Firms in aging Thailand bet on demand surge

 15-Aug-16, Reuters

Thai elderly care robot Dinsow can not only keep track of your medication and video-phone your relatives, but can also exercise with you and even entertain you with its karaoke skills.

Image: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha

Its manufacturer, CT Asia Robotics, is one of many Thai firms investing heavily in healthcare for the aged in a country where the working-age population will decline this year - a first among the emerging economies of Southeast Asia.

By the end of 2016, almost 15 percent of Thailand's roughly 68 million people will be over the retirement age of 60. The government expects the proportion to reach 20 percent by 2020, adding strain to an already stretched healthcare sector.

Diaper maker DSG International Thailand PCL has seen adult diaper sales grow 30 percent this year, and expects double-digit growth over the next five years. 

Another company seeing opportunity in the demographic change is medical equipment supplier Samaphan Health, which sells mattresses to prevent bed sores as well as respiratory products to aid sleep.

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