Thai unemployment rate almost reaches 500,000 in June 2014

[Thai at Heart]

And you are absolutely wrong about hours worked for the definition of employment. There is a minimum over a time period for the measurement as to whwther someone is statistically employed.

Once again you are not talking about unemployment but rather underemployment. And once again, I will suggest you understand what unemployment measures before arguing about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underemployment

Underemployment is when a worker is employed, but his or her work hours and/or wages are less than what the worker seeks or has been previously at.

Unemployment is the measure of people able to work and looking for work but not working.

No. In order to have been counted as employed, you need to have undertaken a certain amout of paid work within the previous specified amount of time. Yes, looking for work but not working. However, of course, underemployment isn't measured. So Somchai working on the farm, is not measured as unemployed with no respect to his position, since he is not actively seeking work other than to be on the farm.

So yes, the 1% does not take any measure of the underemployment in Thailand which is a very important caveat. It also makes no measure of the issue as to whether it is possible to support oneself on the type of work provided. Hence the discussion of the fact that in the UK, unemployment as an absolute is reducing, but zero hours contracts are flourishing greatly. Throw in the forced nature of making people prove they are looking for work and then the numbers will change.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/06/art1full.pdf

Check page 5. Biiiig caveats here

Treatment of unpaid family workers - ILO = Employed. USA = Possibly Unemployed.

So housewives, people helping on the farm, etc etc are counted as EMPLOYED in this measure.

Many many local caveats in all surveys that need to be considered beyond using an absolute percentage as a useful number.

[Thai at Heart]

It is on paper 1% with the extremely obvious caveat that Thailand has an enormous subsistence level farming population and an enormous amount of underemployment.

So, the issue is, that just like anywhere in the world , if you just loom at the stat, its 1%, but it is very worthy of investigation and should be understood before comparison with the west.

If everyone is crying out for workers how come starting salaries are so incredibly low and there are often many multiple applicants for the same jobs?

If enemployment is so low, how did it take my niece a year to find a job paying more than 12k per month. Surely wage inflation would be going bonkers without the need for minimum wage changes?

Once again you are off on issues that have nothing to with my simply stating the unemployment rate in Thailand. I was not comparing it to the west, I originally stated it as a comment regarding the the OP about the number of unemployed in Thailand currently (not the west).

So, is 1%, if you are running the country a useful number in terms of solving the current issues facing the country?

I say not. If so, it's not relevant...

[gemini81]

Suthep has a lot to answer for....

His party wasn't in office, nor was he the PM. He showed us what a farce they were that they can't manage an old fart on the streets, let alone an ant farm. PTP is done. Accept it.

[JohnThailandJohn]

It is on paper 1% with the extremely obvious caveat that Thailand has an enormous subsistence level farming population and an enormous amount of underemployment.

So, the issue is, that just like anywhere in the world , if you just loom at the stat, its 1%, but it is very worthy of investigation and should be understood before comparison with the west.

If everyone is crying out for workers how come starting salaries are so incredibly low and there are often many multiple applicants for the same jobs?

If enemployment is so low, how did it take my niece a year to find a job paying more than 12k per month. Surely wage inflation would be going bonkers without the need for minimum wage changes?

Once again you are off on issues that have nothing to with my simply stating the unemployment rate in Thailand. I was not comparing it to the west, I originally stated it as a comment regarding the the OP about the number of unemployed in Thailand currently (not the west).

So, is 1%, if you are running the country a useful number in terms of solving the current issues facing the country?

I say not. If so, it's not relevant...

Did I imply in anyway it was? Is the OP about all the current issues facing the country or was it just about recent unemployed poll? Once again, you want to try to argue with me about something I never said and argue with me about a simple fact I stated that is accepted as fact by all recognized authorities in the world. But if it makes you feel better, if the numbers in the article are right, then the next unemployment figures released will probably go just above 1%.

But once again, I suggest you do some research on the definition of unemployment, underemployment as well as consider you are reading a whole lot into and getting your panties all bunched up over a simple factual comment that unemployment in Thailand has been running under 1%.

Edited July 28, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[JohnThailandJohn]

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Thailand unemployment rate is still under 1%

That would imply that there are more than 50 million workers in this country!

The more I think about this and looking at the math, it would seem if the numbers in the article are official then the unemployment rate for June would be around 1.1% if the workforce is about 40,000,00 which I believe (think) is what it is.

Good catch, I was just going by official unemployment rate numbers and had not even considered the math of the numbers in the article.

Edited July 28, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[primapagina]

Although the social aspects are more important, businesses rely on some unemployment. Full employment means salaries rise fast, recruitment becomes a nightmare, and turnover affects the organizations, which is what I guess happens in Thailand very often. From the company perspective, a very high employment rate is not so good....

[PaulHamon]

500,00 is not a rate, what a badly written headline.

0.448 (unemployed people) / 66.79 (pop of Thailand) = less than 7/10 of a percentile

Ok... let's assume not everyone is working age, looking for a job, etc and for argument sake that it's 50% of the population are in this category.

1.4% - THE RATE IS GOD DAMN LOW.

[Deli]

My friend has a Restaurant, can't find neither a cook nor service staff...and he pays well.

My company is looking for qualified English speaking staff since months... no reasonable replies to the adds...

My GF can't take a break, as she can't find suitable staff for her shop...

Unemployment ???

[SoFarAndNear]

1% unemployment rate. Now that is a dream number for most western countries

[belg]

well, scare of the cambodians & myanmar people and plenty of jobs for thais ? or they think they are to good for menial work at a slave wage ?

[jonclark]

Take a walk through a few major shopping malls and note down the signs being posted outside the entrances of shops and restaurants stating staff wanted.

Jobs are available for those seeking them. Problem for those unemployed are they are either too lowly educated for the jobs, or too choosy.

A large number of them (from my rather rudimentary reading of Thai) appear to be part time and whilst they offer a wage- ( and I agree that some money is better than no money) - is too low to live on.

I don't claim to be in the know, but I wonder just how much a shop assistant gets paid by the hour / per day. I know the minimum is 300 baht a day (supposedly) but how many hours constitutes 'a day' 6, 8 10? - Anyone know? Because legally all the shop store would have to do is offer fewer hours then a 'legal day' and bingo the rate goes hourly which I would expect runs to about 40 baht an hour or similar and a 6 hour day equal 240 baht a day - six days a week roughly 1500 baht a week minus expenses.

Would you work for $50 a week?

[rethaier]

There can be only 2 reasons for not finding a job - lack of English or just plain lazy (maybe both ?)

Laziness I can buy but how does lack of English fit in the equation?

[weegee]

There would probably be 500,000 in the work force, if they introduced Social Security (dole).....That, Thailand could not afford.

[razer]

I think there will be a continued rise in unemployment of university graduates after ASEAN kicks in, simply because multinational companies will be able to find better educated graduates within the ASEAN community who have very good English skills. This will balance out and decline when the Thai education system improves to match university education with business needs.

[DinoSabanovic]

There can be only 2 reasons for not finding a job - lack of English or just plain lazy (maybe both ?)

You do know we are talking about Thailand do you?

What is amazing here that I cannot understand...

I can walk 2-3 km with no problem at all and whole city is within 5 km range, but locals take motorbike to neighbor 7/11 only 30 meter away.

Bank is about 100 meter from our house and my wife don't want to walk because "it's to far" so I have to go on ATM most of the time. rofl.

Lazy? You kidding , right?

[MikeN]

I guess the 200,000 up on the same period as last year will mainly be down to the crashing tourism and associated businesses.

Only the beginning, look for double that figure this time next year unless there are drastic changes in policy.

To say nothing of 500 MPs and 150 senators, each with drivers, PAs, security and lord knows what other hangers-on that are all out of a job

[ginjag]

There can be only 2 reasons for not finding a job - lack of English or just plain lazy (maybe both ?)

You do know we are talking about Thailand do you?

What is amazing here that I cannot understand...

I can walk 2-3 km with no problem at all and whole city is within 5 km range, but locals take motorbike to neighbor 7/11 only 30 meter away.

Bank is about 100 meter from our house and my wife don't want to walk because "it's to far" so I have to go on ATM most of the time. rofl.

Lazy? You kidding , right?

Time for change, give her a backhander. ( 2 meanings)

[englishoak]

Human obsolescence, get used to it

[Pundi6446]

Where in Bangkok alone, this seems to be a low number for all of Thailand

[NoshowJones]

Suthep has a lot to answer for....

Typical reply--expected of you.

Low season, exports down, students not working, laziness--not wanting manual/hard work, tourism down due to ???

All Sutheps fault, nothing to do with the ex non governing corrupt government, pathetic reply.

Suthep caused lots of people to lose their jobs. who does the general not put him in jail?

[Boatfreak]

They are going to be a lot more when the leaving farangs wil not hire 4 Thai for one farang anymore....even if they were just paying their social contribution.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Boatfreak

[jpduggan]

There can be only 2 reasons for not finding a job - lack of English or just plain lazy (maybe both ?)

Ya in England but what's the reason here?

[jimbeam1]

The amount of people i see riding around on there motorbikes I would have thought it would have been a lot higher.

Ah most of those aren't in the system, so don't count.

jb1

[Hawk]

I have a degree so no way I am working at a 7/11 so I will remain at home lounging about (forever) until someone offers me an executive job with starting pay of 50,000 baht.

I have zero experience but I have a degree so that's all that matters.

[wabothai]

are those the ones who are collecting unemployment benefits? Just asking.

[scoutman360]

I was at a Thai restaurant outside Bangkok with my Thai colleagues from work. They couldn't communicate with the staff. When I asked them, what's the problem? They said the staff cannot speak Thai, they are from Myanmar. Thai people don't want to work this job.

[happydude303]

These figure are they for Bangkok or the whole country ?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[3NUMBAS]

how would they know for sure since theres no way of counting them as people dont sign on every week for benefits

ladies of the night and pimps wont figure in the total

[wiki12]

There was the story from my company when a Thai captain (based in a shore-side office) started crying as the job his farrang boss asked him to go and do 'was beneath him.'

If qualified grown men behave like this, someone with potentially the responsibility of many lives if he (unlikely) returned to sea, one has to look down on the mind set of Thais.

[JohnThailandJohn]

And you are absolutely wrong about hours worked for the definition of employment. There is a minimum over a time period for the measurement as to whwther someone is statistically employed.

Once again you are not talking about unemployment but rather underemployment. And once again, I will suggest you understand what unemployment measures before arguing about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underemployment

Underemployment is when a worker is employed, but his or her work hours and/or wages are less than what the worker seeks or has been previously at.

Unemployment is the measure of people able to work and looking for work but not working.

No. In order to have been counted as employed, you need to have undertaken a certain amout of paid work within the previous specified amount of time. Yes, looking for work but not working. However, of course, underemployment isn't measured. So Somchai working on the farm, is not measured as unemployed with no respect to his position, since he is not actively seeking work other than to be on the farm.

So yes, the 1% does not take any measure of the underemployment in Thailand which is a very important caveat. It also makes no measure of the issue as to whether it is possible to support oneself on the type of work provided. Hence the discussion of the fact that in the UK, unemployment as an absolute is reducing, but zero hours contracts are flourishing greatly. Throw in the forced nature of making people prove they are looking for work and then the numbers will change.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/06/art1full.pdf

Check page 5. Biiiig caveats here

Treatment of unpaid family workers - ILO = Employed. USA = Possibly Unemployed.

So housewives, people helping on the farm, etc etc are counted as EMPLOYED in this measure.

Many many local caveats in all surveys that need to be considered beyond using an absolute percentage as a useful number.

What is so difficult for you to grasp or accept ... Unemployment is the percentage of people in the total workforce (those working plus those looking for work) that want to work, are able to work and are SEEKING work but have not found it. It is not a measure of the employed and it is not a measure of the underemployed. This is not a standard to Thailand but pretty much the accepted standard around the globe. The US counts it this way and so does the UK with little variance .... http://www.bbc.com/news/business-22870886

UK: To count as unemployed, people have to say they are not working, are available for work and have either looked for work in the past four weeks or are waiting to start a new job they have already obtained. Someone who is out of work but doesn't meet these criteria counts is NOT counted as unemployed.

You are just going round and round in circles when the bottom line is Thailand's unemployment rate is about 1% and this is not only fact but a fact based on the international accepted standards to count unemployment and is a figure excepted by the international community.

You can mix in whatever stats and figures you want but this fact is not really disputable yet you keep trying to dispute it by talking about things that have nothing to do with this fact. Little variences is how folks are counted make statically little difference when comparing these rates.

Edited July 28, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn