Thai research body predicts a million jobless by year end if pandemic persists

[Mr Meeseeks]

6 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I have a niece, Chinese father, who went to university in China, came back to work as a tour guide for the hoards of Chinese that once visited. Now they no longer come she's trying to teach Chinese on-line. Good for her, but I can't imagine that even coming close to filling her income gap.

Isn't working as a tour guide a prohibited occupation for a non-Thai?

[SuwadeeS]

3 hours ago, Smithson said:

There's still plenty of work in rural areas, I'm not hearing stories of an influx of labour from tourist areas. Long-term Thailand has labour shortage problems, they are already wanting migrant workers back.

 

What are all those who were working in tourism areas doing now?

 

Of course there is plenty of work, if you are willing to work......

....but for many it is more important to gossip on FB.

 

The people who were working in tourism sector?

Very simple answer: They are facebooking now. 

That is a new verb I created, when I saw them pretending to be very busy.

[Cake Monster]

17 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I look around Pattaya right now and see a helluva lot more than 3% job loss, closer to 90% of all shops shuttered.

Even f there are 90 % of the Shops shuttered, it does not mean that the people are Jobless.

Many Thais run more than One Business.

The wife may be semi-jobless if the Shop is closed, but the Husband will still be working in his Business as an Aircon Engineer ( eg )

That is not to say there are many unemployed, there are, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving.

[Marsupienemi]

On 4 recent occasions I tried to help Thais to work on the internet. There is work and still much less competition than for other countries. As I am registered on many professional sites and I have indicated that I live in Bangkok, I am regularly contacted by sourcers. But these jobs are for Thais native speakers.
All 4 times, I had a yes which meant no (I think everyone here knows that there is a yes which means yes and a yes which means no, that it is impossible to make the difference and that even Thais complain about it!)
In the end, I wasted a lot of time for nothing. Thank you, but as they say in my country "help yourself, heaven will help you"

NB: I really love that Quicksand font that you are using now ! 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Marsupienemi

[SuwadeeS]

The worlds unemployment rate before the virus was 5,4%.

Now with the Virus, I would triple it. That is a quite realistic number.

 

15% out of........... is .......

[Eric Loh]

16 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Add in another 5 million vendors, and a few million more who worked in Home Pro, Global House, and all of these other insane shutdowns, and you likely have 15 million unemployed as we sit here and chat. 

Home Pro is open. So is Mega Home which are considered as essential services. 

[Bangkok Barry]

6 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

14 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I have a niece, Chinese father, who went to university in China, came back to work as a tour guide for the hoards of Chinese that once visited. Now they no longer come she's trying to teach Chinese on-line. Good for her, but I can't imagine that even coming close to filling her income gap.

Isn't working as a tour guide a prohibited occupation for a non-Thai?

Where do you read that she's a non-Thai ????? I wrote that she has a Chinese father. She also has a Thai mother and was born in Thailand.

[Bangkok Barry]

19 minutes ago, placeholder said:

22 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

And imagine what the figure would be if they had Time and Motion experts in which found that 90% of the jobs people do was just shuffling endless forms to no real purpose and their jobs should go.

Sure, That's why the automobile manufacturing industry has grown so hugely in Thailand. Because 90% of the workers are getting nothing done. Maybe you should let Toyota know about this?

When did you last visit any government department, the biggest employer in the country?

[placeholder]

5 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

When did you last visit any government department, the biggest employer in the country?

So your comment was really about Thai govt employees? And that was supposed to be understood by your lack of any mention of that? You need an editor.

[mickyr55]

11 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

The informal sector of the Thai economy, comprising anyone who's not covered by formal work 

arrangements, accounted for more than 64% of the total workforce. It includes street vendors and taxi-motorbike drivers, the self-employed and those operating in "grey areas" of the economy [e.g. prostitution]. They are largely counted as employed. 

 

If, for instance, you lose your job as a bank teller and return home and lend a hand at your dad's farm for at least one hour a week, you are considered as employed.

 

The official unemployment figures do not really reflect the situation.

The reality of it is that they don't have a clue you could pick any number, all massage parlours are closed, one close to me "employs" at least 7 girls none of them are on contract so in the eyes of Thailand they don't exist. ????????

[vandeventer]

15 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I wonder what the real figure is, if include those people selling tat, food and sex then maybe 10 million

Who wants to open a small business when so many people are staying home?

[Boedog]

The "THINK TANK" they obviously don't know what that means, my understanding was that's were intelligent people get together to problem solve and come up with plans and solutions, instead the mental giants predict there will be 1 million unemployed by years end

10 hours ago, Kadilo said:

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Boedog
Mistake

[shackleton]

I think most of us will agree the figure of up to one million unemployed year end  seems very low 

Maybe they forgot the 0 on the end ????

[samjaidee]

Perhaps this is a silly question but is Thailand a welfare state? Do the unemployed get any form of state benefits like they do in western countries? If not, how do they measure how many people are unemployed or do the government just randomly guess like they appear to do with most statistics?

[Bangkok Barry]

30 minutes ago, placeholder said:

38 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

When did you last visit any government department, the biggest employer in the country?

So your comment was really about Thai govt employees? And that was supposed to be understood by your lack of any mention of that? You need an editor.

No. That was simply an example. What about any large store where there are usually many staff hanging around with little to do? I'm sure you know that as well as I do. If you think these departments and stores are the epitome of efficiency then you've been in Thailand too long. Millions of jobs would be discarded if these places were more efficient, but with wages so low I guess it isn't a concern. When wages rise though, as they inevitably will, watch the jobs disappear.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Bangkok Barry

[BoganInParasite]

Up here in a rural northern location it is easy to see a marked increase (from zero previously actually) of younger folks lingering about, sitting on motorbikes, not doing anything but talk and stare at mobiles. Every day I'm out (and that is only a couple of times a week now) I see groups in the same places and recognize many by the bikes and clothes. They weren't there last year. Everyone has family members returned from Bangkok and surrounds with next to nothing and surviving on family help and a little casual farm work. Extrapolating what I see here tells me the figure is already well into the millions. And petty crime is increasing.

[spidermike007]

36 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Home Pro is open. So is Mega Home which are considered as essential services. 

Wrong. Went yesterday. All closed. Home pro, Global, Thai Watsuda, all shuttered. Till who knows when? Likely limited to deep red zones. 

 

And the real question is, why home pro? Social distancing is a natural thing there. The stores are huge, and it is a one on one transaction. Yet, Tesco remains open, with 8 people lined up at a resister. 

 

And hundreds of thousands of smaller shops have been shut, even though they are totally safe, with a one on one transaction. Simply the callous disregard of the well being of the common man. 

[villageidiotY2K]

Well I've got a job offer for females 30 yrs and younger.  No old hags and bar gurls Big one time cash offer. If interested, pls send me your resume with Pic. 

[Boedog]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Associate Professor Yongyuth Chalamwong, director of labour development research in the TDRI’s human resources and social development department, told Thai PBS today (Tuesday) that the partial lockdown measures, imposed by the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration since late July, has had an extensive impact on businesses and the labour market.

You can see why he is a Associate Professor for stating the bloody obvious, why didn't anyone else think of this

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, nkg said:

How on earth do they think that 1,000,000 people are not already jobless? Thailand has 70 million people, are we really supposed to believe that less than 1/70 Thais are unemployed?

 

 

I think they must have found the inverse button on their TAT calculator.

[soalbundy]

10 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Yes but obviously have the health of those children at the forefront. 

and they do online teaching and are strict about homework, at least where I am.

[Boedog]

The "THINK TANK" they obviously don't understand the meaning of that, my understanding is were intelligent people get together and problem solve and come up with plans and solutions to issues but in this cause they pull a farcical number out of there aarrssee, its just something about numbers and figures in Thailand they just never add up, never let the truth or facts get in the way of saving face

[SomchaiCNX]

I think this guy and those from the TAT should switch departments and we may have correct figures for once.

[BobinBKK]

18 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

The tourist sector alone is probably more than 1 million already. 

Is that including sex workers?

[PAULPACKAGE]

Remove all visa restrictions, and let them come to England, There are thousands and Thousands of unskilled jobs availible. 

Company's, need, production line, staff, supermarket workers, restaurant servers, bar staff, packers, They should be allowed to come, surely some deal or scheme, could be put to gather, where accommodation is provided, and job for 12months, minimum wage, per hour, Plus, it would shut down the sex industry by at least half, and all would be more happier 100%, away from bar and sex for money jobs. 

[bullseye66]

I think they left a zero off the figures. Surely they meant 10 million.

[fab99]

It's the first time in 12 years here that I start worrying about security, living in the middle of nowhere.

 

Never had any problem, and my house is not flashy at all (but more than most around here though).

 

When you combine unemployment, lack of government help and debts, there is a high chance of crime rising (add to that the drugs/alcohol problems or the fact that there are many firearms in Thailand...).

Anybody else is feeling the same? I don't see that mentionned in the comments...

 

Before, Thaïs could live on very very little, even food from the temple (donations have probably suffered recently), but now, with the love for smartphones/tv/cars a lot of debts have to be repaid and they risk losing everything. When you have nothing to lose...

[Iron Tongue]

6 minutes ago, PAULPACKAGE said:

Remove all visa restrictions, and let them come to England, There are thousands and Thousands of unskilled jobs availible. 

Company's, need, production line, staff, supermarket workers, restaurant servers, bar staff, packers, They should be allowed to come, surely some deal or scheme, could be put to gather, where accommodation is provided, and job for 12months, minimum wage, per hour, Plus, it would shut down the sex industry by at least half, and all would be more happier 100%, away from bar and sex for money jobs. 

Sure, export the unemployed sex workers to the UK and give them minimum wage jobs at the super...  

How long do you think they'd stay at that job before disappearing underground and into the UK sex industry, or get trafficked to the Continent for sex work?

[Eibot]

12 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

People that don't have a job. 

Is fishing for your dinner a job? Is cutting the grass around your rice field a job? Is walking the cows a job? Is selling Som Tam at the local market for 1 day a week a job?

What is jobless?

[ScotBkk]

And the rest?