Estimation of Centenarians in Thailand

Sutthida Chuanwan, Mahidol University
Pramote Prasartkul, Mahidol University
Charles Hirschman, University of Washington
Aphichat Chamratrithirong, Mahidol University

The objective of this study is to estimate the number of centenarians and to examine the quality of registration data in Thailand. Data were taken from the Survey of Population Change (SPC) and used to calculate survival ratios that were applied to the West model life table to estimate the number of surviving centenarians. It was estimated that the number of surviving centenarians in the study areas in 2010 was about 1,700, which represented only 12% of the total number of centenarians recorded in registration. Qualitative fieldwork was conducted by following up with centenarians recorded in the registration system in two sampled provinces to support and qualitatively explain the prior quantitative finding. The results showed that the number of centenarians recorded in civil registration is over reported. These findings indicate the need to improve the quality of civil registration data in Thailand.