If the political travesty is prolonged, it would definitely have a devastating effect on the economy and labour market, Yongyuth Chalamwong, research director for labour development at the Thailand Development Research Institute, warned yesterday. The TDRI and most economists believe that economic growth would likely be restrained by the political unrest, sluggish exports, and weak […]
Chatrudee Theparat Political turmoil may increase the unemployment rate this year to 1% of the workforce, up from 0.7-0.8% reported in 2013. The protests could delay fresh investments in both the public and private sectors, said Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) vice-chairman Thanit Sorat. ”It is quite clear that Thailand will not have a new […]
Sriwipa Siripunyawit Government-mandated increase has led to lay-offs amid a labour shortage and even lower earnings. It was just another morning when Somporn, a 40-year-old worker in a ceramics plant, awoke to find she had lost the job she had held for several years. In fact, she’d anticipated this day would come, as the plant […]
Saijai Kheuklang, a 45-year-old factory worker, takes off from her job and heads home. On the way, she stops at the usual market to get food for her family’s dinner. And today she has a few 100-baht notes in hand to make sure she gets enough groceries. “Everything has become much more expensive these days,” […]
Contents Don Nakornthab Revisiting Thailand’s Potential Growth Rate Yongyuth Chalamwong, Jidapa Meepien Social Protection in Thailand’s Informal Sector
Pathom Sangwongwanich Faced with challenges from high wages to the strong baht, Thai SMEs are seeking ways to turn crisis into opportunity, with varying degrees of success, writes Five months after the 300-baht daily minimum wage took effect nationwide, the mileage varies among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with some taking a big blow and […]
The government’s efforts to provide proper labour protection and welfare benefits to informal workers are moving at a snail’s pace, according to a leading researcher. Men build a wall at a shophouse on Ratchadapisek Road. A group of informal workers will today submit a petition to the prime minister at Sanam Luang calling for their […]
The country’s labour-protection schemes have hardly reached informal workers and farmers. “There is a big gap between registered and unregistered workers,” Yongyuth Chalamwong of the Thailand Development Research Institute’s centre for labour development said yesterday. The Social Security Fund focuses on registered workers while the Workmen’s Compensation Fund benefits only full-time workers. “But in fact, […]
A new study by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) examines the pros and cons of the increase of the minimum wage to Bt300 minimum per day. The study, which also looks at the effects of the recently introduced Bt15,000 monthly minimum salary for holders of bachelor’s degrees, was conducted by TDRI scholar Assistant Professor […]
Government measures to improve labour skills to match market demand are needed to reduce the widespread impact of the daily minimum wage hike in both the short and the long term, says the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). Yongyuth Chalamwong, a senior researcher, said the 300-baht daily minimum wage that took effect nationwide on Jan […]
Debate continues as to whether the looming wage hike will force companies to close or raise people’s purchasing power enough to compensate. One of the most debated issues of 2012 has undoubtedly been the government’s intention to hike the daily minimum wage to 300 baht nationwide on Jan 1,2013.During the 2011 election campaign, the Pheu […]
