However, with nuclear families increasingly replacing traditional extended ones, many modern Thais have become forgetful and neglect to uphold this age-old positive social value. This is why the government has designated April 13 of each year National Elderly Day. The day serves both as a gentle reminder of the importance of maintaining familial bonds and as part of a larger campaign to promote awareness of the country's demographic transformation characterised by the greying of the population.

The Social Development and Human Security Ministry says the percentage of elderly citizens, defined as persons aged 60 and over, in the total population is projected to rise to 18 per cent of the population in 15 years, from the current 10 per cent, or 6.5 million. That will result in economic and social pressures on a family institution already struggling to provide adequately for the growing ranks of the ageing population.

This demographic change can be attributed to declining birth and death rates. The ageing population will become more evident when the ratio of the elderly to the working-age population rises steadily, thereby increasing the financial strain on family members who support them. By 2022, the number of seniors will for the first time surpass the number of people under the age of 15.

Already, some 460,000 people, 7 per cent of the Kingdom's current elderly population, are suffering from family members' neglect, with many leading solitary existences or living in poverty and destitution. Such a phenomenon, more acute in rural communities that young people have left in search of jobs and opportunities, is becoming a national issue that is increasingly more difficult for society to ignore.

To mark this year's National Elderly Day, the Social Development and Human Security Ministry has launched a pilot project to recruit volunteers to make regular home visits to look after senior citizens living by themselves without adequate support from their families. A Bt60-million budget has been set aside to establish community-based care for the elderly in at least part of each province.

In recent years, it has become commonplace in many rural communities for young families to leave their elders - many of them infirm or bed-ridden - to fend for themselves without proper care or financial support. This programme not only seeks to raise the standard of living of the elderly, but also to promote a greater sense of community by encouraging the young to take care of senior citizens in their own communities.

To ensure that the elderly are able to live their lives with dignity, each community must take ownership of the problem of seniors being abandoned by their families and develop a social network of caregivers. Such a network may include schoolchildren and adult volunteers working closely with local public-health officials and social workers, so that no senior citizen anywhere must suffer alone and without help.

Society must explore options for the expansion of institutional care by public and private care providers, which has until recently been a taboo topic. Such facilities, which provide much-needed services to older people without the wherewithal to fend for themselves, should be expanded. Nursing homes for the elderly funded by the government, the private sector and the elderly themselves and their families or their communities should be promoted.

The best care providers for the elderly remain their own families, whose loving support is vital for their physical, emotional and mental well-being. Most seniors in this country continue to enjoy the love and support of their families, but provisions must be made to ensure that those who fall through the cracks and do not have such a safety net are able to receive the attention and help they require.