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Thailand POPULATION
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Figure 8. Regions and Provinces.
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Figure 9. Distribution of Population, 1980.
Since 1911 Thailand has taken frequent national censuses, and
its National Statistical Office, working closely with a number of
international agencies, was in the 1980s one of the most
extensive sources of statistical information in Asia. One of the
20 most populous nations in the world, Thailand had in 1987 about
53 million people. This total was divided about equally between
males and females. The regional breakdown was approximately 16.7
million in the Center (which included the Bangkok metropolitan
area), 17.8 million in the Northeast, 11.3 million in the North,
and 6.8 million in the South. As in most Southeast Asian nations,
the population was youthful and agrarian; approximately 37
percent of the population was between the ages of 15 and 29. In
the decades after World War II, however, the percentage of
agricultural population declined; it decreased from 79.3 percent
to 72.3 percent of the population between 1970 and 1980, for
example.
The shrinking of the rural population resulted in part from
internal migration to the capital and provincial centers. In 1987
about 10 percent of the population lived in Bangkok, which had
3,292 persons per square kilometer. The 9 largest cities after
Bangkok ranged in population from 80,000 to 110,000. They were
Khon Kaen, Hat Yai, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Sawan,
Nakhon Ratchasima, Krabi, Udon Thani, and Songkhla
(see
fig. 9).
Bangkok, with 1,537 square kilometers, represented the
combining of the royal capital of the Chakkri Dynasty with Thon
Buri, the capital of King Taksin
(see The Bangkok Period, 1767-1932
, ch. 1). In the late 1980s, this urban area was made up
of 24 districts (khet), with a combined population of 5.5
million. In spite of massive construction and changes in the
economy, many of the districts retained their unique identities.
For example, Dusit District, where the royal family had its
principal residence, was also home to many of the city's military
officers and civil servants.
Rapid urbanization in the 1980s was changing not only where
the Thai lived but also how they lived. Separate private houses
were located in high-density areas or out in new sprawling
suburbs. The Thai were also moving into townhouses and
condominiums; by 1984 sixty-nine residential condominium
communities had been built or were in the final phase of
construction. A family compound along a tree-shaded khlong
(canal) was a rare sight. Although ferries continued to ply the
Chao Phraya, the boat was no longer the main mode of
transportation. Bangkok had about 900,000 registered motor
vehicles and a new superhighway system partially completed in the
late 1980s; massive traffic jams, noise, and air pollution had
become part of everyday life. Most of the canals in the "Venice
of the East" had been replaced with roads; this replacement was
in part causing the city to sink. Annual flooding in the city and
growing slums such as Khlong Toei often made city services rather
than politics the key issue in metropolitan elections. Bangkok
had 10 percent of the national population, but the capital
required a disproportionate percentage of the national budget to
maintain basic city services.
Thailand's rush both to develop and to satisfy the demand for
consumer products had several side effects, including dwindling
agricultural land, the destruction of forests, and damage to
watersheds. These consequences prompted the central government,
with support from international agencies, to make a concerted
effort to limit population growth. In 1968 the cabinet sanctioned
a family-planning service, and by March 1970 a national
population policy was announced. The official slogan "Many
Children Make You Poor" and the economic arguments for keeping
the number of children at two per family found acceptance among
both city and rural populations. Successful programs were
undertaken by the Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand and
the Family Planning Services. By 1974 an estimated 25 percent of
all married couples of childbearing age were using modern
contraceptives, one of the highest percentages for developing
countries. The population growth rate, 3.4 percent per annum in
the 1960s, had been reduced to 1.9 percent per annum by 1986. The
goal for the late 1980s was a growth rate of 1.5 percent (see
table 3, Appendix).
Data as of September 1987
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