Zen Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Is bangkok facing a labour shortage or what? Just where is everyone? I noticed that so many retail shops have a shortage of staff, very often when i go to shopping centres there will be some shops "open" but doors are locked coz the only staff they have has gone to the toilet or went for lunch... This kind of situation can be noticed in both high end shopping malls as well as middle class malls. Many shops in touristy areas even hire staff from Nepal. Every other shop i walk pass would have a "staff needed" sign pasted in front. Surprisingly this labor shortage is not just happenning in the retail trade, but even in factories! So where is everyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanTheGeek Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I think there is a shortage in cheap labour at the moment, Most Thais are no longer happy earning 6-7k a month which you can appreciate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stickyrice2000 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Most labor workers are not from Bangkok. The cost of living has gone up. They cannot survive with the minimum salary. They rather stay with the family in their hometown. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropicalevo Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 We have a similar problem here on Koh Samui. High costs, low wages. Except that wages are not that low anymore. (Cleaner 10 k a month - security guard more then that!) A lot of retail/restaurant staff here on the islands are Burmese. Guess what - they are going home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetotravel Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I was at a major restaurant yesterday in Bangkok. 75% of the staff were from Myanmar. When you want a check bin, they call over one of the Thai employees to help. Very strange. My friend runs a big factory. He says it's really hard getting workers. They keep getting lured away by other factories with promises of higher wages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaccha Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 At unemployment rate of 0.5 % makes it an employees' market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yes i also saw many indians and nepal people working and selling souvenirs to tourists in phuket. I had thought after the flood crisis in bangkok many people would be out of job and looking for one. But i was definitely wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMA_FARANG Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 The reality of the situation now is that it is difficult now for many average Thais and it's not going to change soon. The cost of living is going up for such staples as a plate of rice and pork (as an example)...and although that may be only 5 baht per meal...that's a lot for many working Thais when you add it up monthly. And....in case you don't know....many 10K baht monthly jobs are obtained by paying a "consideration" to someone to get them. As an experiment...just try living in Bangkok on 10K baht for a month. Bet you can't do it. That 10K job isn't such a good one anymore. And there are more workers from Burma, Loas, etc. willing to take them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jalansanitwong Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) There is a shophouse next to mine in Thonburi with 10 illegal Burmese living and working in it. This is typical of the situation in Thailand today.Yesterday the cops came around to pick up their monthly paypacket. Its very hard to get Thais to work for 180-200 baht a day expecially in Bangkok . Rampant inflation has pushed thousands out of Bangkok even though rent costs remain stable. Thais are heading back to the provinces and living in family compounds doing odd jobs here and there. Dont need much money to survive out there. More and more Thais expecially in Isan are looking for foreign men to sell off their women to. A family can get rich and build new homes if they can 'catch a farang'. The attitude today is ...."why work when you can make hundreds times more money simply having a farang on the Isan family tree". Thai men have offered me and others 100,000 b to find an old foreign man for their wives to marry and move o/seas. Thais dont wont to work anymore in Thailand. They will DEFINITELY work o/seas where they can and do make big money inEurope,USA and AUS. Edited March 12, 2012 by jalansanitwong 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pib Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Something has indeed changed since the late 2011 floods. As mentioned, many of the day laborers are from Myanmar (Burma) or the Issan area of Thailand. Many went home during the floods and many just didn't come back to Bangkok....guess they found jobs elsewhere...or when they left for the extended time it gave their employers an easy out in not hiring them back....like the employers had been looking for an easy (and cheap) way of letting the employees go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4evermaat Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 The reality of the situation now is that it is difficult now for many average Thais and it's not going to change soon. The cost of living is going up for such staples as a plate of rice and pork (as an example)...and although that may be only 5 baht per meal...that's a lot for many working Thais when you add it up monthly.And....in case you don't know....many 10K baht monthly jobs are obtained by paying a "consideration" to someone to get them. As an experiment...just try living in Bangkok on 10K baht for a month. Bet you can't do it. That 10K job isn't such a good one anymore. And there are more workers from Burma, Loas, etc. willing to take them It can be done, if you live in a box room with private toilet 1500-2000 baht; roommate can split that. If you walk to work you save there. Eating can take 2000-9000 baht/mo, depending on your habits, if boss . if you are on lower end, you can save money to send home. Yeah, 10,000 baht is difficult. If you do it alone and your income is irregular. If you drink alcohol, forget it. 10k bt can work after you are settled. "2nd best time to plant a tree is today." Sent from TV android app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Maybe you did not read this article?: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538397-thailand-short-of-construction-workers-after-myanmar-opens-its-country/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridaguy Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Tell me about it. I can't find workers. I have people that drive to the northeast and pick up workers, but even they say they can't find anyone willing to come like they used to. I could use 40-50 people tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKKjohan Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Same here, in need of two skilled sewing staff.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAZZELL Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 The sister-in-law was "flooded" out of her job at Seiko... Isn't going to go back as she's earning more working in a golf club... RAZZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryLH Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 "At unemployment rate of 0.5 % makes it an employees' market." Can you explain how this number was arrived at? I don't think it can be done with any certainty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4evermaat Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 ............. More and more Thais expecially in Isan are looking for foreign men to sell off their women to. A family can get rich and build new homes if they can 'catch a farang'. The attitude today is ...."why work when you can make hundreds times more money simply having a farang on the Isan family tree". Thai men have offered me and others 100,000 b to find an old foreign man for their wives to marry and move o/seas. Thais dont wont to work anymore in Thailand. They will DEFINITELY work o/seas where they can and do make big money inEurope,USA and AUS. Yeah. Sometimes when I say that I am out of money, my gf will say "have more in AEON [atm]" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saroq Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I believe that the wages in Thailand have never been adequate. My guess is that now the ruling elite have finally screwed the lower end of the population down so much that it isn't worth their while to get a job. Lots of foreigners I know have this belief that Thais can somehow do something magical to make 8K worth a lot more than it is to a farang. They can't, it's not enough to live on let alone work 10 hours a day 6 days a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaccha Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 "At unemployment rate of 0.5 % makes it an employees' market." Can you explain how this number was arrived at? I don't think it can be done with any certainty. This website puts the figure at 1% for last year: http://www.indexmundi.com/thailand/unemployment_rate.html But the real figure is probably lower. Take a look at the Bank of Thailand figures: http://www2.bot.or.th/statistics/BOTWEBSTAT.aspx?reportID=93&language=ENG I'd say 0.5 % is on the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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