This article describes and analyzes how “The Project on the Development of a Community Based Integrated Health Care and Social Welfare Services Model for Older Persons” (also known as the “Smart and Strong Project”) has been initiated in Thailand, and what factors contributed to the construction of networking among Thai local governments under the rapidly aging Thai society. Since this project was formally set up in August 2022 as a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Partnership Program for three consecutive years, the number of participating Thai local governments has been steadily increasing from the original 9 members to 26 members by August 2023, and 39 members by November 2024. This project is also characterized by its distinct networking style, comprising Thai local governments, Thai higher educational institutions, Japanese local governments, Japanese NPOs, and Japanese universities. This study was based on local governments’ responses to questionnaires sent through e-mail in June 2024 by the authors. Consequently, this study has several interesting observations and implications for networking and policy diffusion. First, many local governments in this project were motivated to participate in informal ways, such as approaches from the Bueng Yito municipality or the municipal mayor, Thai higher educational institutions, Japanese NPOs etc. Second, the participating Thai local governments were mostly urban local governments (25 of 26), with half of them from the Central Region of Thailand. Rural local governments were not included much in this project, and there are very few local governments in the Northeast Region. This bias may suggest the characteristics of networking and policy diffusion among local governments in Thailand, namely structural differences between urban and rural local governments and regional biases in networking. Third, the most popular topics for participating in local governments were management of daycare centers, rehabilitation centers, and dementia treatment. These preferences may explain the regional and status biases of the Thai local governments participating in this project.

Ageing is a global challenge for elderly care, and Thailand, as a low- and middle-income country (LMIC), is developing a formal long-term care (LTC) system. In this study, we adopted a welfare pluralism perspective to examine the full scope of an LTC provision in Thailand, focusing on informal care provided by families and relatives as well as formal care provided by the state and private sector.

Families and relatives play a primary role in informal care, with children—especially daughters—taking on most of the responsibilities. However, the proportion of care provided by individuals other than daughters is increasing, especially in Bangkok. On the formal care side, the Thai government is actively developing a community-based LTC system in which volunteers from the local community play a key role in providing care, and the government provides financial and technical support for their activities through the tax-funded universal health care system. Furthermore, the government encourages private care services through regulatory policies. Although the private sector is expanding, these services are entirely self-funded, making them accessible only to high-income groups in urban areas.

In this study, we identify three notable features of LTC provision in Thailand: (1) the unique role of community volunteers as care providers; (2) the increasing importance of community volunteers and the changing nature of their care provision; and (3) the promotion of private and community care services through regulatory policies. In addition, we highlight that the distribution of care provision across sectors varies widely across the country, with large differences between urban and rural areas and between income groups.

Thailand transitioned into an aging society in 2005 and is projected to become a “super-aged society” in the coming decades, progressing faster than both Asian and global averages. This demographic shift has placed significant pressure on the country to address the growing needs of older individuals, particularly in the area of aged care. Thailand’s current approach emphasizes “aging in place,” a model that seeks to reduce dependence on institutionalization by fostering collaboration among local governments, public agencies, the private sector, and families to deliver community-based care. Although promising, this strategy has only been implemented in recent decades and still requires further development. One major gap in this framework is the limited research examining the role of families, a central pillar of community-based care for older adults.

To better understand how community-based care can be developed to meet the diverse needs of Thai older adults with varying health conditions and socioeconomic backgrounds, this study provides an empirical description of family caregiving practices. It also explores the limitations and challenges families encounter in this role. The analysis draws on qualitative data collected between 2020 and 2023 as part of the Longitudinal Aging Study, which began in 2014. The study was conducted in the central municipal area of Nakhon Pathom Province, located west of Bangkok, using semi-structured interviews with 25 households that included older persons who were dependent to some extent, ranging from mild difficulties with daily activities to full bedridden status.

The findings reveal three recurring patterns in family caregiving dynamics. In many cases, adult children provided intermittent care while living nearby, while in others, older persons relied entirely on self-care. A notable number were cared for by the “young-old,” often referred to individuals aged around 60 to 69. Across these situations, families bore most of the responsibility for caregiving, with limited support from external community partners. Reflections from older adults and their family members underscored the difficulties they faced, particularly a lack of knowledge in managing complex health issues. Families expressed a need for more assistance to relieve their burden, yet the availability of community volunteers was limited, and those involved were often already stretched thin. Furthermore, housing environments were frequently ill-suited for older adults, contributing to falls and fractures—common causes of dependency and reduced mobility.

The study underscores the importance of strengthening support systems for families caring for older persons at home. Sustaining this model will require coordinated efforts from all sectors to ensure families are equipped with the knowledge, resources, and infrastructure necessary to maintain safe and effective home-based elder care.

Thailand faces the challenges of aging differently than the developed countries. This paper examines the current status and future of community welfare in north-eastern Thailand from the perspective of “Feminist Area Studies.” A feminist approach is indispensable for the current government-initiated community welfare scheme, which is run through Thai communitarianism and volunteerism, to be effective in Thailand. The study yields four key findings. First, Thailand is witnessing “feminization of aging.” Second, women dominated “street-level” officials in local governments play an important role in coordinating community welfare within their jurisdiction. Third, in rural areas, resilient middle-aged and elderly women are responsible for caring for vulnerable people. Fourth, as long-term care increases, so does the financial and emotional burden on “informal caregivers,” including domestic caregivers and various kinds of community volunteers.

Considering the estimated elderly support rate of 0.3 in 2030 and 0.5 in 2040, it is becoming more important to enhance the “social evaluation” of care. Given its huge informal sector, the “social evaluation” of care may have a different meaning in Thailand than in developed countries. This system is unlikely to be sustainable if it is dependent solely on the unpaid work of volunteers and women. Therefore, the visibility of unpaid labor is imperative. However, it would be vital to create a system wherein everyone who has ability of care, regardless of gender, cooperatively provide care. Buddhist values, common among Thais, may also be effective in according positive meaning to care work. This may create a “women- and family-friendly country,” supported by a welfare society through different path than welfare state.

According to the “Feminization of Migration” of Japan in the 1980s, many Thai women entered Japan through human trafficking brokers. Following the 1990s, Thai women settled as wives or mothers of Japanese nationals. In the 1970s, during their childhood in Thailand, they experienced rapid economic development due to the economic gap between urban and rural areas. Based on Thai Buddhism, Thai women’s traditional gender role is the breadwinner for the family; Bun khun as the debt of merit to parents. Working abroad was their dream as daughters to provide remittances as so-called Bun khun to mothers who have responsibility for the household. The aim of this article is to show how Bun khun works in the life course of survivors of human trafficking.

It was found that the women have three life stages, the first is working as sex workers, the second is marriage with Japanese husbands and divorce from them, and the third is facing their own aging. Even survivors facing physiological, physical, and economic hardship in the first and second stages believe that sending remittances is the practice of Bun khun. In the third stage, the mother and siblings always depend on the remittances from Japan, but no one is concerned or cares about the daughter’s aging. As a consequence, survivors make hard decisions, such keeping a distance from their Thai family or still struggling against returning to provide future caregiving to parents as in the Thai daughter’s gender role.

This study focuses on Myanmar urban refugee students living in the Thailand-Myanmar border region and aims to clarify the current situation and challenges of their education aimed at pursuing higher education through GED classes. In Mae Sot, Northern Thailand, where many Myanmar urban refugees have settled since the 2021 coup, the high educational background and strong support from recently arrived parents have influenced the growing expectations for higher education, differing from what was pointed out in previous studies. In response to the increased number of students wishing to take the GED after the coup, more Migrant Learning Centers and private tutoring schools offering GED preparatory education have emerged. However, challenges such as insufficient educational facilities, lack of necessary educational materials, and a shortage of qualified teachers have been identified. Furthermore, students who wants to take GED exam face issues such as the lack of identification documents, high examination fees, the scarcity of scholarships, and the shortage of test centers. The number of students who proceed to university after passing the GED exam is limited, and many students are still waiting for opportunities to attend higher education. These issues highlight the challenges faced by Myanmar urban refugee students in pursuing higher education in Thailand.

Thailand currently holds a prominent position in Asia as a leading content provider of BL dramas. From 2012 to 2023, the number of Thai BL dramas surged from just 1 to 64. The primary reason for this dramatic rise in popularity is the growing number of BL fans. This paper examines the characteristics, behaviors, perceptions of Thai Boys’ Love (BL) drama audiences, and their relationships with socio-demographic attributes. The researcher conducted a questionnaire survey with 258 Thai BL drama viewers between January and April 2023.

The findings indicate that the typical Thai BL drama audience consists of single females aged 18–35 without children, who are either students or office workers. They tend to watch Thai BL dramas alone for 1–3 hours per week, primarily via subscription-based applications or YouTube channels. Most have been exposed to BL drama content through social media for over two years. Their main reasons for watching BL dramas are the engaging storylines and the actors. The audience perceives BL drama narratives as both fictional and reflective of reality.

In Thailand, BL dramas are commonly referred to as “Y dramas.” Most respondents understand the meaning of “Y” and express joy over the popularity of Thai BL dramas in Japan. However, they do not feel a strong connection between Thai BL dramas and Japanese culture. The audience believes that Thai BL dramas contribute to fostering acceptance of sexual diversity in Thai society. Respondents frequently discuss their BL drama-watching habits with others and believe their families do not hold negative views about this interest. Additionally, the audience considers Thai BL dramas important, expressing a desire to continue watching them in the future and recommending them to others.

Based on these findings, Japanese BL culture was first introduced to Thailand through manga in the 1990s. However, in the 2020s, Thai BL dramas underwent a process of localization (often referred to as “Thai-nization”), ultimately gaining global popularity as a distinctively Thai form of “Y culture.”

There is ‘Sufi’s Trend (‘Saay Sufi’ in Thai)’ in the Islamic society of Thailand in addition to 2 major trends of ‘Traditional Trend (‘Saay Kao’ in Thai)’ and ‘New Trend (‘Saay May’ in Thai)’. It is said that Sufism played a certain role in the spread of Islam to Southeast Asia. However, the succession, preservation and spread of Sufism in Thailand has not been revealed enough.

This paper examines the succession, preservation and spread of Sufism in Thailand with the case of To-Kisaeh school of Qadiri order by focusing on elements of both saint worship and popular Islam which have not been noticed ever in the Festival of Beginning of the Month of Mawrid Navi. Many followers of To-Kisaeh school join the festival, pay a visit to shrine of To-Kisaeh and make a pray. It could be said from these religious practices of the followers that the elements of saint worship contribute to the succession and preservation of To-Kisaeh school. Also, appreciating a drum and a Krabii-Kraboon performances and sharing a meal, which are elements of popular Islam, strengthen followers’ relationship and sense of belongings as To-Kisaeh school’s followers. Thus, it can be said that the elements of popular Islam also contribute to the succession and preservation of the school. In addition, it could be said that elements of both saint worship and popular Islam have the potential to attract new followers.