mean she can no longer cultivate mushrooms at home.
“But I will keep going,” she said.
She lamented that though she can now earn enough to support herself, her nephew is a drain on her expenses.
“When he has nowhere to go, he just crashes here,” Nan explained.
Kesara from the Volunteer to Visit Project said the nephew often gets drunk and will hit Nan if she refuses his demands for money. Nan’s case reflects the fact that some elderly Thais face bigger trouble when their relatives are not a help – but rather a burden.
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Elderly-focused initiatives
The Mirror Foundation’s Volunteer to Visit Project is among many initiatives that reach out to old people in need. Not only do the project’s volunteers and members visit troubled elderly people, but they also give physical support. For example, if they notice that houses are getting dilapidated, they will offer to do repairs. More often than not, they also bring along diapers and other basic necessities for elderly care.
“We are now taking care of some 500 elderly people, including some who are bedridden,” Kesara said. “Of those under our care, nearly 60 per cent practically live alone. Although some elderly live with their relatives, they are basically on their own.”
Dying alone
Reports of lonely elderly folk being found dead in their homes have appeared frequently in the Thai media over recent years. Their bodies are often discovered only after neighbours detect the smell of decay or notice that they had not been seen for a long while.
Phusit commented that old people in towns may have a higher risk of dying alone because in rural areas, health-promotion subdistrict hospitals usually keep a close watch on elderly residents.
“In towns, people also tend to have an everyone-for-themselves sentiment,” he added.
He said poor families in particular cannot afford to hire carers for elderly family members. So, elderly members of such families have a higher risk of dying at home alone.
“They may develop health problems at home but no one is there to help them,” Phusit said, describing the risks facing the elderly who have no one to count on.
Thailand’s plan for elderly population
Thailand’s elderly population is now growing by about one million per year. The size of Thai family units, meanwhile, is getting smaller. On average, there are now only three people per Thai household.
Phusit said this trend called for serious preparations to be made to cope with the growing elderly population.
“We also need to take into account the fact that elderly people will have health problems too,” he pointed out.
Statistics indicate that one in eight people aged over 60 will develop dementia. Half of those over the age of 80 will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
“We need to prepare a system to deal with this,” he said.
Phusit pointed to the Bueng Yitho Municipality as a particularly good model for old-aged care. Located in Pathum Thani, the municipality operates a daycare center for the elderly along with three centers aimed at boosting older people’s quality of life.
“It works with a foundation to provide prostheses to those in need,” Phusit said, describing its various functions.
“It also has a center to promote the exchange of useful knowledge,” he added.
By Thai PBS World
