#PublicPolicy

On Nueva Tabarca, Spain’s smallest permanently inhabited island, a curious statistic has become part of the island’s daily reality: in 2023, a survey counted roughly twice as many cats as residents. With about 50 people living on the island year-round, Tabarca’s micro-society is kept in a delicate balance by a centuries-old fortress, a modern ferry timetable, and a growing wave of day-trippers who descend on the flat, sun-burnished rock for a taste of Mediterranean life without the crowds of larger resorts. The latest research and local observations point to a broader lesson for island communities and policymakers everywhere: small places, big questions about sustainability, wildlife, and quality of life.

A wave of recent research suggests Southeast Asia is at a pivotal crossroads: the high-speed growth that defined the region for two decades may be losing some of its punch. The latest studies point to a mixed picture of progress and fragility—an economy that has outgrown some of its early engines, yet still carrying enormous potential if policies adapt fast enough. For Thailand, the findings carry clear implications. The kingdom’s ambitions — from keeping tourism resilient to maintaining a modern manufacturing base and safeguarding an aging society — hinge on reforms that strengthen productivity, education, and social protection while embracing digital transformation and climate resilience.

Japan’s gleaming trains, flawless hospitality, and postcard-perfect temples enchant millions of visitors each year. Yet behind the glittering facade lies a more complicated picture: a rising sense of anger and fatigue among local communities strained by crowds, rising prices, and a stubborn labour shortage in service sectors. The country has become a case study in how a tourism boom can lift an economy while testing the social fabric that makes travel feel joyful rather than intrusive. For Thai readers who are used to planning trips that balance wonder with responsibility, Japan’s experience offers both a warning and a blueprint for more sustainable, community-centered tourism.

A recent Gallup poll reveals a striking tension: American adults say the ideal family size is about 2.7 children, yet the United States is experiencing a sustained decline in births, with the current fertility rate hovering around 1.6 births per woman. In practical terms, many people say they’d like larger families than what they end up having, a gap that researchers are increasingly calling a pinch point shaped by costs, choices, and opportunity.

A provocative new study argues that the United States is entering a so‑called “second stage” of religious decline, a phase in which religion loses its personal importance in daily life even as public rituals and affiliations may linger. Framed as part of a broader three-stage model of religious change, the finding suggests that Americans are moving away from making faith a central source of meaning, guidance, and identity in everyday decisions. If borne out by further research, the claim could reshape how policymakers, educators, and health professionals think about the social role of religion in a highly diverse society.

A sweeping study reveals that between 2010 and 2020, the share of people affiliated with any religion dropped by at least five percentage points in 35 countries. In some cases, the decline was much sharper, with Australia, Chile, and Uruguay each slipping by around 17 points and the United States by about 13 points. The findings point to a broad, ongoing shift in religious life across continents, rather than a sudden collapse in any one place. For Thailand, a country where Buddhist identity sits at the cultural center, the implications are both fresh and provocative: how faith, family routines, education, and public life adapt in the face of a slowly changing global pattern.

A wave of recent research is painting a sobering picture for the United States as a global travel magnet. The decline in international tourism to the U.S. is framed by researchers and industry observers as a self-inflicted injury — the result of policy choices, bureaucratic friction, and costs that have made the world’s biggest economy look less welcoming to visitors than it once did. The narrative, already gripping policymakers and business leaders, has echoes for Thai readers who watch global travel trends closely, given Thailand’s strong role in international travel, student exchanges, and regional tourism flows that often revolve around the United States as a destination, a hub for connections, or a market for Thai cultural experiences abroad.

A new wave of research into emotional intelligence is reframing how we talk about feelings in conversations. Rather than defaulting to airing personal emotions as a way to connect, emotionally intelligent people are increasingly described as those who prioritize listening, ask insightful questions, and focus conversations on understanding the other person’s perspective. In practice, this means conversations that feel more respectful, productive, and trustworthy—especially in high-stakes settings such as workplaces, classrooms, and family life.

The latest data visualized by a prominent global publication tell a nuanced story: foreign tourists have not vanished from the United States this year, but their patterns and volumes have shifted in telling ways. A graphic-driven analysis shows that international arrivals to the U.S. have rebounded in 2025 after the pandemic-induced lull, with some months beating pre-pandemic levels, while others lag behind. The takeaway for readers in Thailand and across Asia is not simply “more visitors” or “fewer tourists,” but a complex mosaic of markets, costs, and policies shaping who comes, from where, and when.

Hot summers turning the world into a furnace are driving travelers toward a frosty antidote: cool climates. In Norway, families hiking to a Geiranger waterfall one sweltering July day discovered a paradox of modern travel. The heat outside and the crush of cruise ships and buses along narrow fjord lanes replaced the sense of serene wilderness with the blunt reality of crowding. The trend has a name in travel circles—coolcations—a portmanteau born from seeking relief from heat while chasing nature. In Europe’s cooler corners, the phenomenon is reshaping tourism strategies, environmental pressures, and the very meaning of sustainable travel. For Norwegians, this moment is less about a marketing slogan and more about a public balance between economic benefit and ecological stewardship. It’s a story that Thai readers will recognize in other forms: how to grow a thriving tourism sector without hollowing out the experiences or the places that people travel to.

The latest wave of demographic research suggests America is teetering on a “demographic cliff.” Birth rates have fallen for years, aging workers are thinning the ranks, and colleges, businesses, and urban planners are scrambling to respond. The result could slow growth, strain social services, and force a rapid rethinking of how the economy trains, recruits, and retains talent. For readers in Thailand, where aging populations and shifting workforce needs are already reshaping policy and everyday life, the message is clear: demographic change is not distant—it is happening now, and no country remains untouched.

Greece’s summer of 2025 is unfolding as a paradox. Tourism booms to record levels, drawing millions of visitors to sun-kissed islands and historic towns. Yet for half of Greeks, the annual August holiday has become a distant dream. Wages have stayed flat for years, while the price of travel—from ferries to hotel rooms to meals—has surged beyond what many households can bear.

Across Athens and the Aegean, the story is visible in the queues at the port, the empty sunloungers on beaches that would normally be packed by now, and the dissonant chatter of families weighing the cost of an island escape against other essential expenses. One ferry clerk in a busy port booth captures the mood: ticket sales are down by about 50 percent from last year. The anecdote echoes through coastal towns where tourism should fuel livelihoods, but the daily math on a family budget often refuses to cooperate with the dream of a seaside break.

Groundbreaking demographic research reveals a powerful correlation between America’s declining religiosity and plummeting birth rates, adding crucial cultural dimensions to economic explanations for the nation’s fertility crisis while providing stark warnings for Thailand’s even more severe population challenges. Comprehensive analysis from leading research institutions, including extensive reporting synthesis by major news outlets, detailed demographic studies from the Institute for Family Studies, and new data from the Pew Research Center’s 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study, demonstrates that highly religious Americans consistently maintain much larger families than their secular counterparts, while the growing population of religiously unaffiliated individuals has dramatically reduced their fertility to levels comparable with the world’s lowest-birth-rate societies. The fertility gap between religious and secular Americans has widened significantly over recent decades, with researchers calculating that virtually the entire decline in U.S. fertility from 2012 to 2019 can be attributed to growing irreligion combined with the exceptionally low birth rates among non-religious populations. Most critically for Thai readers, these findings illuminate how cultural and spiritual institutions provide essential social scaffolding for family formation—scaffolding that Thailand has been rapidly losing through urbanization, secularization, and changing social values, contributing to the kingdom’s catastrophic fertility decline that now threatens long-term economic stability and intergenerational support systems.

A growing body of demographic research finds a clear association between declining religiosity in the United States and the nation’s falling birth rate, adding a cultural dimension to well-known economic explanations for fewer children. Recent reporting and data syntheses – notably a long-form piece in Newsweek summarizing experts’ views, a detailed demographic analysis posted by the Institute for Family Studies, and new estimates from the Pew Research Center’s 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study – show that Americans who are more religious tend to have larger families, while the religiously unaffiliated have had markedly fewer children in recent decades. At the same time, the number of people who identify as nonreligious has grown, meaning the fertility gap by religion now helps explain a meaningful share of the overall decline in U.S. births. These trends matter to Thailand because Thai fertility has fallen even more rapidly, and understanding cultural as well as economic drivers can help shape policies to stabilise family formation and cushion the social effects of population ageing. See the Pew report here, the Institute for Family Studies analysis here, and the CDC’s 2023 birth data here.

A new wave of demographic research shows a clear connection between rising secularism in the United States and falling birth rates. For Thai readers, the findings offer a crucial caution: cultural and social supports for families matter, and rapid changes in values can accelerate population decline if policy does not respond.

Across several large studies, highly religious Americans tend to have larger families than their secular peers. The share of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated has grown steadily, reaching about 29% in recent years. Importantly, women who attend religious services weekly tend to have roughly twice as many children as those who never attend. These patterns help explain much of the drop in national fertility observed since 2012, beyond economic factors alone.

A state education official in Oklahoma is under intense scrutiny after revelations surfaced that, while mandating the display of Bibles in public school classrooms, he allegedly kept nude photographs on his work computer. The growing scandal raises profound questions about educational leadership, the role of religion in public schools, and the standards to which public servants are held. For Thai readers, this controversy invites comparison with Thailand’s own debates about moral standards in educational policy, the separation of personal conduct from professional responsibility, and religious influence within state institutions.

A senior Oklahoma education official is under intense scrutiny after reports that he ordered Bible displays in every public school classroom and, separately, that nude photographs appeared on a state-issued device. The case raises questions about leadership, church-state boundaries, and public trust, and it resonates with Thai readers concerned about how religion, ethics, and policy intersect in education.

The dispute centers on the state education chief, who argued that Bible displays reinforce traditional values and moral guidance in schools. Investigations indicate the same official had nude images on a government device uncovered during an internal review. This juxtaposition fuels a broader discussion about whether public schools should endorse religious materials and how a leader’s private conduct should influence accountability.

The growing reluctance among millennials to have more than two children has emerged as a defining demographic trend, with new research highlighting the complex social and economic factors influencing modern family size decisions. This movement, closely linked to rising living costs and shifting values, carries important implications for Thailand as its own birthrate stagnates and younger generations reconsider their priorities.

A recent report by Business Insider details how economic uncertainty—notably high childcare costs, student debt, and the shaky job market—has led many millennials in developed countries to cap their families at two children or forego parenthood entirely. Drawing from interviews with parents and leading sociologists, the article illustrates how families struggle to afford additional children, especially in expensive urban centers. According to a cited Pew Research Center study, millennial women average about 2.02 children, aligning with earlier generations numerically but diverging in terms of economic stability and timing. Experts argue that for many in this cohort, achieving even a two-child household often feels like a luxury rather than a default lifestyle (businessinsider.com).

Rising living costs and shifting values are pushing many Thai millennials to limit families to two children or fewer. Economic uncertainty, high childcare and education expenses, and evolving social roles shape this trend. The pattern matters for Thailand, where birth rates have slowed and younger generations are recalibrating priorities.

A recent analysis highlights how high childcare costs, persistent student debt, and a volatile job market influence decisions about parenthood. Interviews with parents and sociologists show that even a two-child household can feel financially challenging in expensive cities. A Pew Research Center study cited in the piece notes that millennial women in these contexts average around two children, reflecting continuity with past generations but under different economic pressures and timing. In many places, the ability to support more than two children is increasingly viewed as a luxury rather than a given.

A new wave of analysis is reshaping how we understand the ongoing drop in birth rates among wealthy nations. The research highlights a complex mix of economic, cultural, and social factors that influence family planning, with implications for public health, education systems, and social cohesion. For Thai readers, the discussion is especially relevant as Thailand faces similar demographic changes.

Across high-income countries, fertility has fallen to historic lows even as global population growth slows. Recent syntheses show total fertility rates dipping well below the replacement level of about 2.1 children per woman. Countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and several European nations are recording rates around or below 1.2. Projections suggest fertility could continue to trend downward this century, with some forecasts indicating a world rate near 1.8 by 2100, though long-term estimates vary.

A wave of new scientific analysis is redefining how experts understand the ongoing decline in birth rates across wealthy countries, raising deep questions for the future of advanced economies including Thailand. The latest research, profiled in a recent Newsweek lead, points to a complex web of factors fueling the trend, with implications reaching far beyond family size–affecting national prosperity, social cohesion, and public health systems.

Rich nations around the world are witnessing historic lows in fertility, even as overall global population growth begins to plateau. According to authoritative sources such as Wikipedia’s synthesis of worldwide fertility data, the total fertility rate (TFR) in countries like South Korea, Taiwan, and Ukraine has dipped to 1.0 or lower, far below the “replacement rate” of approximately 2.1 necessary to maintain population levels. Similar declines are observed in Chile, China, Japan, Malta, Poland, and Spain, with TFR values at or below 1.2 (Wikipedia).

A Golden Visa could offer a lifeline to Thailand’s economy as growth slows and tourism softens. Policy discussions at a recent conference highlighted a program that would grant residency in exchange for investments and property purchases. Proponents say the plan could bolster GDP, ease public debt pressure, and spur domestic spending.

Thailand’s current economic picture makes the proposal timely. Growth has hovered around 2% for much of the past decade, with forecasts for 2025 pointing to a potential dip. Tourism remains a key driver, contributing roughly 12-15% of GDP, but arrivals have cooled, especially from China, dampening local consumption and business momentum. In addition, new US tariffs on Thai exports could affect sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture, underscoring the need to diversify capital sources.

A recent Lumina Foundation-Gallup survey shows a notable rebound in public confidence in higher education in the United States—the first uptick in a decade. While focused on the U.S., the findings offer timely lessons for Thai readers about credibility, relevance, and public engagement in universities. The study reports that 42 percent of Americans now express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in colleges, up six points from the previous year and the highest level since 2015. The shift follows years of debate over debt, cost, and campus culture.

As vacationers flock to the scenic beauty of coastal Maine, a rising tide of invisible hardship persists, just beyond the sightlines of Mount Desert Island’s bustling tourist hubs. The latest reports reveal a significant escalation in rural homelessness across Hancock County, where forested lanes and tranquil coves mask a swelling crisis among residents living in tents, vehicles, abandoned homes, or on borrowed plots of land—an issue mirrored in many global tourism hotspots, including Thailand’s own rural and resort-adjacent provinces.