Fertility Variation in Southern Thailand: 2002-2005

Abstract

This study investigated variations in total fertility by religion and east-west location in Southern Thailand. Four provinces were selected for study (one mostly Muslim and one mostly non-Muslim). Data were obtained from birth certificates include month of birth, age group of mother, district of registration of birth and Muslim majority and Muslim minority locations from 2002-2005. Female population resident counts were obtained from the 2000 Thai Population and Housing Census. Districts were classified according to east-west location and percent Muslim. Logistic regression was used to model the effects of age group, region and period on the fertility in each 3-month quarter. Overall, the fertility rate of women where the percent Muslim was more than 80% was higher than that where the percent Muslim was less than 20%. Muslim mothers on the east coast had a higher fertility rate than those on the west coast, but there is evidence that there fertility decreased over the study period and reached replacement level by 2006.