Rural Residents Fleeing, Seeking Work In Bangkok

Increase in rural residents seeking work in Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Rural residents seeking work in Bangkok this year because of the severe drought have been on the rise, according to a recent survey released on Thursday.

Twenty percent of those interviewed said their incomes were inadequate to cover their basic living costs.

Another 20 percent said they were unemployed.

The other 16 percent said the severe drought had driven them to seek work in Bangkok.

Four out of five people interviewed said they had used their own money to travel to Bangkok to look for work.

Most of the people surveyed said they would only stay in Bangkok only for a certain period of time, with some respondents saying around three months or when they had earned enough money to return home, or when the drought ends.

A fifth of those interviewed wanted the government to build more dams and reservoirs.

A little less than twenty percent wanted job retraining programmes.

Another 17 percent believed the authorities should add rain-making projects to their operations.

Many parts of Thailand have been hit hard by this year’s severe drought and water shortages.

The government has already poured billions of baht into relief projects.

The authorities are also working on long term solutions to reduce the affects of annual drought on the economy and the society.

--TNA 2005-03-26