Bangkok Expands Early Childhood Centers to Accept Infants From 3 Months

Bangkok is preparing to expand its early childhood development centers to accept infants as young as 3 months old, addressing urban society's need for quality childcare and accelerating early child development from infancy.

On July 20, 2025, at the Din Daeng District Office, Sanon Wang Saangbun, Bangkok's Deputy Governor, chaired a learning exchange forum to gather feedback on the proposed Bangkok Regulation on Early Childhood Development Centers. Participants included administrators from the Social Development Office, Din Daeng District officials, and teachers from early childhood centers.

Sanon explained that the forum was designed to give frontline teachers the opportunity to contribute ideas and help shape new regulations that align with real conditions—rather than having rules imposed unilaterally by government. He stressed that effective regulations should emerge from collaborative input across all sectors, enabling more efficient early childhood care.

Bangkok currently has 239,413 children aged 0-6 years, with birth rates declining steadily. However, many children—particularly those aged 0-3—still lack access to quality care because most parents work full-time and there are insufficient childcare facilities. This leaves many young children without proper early developmental opportunities.

Sanon emphasized that early childhood development must begin in infancy because waiting until children are 4-5 years old may be too late for effective developmental support. The new regulations aim to address this gap by allowing early childhood centers to accept children from 3 months old, expanded from the previous age range of 2-6 years. The regulations will also set appropriate care standards for each age group and adjust caregiver-to-child ratios to suit younger children.

Additionally, Bangkok plans to support extended service hours at these centers to accommodate working parents with nonstandard schedules, while ensuring caregivers receive fair compensation for work outside standard office hours.

Sanon noted that Bangkok currently operates 258 early childhood centers, but only 39 can use city budget funds for facility improvements due to land-use restrictions. The city is coordinating with landowners—including temples, the Treasury Department, the National Housing Authority, and private sector entities—to enable ongoing center development.

Bangkok is also implementing quality-improvement measures including dust-free classrooms, proactive child development screening and assessments, professional development for caregivers, educational support to enhance qualifications, free-play activities, reading programs, and toy-lending services to promote proper early childhood development.

Sanon outlined three main pillars of the new regulations: expanding access to early childhood services, improving the quality of childcare, and supporting parents. The regulations will broaden budget-support criteria to cover materials, utilities, operational costs, and caregiver compensation, enabling centers to deliver quality care that meets current urban society's needs.

Bangkok welcomes all suggestions from childcare teachers and is committed to refining the regulations for maximum benefit and shared progress.