"Thai families' lack of interest in providing 'brain-education' toys to their young children could be a contributing factor in their inability to effectively solve problems when they grow up," said Assoc Professor Jittinant Dechakhupt, a lecturer at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University's Faculty of Humanity and Ecological Science.

Brain-education toys are those that teach children to solve problems. Examples include rod-assembly kits, jigsaw puzzles, mathematics games and find-the-missing-part kits.

Toys for children from one to six years of age mainly focused on increasing physical strength, improving hand-eye coordination and enhancing dexterity, Jittinant said, citing a study conducted among 1,580 households across the country by the National Health Foundation.

Brain-education toys made up only 35 per cent of toys provided for children from one to three, and 36 per cent for children from three to six, she said.

Duangjai Khoosriwinij, the head of the Association of Thai Toy Industries, called on the government to push forward a project to build at least one toy library in every district in Thailand.