Since 1970, when the Thai government proclaimed the national population
policy to encourage voluntary family planning, Thailand has experienced a declining rate of
population growth, from 3.0% in the beginning of the Third National Social and
Development Plan (1972-1976) to 1.2% at present. The average number of births during a
woman's life time, or the so-called total fertility rate, has decreased from 6.4 during the
period of 1960-1965 to about 2.0 during the period of 1995-2000.
According to the U.N. medium projection, the Thai population will continue to
increase, but with a declining growth rate. The data and projections show the Thai
population continually increasing from 44.8 million in 1980 to 55.8 million in 1990, and 62.4
million, 67.2 million, and 70.5 million in 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively. On the other
hand, the rate of population growth will continually decline from 1.8% per annum in 1980 to
1.1%, 0.7%, and 0.4% per annum in 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively (Wongboonsin and
Wongboonsin, 1995)