Thailand Says 63,000 Unable To Work Amid Protest Turmoil

[bkkjames]

Rumor off of Facebook... Thaksin suffered from shock after receiving chemotherapy in Dubai...

Can anyone verify?

That was a rumour last week mate, time to get TV's breaking news alerts on your mobile

[tomyummer]

Reading is fundamental .............

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said that 63,601 workers were temporarily out of work due to the closure of 13 hotels, five department stores and 30 bank branches.

Yeah sure. That may be 63,601 workers directly related to those businesses on site. But way, far more related indirectly. Equipment and food suppliers, travel operators, agencies of all sorts that work with those businesses, etc.

All this is heading to be just as bad as the airport shutdown. Poor foreigners becoming collateral damage yet again. Maybe it's time to create their own 'shirt'. Speak up for the true minority in this fight. Yeah, the 'No Shirt' group.

[mythBuster]

Still considerably less that the million people that were put out of work by the airport occupation. everything should be seen in its perspective.

[anotherpeter]

Still considerably less that the million people that were put out of work by the airport occupation. everything should be seen in its perspective.

A million people? How do you come to that figure?

... and it always goes back to "But the yellows ..."

Edited April 21, 2010 by anotherpeter

[tomyummer]

Red, yellows, red, yellows.....mommy! mommy!

Like mommy used to say, "It always takes two to fight!"

Then she'd slap us both.

[OzMick]

Reading is fundamental .............

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said that 63,601 workers were temporarily out of work due to the closure of 13 hotels, five department stores and 30 bank branches.

Sure is.

If the elite (you must be elite to own Bank, shopping center or hotel in That area, can just lay off workers on the spot, it show something terribly disturbing about how they regard their staff.

They can just stop paying them? Can I just stop paying my staff? Course I can't, they would take me to the cleaners... and rightly so.

So, they are either untouchable when it comes to poor treatment of staff, or they are trying to promote unrest and trying to set their staff against the redshirts.

Not only is reading fundamental, digesting and thinking is also.... but nice try. Why not try a couple of lines of smart alecism next time?

I am re-replying to this to show what an idiot we are dealing with. This was his post regarding the news article which contained

the labour ministry ordered employers to keep paying wages to workers or encourage them to take annual vacation or other leave.

I have no further comment to my idiot "mate".

[geriatrickid]

Central world alone counts 5000 shops!

Go look for yourself, if you don't believe....

Wow. Did Central reproduce and make little baby retail outlets in the past 2 weeks? There is no need to go and do and inventory when the site specs provide the following info;

+ The 2 Shopping Department Stores, Zen and Isetan, which you can only find at CentralWorld

+ 500 different retails

+ 6 Flagship specialized stores

+ Over 50 restaurants and 21 Movie theaters

Some of those retail outlets employ 2 people, and others can employ 10 and others 50. The department stores can have 100 or 200 employees etc. However, no matter how generous one is, the head count doesn't come up to tens of thousands using the info stated in the article. Again, the article specified a set number of locations. perhaps this is because the closure of the shopping plazas has been intermittent. That certainly doesn't mean people are not being affected. However, the basis given to back up the 60K number doesn't jive. The article did not even mention the various shopping plazas. You cannot just add in numbers because you want to. All I was trying to do was to get an idea as to how the number was calculated. If office towers have closed, then that should have been stated. An office tower can hold several thousand people, but there is no mention of that.

[kenai]

How many people would be out of work if things really broke open? I for one would not want to get between a massive movement of people that have been held back generation after generation opposed by an elite group holding the power and resources. Sound like the making of a serious problem years and years in the making.

They have more been held back by their OWN NEIGHBORS, you know the ones with the

nice country home, VERY well fenced in, and the Mercedes and the money lending business at 20% a month,

and the rice milling cartel etc etc. The guys paying slave wages to make bras using Burmese workers.

The SYSTEM of Kow Tow is alive and well,

even though most of the revenue stream no longer goes all the way to Bangkok directly.

What does goes upwards, goes into purchasing regional control rights and political position rights.

And this almost ALL stays in the POLITICAL CLASSES, tied to the regional business classes.

Access to access to the trough, must be purchased, using the fund winnowed from your underling neighbors.

The elite is right there folks in every small town around the whole nation.

Once they are holding a financial carrot and stick over their neighbors,

they have joined the ranks of oppressive elite.

And no amount of trying to 'Pass The Buck' upwards

will remove this nasty fact from the life of the poor.

And why are they able to hold that financial carrot? Thailand has not evolved nearly as much as so many would like to believe. Do you think the farmer or small shop owner or vender is going to go to the bank for a loan? How many actually hold a true land deed. Few have been educated enough to find meaningful employment. I understand how one can say the reds are bad and disrupting and being led by a bad guy. But it is their country and people will go to incredible measures to shape the destiny of a homeland.

In the end what I believe or know doesn't much matter. Ask a redshirt on the street what they want.

Edited April 21, 2010 by kenai

[tb86]

Reading is fundamental .............

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said that 63,601 workers were temporarily out of work due to the closure of 13 hotels, five department stores and 30 bank branches.

And comprehension is even more fundamental. If you want to be a smartass, then do the math first and then come back with an intelligent retort. The typical bank branch employs 6-10 people. A department store has no more than 100 and a large hotel around 250. Do the math; 500+3250+ 300 = 4050. Even if the head count is doubled that still only gives 8100. The fact of the matter is that the department stores and hotels have still kept staff onsite to maintain and guard the premises. For argument's sake, I have not even deducted those people who probably account for 10-20% of the 8100.

My question remains, how is the 63,601 arrived at?

are you seriously saying that oh say a place like... mmm paragon only has 100 employees? they employ at least 100 janitors, i hate to break it to you but intercon has something in the range of 2000 employees, how about the towers at central world..... 40 something floors of office buildings, amarin plaza and its 15 floors of office towers, gaysorn plaza and its office towers.... try looking around the area before making those kinds of claims....hel_l between central and gaysorn at night there are at least 250 street vendors... oh and i guess my shops in central with 20 employees make up for a total of 20% of all central dept store employees??? Im going out on a limb here saying your not exactly familiar with the buisnesses operated in the area are you?

[robblok]

My gf is also without work, she is a tour guide and most people don't visit Bangkok now. So stop counting only the people who have shops around there. There are much more people affected. Most of her friends who are also tour guides are also without work.

[321niti123]

I'm curious to know whether those people will turn towards the reds for money or turn against the reds for stealing their money, or thank the reds for giving them an excuse not to go to work (thats what i'd do if they closed down my school)?

[ukrules]

I don't believe these figures for one minute.

[way2muchcoffee]

I don't believe these figures for one minute.

Neither do I. I expect the numbers are much higher than this.

[YouYouYou]

63,601 or whatever it was. No point in aruging over the actual figure ...other than to say 'a lot of people are affected by this'. Mann, there are many a worker without work, many a seller not selling, that's about it. Many of these folk could arguably be classed as 'the red side' .. and yes, they're losing out too.

As a direct example (as is all I can throw into the pot), my wife, a seller where I live, relies on going to Pratunam normally twice a week to buy her stock there to then sell at a local market ...she's managed to go twice this entire month ..and yes, I've banned her from going for the near future as I fear for her safety, surely you lot out there can see this? (well I really hope you do after so many innocent bystanders have been blown up/injured) ...thus, our income has been affected too.

Surely, there are many folk who also have stopped going to places like Pratunam as they are worried the same as I am, and thus it affects the seller and the market re-seller too.

So, if you all wanna argue over figures (meaningless thou) more than this are genuinely affected by this red rally.

Rant over, good luck Thailand, and let's hope there is an end to this soon for all of us who live here and just wanna get on with life