Abstract
Child-Care Situation in Thailand: A Synthesis ReportThis reports aims at synchronizing the state of knowledge of child care situation in Thailand. The analysis is basically derived from the existing documents such as research reports, theses, the government white papers and academic articles. It was revealed that changes in child care patterns are associated with demographic factors. The most outstanding factors is change in family structure from the extended family to the nuclear family. An increase in labor force participation of women affects their domestic role and this results in child development physically, emotionally and socially. The emergence of child care centres does not help to mitigate child development problems due the inadequate experience of personnel in stimulating child development. A lack of qualified personnel and the participation from parents and community become problematic. Moreover, the influence of the media affects the development of children in both negative and positive ways. Based on 150 research studies, it is obvious that the main points of research concentrate on the input factors of child rearing process. While the studies on output factors and the impacts are limited in numbers due to the complicated process of research design and assessment. The need of intensive research to investigate the interaction between family and child development is a priority. An endeavor to combine the qualitative research with the the qualitative research will be the alternative to improve the quality of data for program implementation. There is a need for research at the national level ot provide useful information for action. Epidemiological research in physical development with a strong emphasis on the preschool children in quite useful and more reliable to understanding the magnitude of the problems while research in emotional and mental development is quite limited. The only existing studies focus on the children with mental health problem who seek treatment at the the government hospitals and the mental counseling units are available but not sufficient. This research should be expanded in size in order to cover the whole population. Research with an emphasis on skill and intellectual development is also important. The previous research studies concentrate on the assessment of the learning process and attitude test rather than the evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching process and attitude test rather than the evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching process. Those studies test do not reflect a sharp and clear direction for the effective resolution due to the improper standardized tools used for measurement. Research in policies for implementation, law and plans for children and youth are rare. Most studies focus on evaluation and monitoring the effectiveness of law, policies and plans for child development. Research in child investment, policy evaluation, data system for indicators of child development should be a priority. Insofar, research in those components have been carries out by the small institutions and cannot be applies effectively for the national programs.
