Over 10,000 workers in Prachin Buri at risk

By The Nation

Prachin Buri on Sunday hosted an SME conference, where over 300 representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises attended to exchange opinions over the economic crisis which could affect over 10,000 workers.

Prachin Buri Governor Thawatchai Therdphaothai said the SMEs operated in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors.

"From a survey, since the crisis started, about 1,111 workers have been laid off, aside from 880 subcontracted workers. So far, about 6 plants in the industrial estate area have been shut down, while 10 are partially shut down. We expect 18 more to cease operations. This could affect over 10,000 workers," he said.

The province has set up two committees, to tackle the layoff and issue warning signs. Local administrative bodies are encouraged to adjust their spending plans, so that extra cash is available to hire the unemployed through training programmes as well as infrastructure construction projects.

Source: The nation

it feels like 2009 is going to be the mother of all years and for thailand in particular because of not having a proper social welfare structure we could see serious social unrest.