World uncertainties linger, Thai jobless rate misleading: Supachai

[webfact]

ECONOMY
World uncertainties linger, Thai jobless rate misleading: Supachai
The Nation


Thai office workers pass an advertisement billboard at a business district in Bangkok. Thailand

BANGKOK: -- The global economy remains at risk, as major economies like the United States, the European Union and Japan are still confronting economic hardships, while Thailand has seen high numbers of disguised unemployed persons, the former secretary-general of the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said recently.

"The US, Europe and Japan continue their quantitative easing programmes. However, there's a question. Does the capital injection really create employment?

"Now, there's capital across the world but no investment has been made. That capital was used to buy debt instruments with the [uS] Federal Reserve," Supachai Panitchpakdi told a seminar on "Influence of the 2015 Global Economy on Thai Economy and Capital Markets".

The US economy has been seen by several parties as making a recovery, given its improvement in the unemployment rate from 9.8 per cent in 2008 to 5.8 per cent now. However, another "debt ceiling" is approaching, which could see the government shut down again if Congress does not agree to raise it, Supachai said.

Japan's economy has been sluggish for more than 20 years. It is also difficult to count on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" policies and his "three-arrow" approach.

Japan's population is also ageing, and older people mostly prefer to save money and stay at home rather than go out and spend.

China is a hope with a high economic growth rate, but some warn of likely property bubbles. "However, I expect China's [likely] bubbles can be controlled. It is a mixed liberal and controlled economy and measures can be used as appropriate," he said.

China, which is a major lender to the United States, also wants to internationalise its yuan and now, its foreign reserves are US$4 trillion.

"Thailand is an agricultural society. Its 0.9-per-cent unemployment rate may not be really [accepted] as the country has high disguised unemployment. Thailand has a high figure for off-season unemployment."

About 40 per cent of Thailand's workforce is in the agricultural sector, 40 per cent in service industries and 20 per cent in manufacturing. The agricultural sector has low productivity with average incomes of Bt27,000 per capita per year, while manufacturing sees Bt350,000 and services Bt150,000.

More than 75 per cent of all agricultural workers have only a primary-level education or lower. The solution to this is to upgrade Thailand to a manufacturing- or service-based economy and to increase income per capita. In the future, Thai society should be developed to be technology-oriented, Supachai said.

Thailand used to lure foreign direct investment with cheap land, wages and electricity, but now the country has to find other ways to attract investment, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/World-uncertainties-linger-Thai-jobless-rate-misle-30248081.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-19

[cloudhopper]

"More than 75 per cent of all agricultural workers have only a primary-level education or lower. The solution to this is to upgrade Thailand to a manufacturing- or service-based economy and to increase income per capita. In the future, Thai society should be developed to be technology-oriented, Supachai said."

No you fool the solution is to provide the ag workers with an education instead of an indoctrination. Where do you think all the customers able to buy the products and services will come from? These idiots think it can all be changed by a magic wand from Bangkok.

[ezzra]

With 2 millions civil servants working for the government and they still don't have a clue as to how

high is the unemployment rate is.. 0.9 ?? my eye.... more like 10-15% judging from all the loafers

that hangs around doing nothing all day but still, somehow, have money for beer and smokes...

[konying]

Blah blah blah, I am short staffed all year round. And an average length of employment is 1-2 month and not by my choice.

Hard to see thailand suffering from unemployment when 4 people are needed to do the job of 1

[slapout]

The unemployment figure published by the Thai government does seem to agree with one observation I have made over the past few years. Less than 1 % of the Thai who are not employed, want to WORK for someone else and earn a living wage, The rest seem content to scrounge, steal, scam, pimp, prostitute themselves, sell drugs, etc just as long as they can get by with it.

[konying]

The unemployment figure published by the Thai government does seem to agree with one observation I have made over the past few years. Less than 1 % of the Thai who are not employed, want to WORK for someone else and earn a living wage, The rest seem content to scrounge, steal, scam, pimp, prostitute themselves, sell drugs, etc just as long as they can get by with it.

I advertise for staff non stop 365 days per year.

On average 5 calls per day, 7 days per week. so thats 35 people calling per week, out of 35 calls only about 3 show up for interview.

99.9% of the time, their past work history is working at a place for 1-2 months.

99.9% of the time reason for leaving is "go home" or "mama sick"

Average time for break to "go home" or "mama sick" is 6 months

So in reality they work 2-3 months per year, while the rest of the time do as you mentioned.

Another interesting phenomenon, 99.9% of the time, 3 days after they started to work they try to borrow money from other staff.

99% of the time, even when desperate for money, they would not do OT.

99.99% of the time, do not even attempt to learn company rules or to follow any of it.

PS. Feel so much better after my rant

[BritManToo]

"About 40 per cent of Thailand's workforce is in the agricultural sector, 40 per cent in service industries and 20 per cent in manufacturing. The agricultural sector has low productivity with average incomes of Bt27,000 per capita per year, while manufacturing sees Bt350,000 and services Bt150,000."

​Agricultural workers have an average income of 27kbht/year ............... that's 2k/month!

[konying]

"About 40 per cent of Thailand's workforce is in the agricultural sector, 40 per cent in service industries and 20 per cent in manufacturing. The agricultural sector has low productivity with average incomes of Bt27,000 per capita per year, while manufacturing sees Bt350,000 and services Bt150,000."

​Agricultural workers have an average income of 27kbht/year ............... that's 2k/month!

Nah, they just work for 1 month and drink for another 11

[Tatsujin]

... the rest seem content to scrounge, steal, scam, pimp, prostitute themselves, sell drugs, etc just as long as they can get by with it.

Sounds just like the UK, except they get benefits too ...

[konying]

... the rest seem content to scrounge, steal, scam, pimp, prostitute themselves, sell drugs, etc just as long as they can get by with it.

Sounds just like the UK, except they get benefits too ...

You can also add Australia to that list, plus get rewarded for popping out kids every year.

[MaxLee]

ECONOMY

World uncertainties linger, Thai jobless rate misleading: Supachai

The migrant workers are doing most of the dirty work, so technically there are plenty of jobs available, but no regular Thai wants to do these jobs....

[Bluespunk]

"Japan's population is also ageing, and older people mostly prefer to save money and stay at home rather than go out and spend."

How selfish of them. How dare they prepare for old age in a fiscally prudent manner.

[Ulic]

With 2 millions civil servants working for the government and they still don't have a clue as to how

high is the unemployment rate is.. 0.9 ?? my eye.... more like 10-15% judging from all the loafers

that hangs around doing nothing all day but still, somehow, have money for beer and smokes...

When someone stops looking for a job they are no longer classified as unemployed. Yes maybe 10-15 percent

are loafing around drinking and playing cards, waiting on money from there hard working wives/girlfriends or

sisters who are working in Patong or Pattaya. Many businesses are looking for staff but Thais are flakes. Some

very hard working and industrious many, not so much. What I can safely say is there is work for any Thai that

wants to work. The ones that were working on the public land in Phuket illegally and tuk tuk/taxi drivers that are

complaining now are complaining because they made extraordinary amounts of money for the work they did.

So they want a return to the status quo. Which is understandable from there point of view. Many many businesses

in Phuket looking for workers but the jobs pay 9-12 K a month not 30-50 K.

[NongKhaiKid]

The unemployment figure published by the Thai government does seem to agree with one observation I have made over the past few years. Less than 1 % of the Thai who are not employed, want to WORK for someone else and earn a living wage, The rest seem content to scrounge, steal, scam, pimp, prostitute themselves, sell drugs, etc just as long as they can get by with it.

I advertise for staff non stop 365 days per year.

On average 5 calls per day, 7 days per week. so thats 35 people calling per week, out of 35 calls only about 3 show up for interview.

99.9% of the time, their past work history is working at a place for 1-2 months.

99.9% of the time reason for leaving is "go home" or "mama sick"

Average time for break to "go home" or "mama sick" is 6 months

So in reality they work 2-3 months per year, while the rest of the time do as you mentioned.

Another interesting phenomenon, 99.9% of the time, 3 days after they started to work they try to borrow money from other staff.

99% of the time, even when desperate for money, they would not do OT.

99.99% of the time, do not even attempt to learn company rules or to follow any of it.

PS. Feel so much better after my rant

In my time here I have never failed to be amazed at the amount of jobs Thais, especially the younger ones, have in a short period of time and the reasons, excuses they have for moving on.

A friend hired a young lady to work in his small office and having been unemployed for months seemed so ' keen ' to work.

On day one her only worry was where was the television for her to watch when she had nothing to do. Being told there was always something to do didn't seem to suit her and two days later she quit as the work was too taxing and she felt tired.

Not the first time I've heard that variation on a theme but after 3 days ?

[Pib]

"Thailand is an agricultural society. Its 0.9-per-cent unemployment rate may not be really [accepted] as the country has high disguised unemployment. Thailand has a high figure for off-season unemployment."

Where this article says "....the country has high disguised unemployment..." is a bulls-eye statement. Many have completely dropped out of the labor force because they can't find a descent job. And many don't even attempt to use govt agencies to find employment therefore the govt doesn't count them as unemployed because if people don't come to them saying they are unemployed/need a job then that must mean they have a job...count them as employed.

The govt official unemployment rate of only 0.9% is a facade with high unemployment behind it.

[tingtong]

"Thailand used to lure foreign direct investment with cheap land........"

Is he talking about the same Thailand where most foreigners cant on the land in the first place, cant own his company fully?

Btw, cheap land long gone...mid of nowhere US or Australia offers cheaper land prices than mid of nowhere Isaan...

The only place where foreign direct investment work is P2P business...khm, other places call prostitution, but we know there isn't such in Thailand.

[CaptHaddock]

"Thailand is an agricultural society. Its 0.9-per-cent unemployment rate may not be really [accepted] as the country has high disguised unemployment. Thailand has a high figure for off-season unemployment."

Where this article says "....the country has high disguised unemployment..." is a bulls-eye statement. Many have completely dropped out of the labor force because they can't find a descent job. And many don't even attempt to use govt agencies to find employment therefore the govt doesn't count them as unemployed because if people don't come to them saying they are unemployed/need a job then that must mean they have a job...count them as employed.

The govt official unemployment rate of only 0.9% is a facade with high unemployment behind it.

The official statistic may well undercount unemployment. After all, the US headline unemployment figure undercounts as well. But that being the case it is not clear that unemployment is actually high, at least in Bangkok and some other areas. The reason to hold that view is that Thais do quit jobs and get new ones readily. They don't worry about finding the next job when they quit one. This is very much in contrast with what I hear from the US where people worry about their next job if they leave the current one, although the situation in the US is also improving.

Anecdotes are not as good as statistics, of course. But the anecdotes I hear are not consistent with difficulty in finding employment. Not all of that can be put down to the poor Thai work ethic.

[useronthenet]

There will always be jobs for Thais given the hungry mouths, and the world must be fed with a growing population.

Rather off topic, and something to consider ... IMHO the Thai economy to a point is finely balanced, as it takes in most cases an uneducated, deprived, lacking in choice, a particular individual to produce the rice, chicken, fish, prawns, pineapples and anything else which involves labour-intensive, back breaking work to balance the books. If you educate the people, then it is quite reasonable to assume they will want to pursue a life according to their upbringing. Therefore, who will then be left to produce the food to substain the country ? The economy relies on this source to maintain the status quo, and there lies the paradox. Unless of course it would be prepared to import these commodies, but then it would struggle to balance the books. Thailand is not blessed with so many natural resources other than; quote "​Tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land". (Source: The World Fact Book) The country would have to seriously educate itself, and learn the skills to be able to compete should it wish to survive without relying on traditional methods, which at this rate will be a long time indeed.

[Prbkk]

2 disastrous failed policies come back to bite Thailand on the bum ( ...red, yellow, pink responsible, doesn't matter). First, failure to invest in a quality vocational education system ( although they did get some parts of it, relating to hospitality/cooking, close to ok, the rest is pretty awful). Second, the failure to pursue a quality english language program for students. They were on track about 30 years ago with some good initiatives but the have fallen away. A tragedy. A huge missed opportunity/own goal.

Also disappointing is the level of underemployment, almost 'shared poverty'...3 people doing the job of one and getting paid a pittance. Look no further than Big C or any of the mega stores to see that system in operation. I don't know what future these kids can have but it can't be good.

[IMA_FARANG]

With 2 millions civil servants working for the government and they still don't have a clue as to how

high is the unemployment rate is.. 0.9 ?? my eye.... more like 10-15% judging from all the loafers

that hangs around doing nothing all day but still, somehow, have money for beer and smokes...

----------------------

Of course the unemployment rate is woefully underreported.

Of 4 Thais I know who work and earn money, three of them have jobs that are not covered by any Thai government program, and therefore

are never reported in any Thai unemployment statistics.

They are what could be called "self employed workers".

Two of them have a market stall which sells custom jewelry and one of them drives a Tuk Tuk.

I know for a fact none of them has ever reported their income or received any attention whatsoever form any government official (except possibly being shaken down for a bribe to let them keep their stall running).

Since, by my personal experience 75% of the Thais I know are working, but not reported as so, I can not have great confidence in any Thai "employment" or "unemployment" figures, can I.

And , they are not "loafers", they help to support a family of 6 people.... not just for" beer and cigarettes" either.

[trainman34014]

Civil Servants jobs are overmanned by about 70-75%. Nice to have the whole family working in the same office and most of them walking around all day with one piece of paper whilst 'The Management' are not even there most of the time but out running private business of one sort or another.

One day all this is going to come back and bite Thailand's arse. Greece was doing something similar for about 40 years and creating millions of jobs that didn't exist......look what happened to them.

[maidee]

when you have a farang in the family, the family ATM buffalo, why go to work ... his wife can kick him out and they have a house to live, a new car, a fat bank account ...

[KhunBENQ]

0.9 % is a joke when viewed from the village perspective.

Many spend their off season time with very low paid homework like broom making.

200 Baht if they work hard from dusk to dawn.

The smarter ones (must be in the 6 digit range) will migrate to different countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Israel to name a few.

All hidden unemployment.

How can one create statistics for a country without any means of labor office/registered unemployment?

No UB40 for the villagers.

[sotsira]

What percentage of the population earns a living being self employed under the

radar.

Selling food on the streets and markets, running market stalls, being taxi drivers,

running convenient stores in their shop houses, hawking goods on the streets, working in illegal

establishments such as brothels and massage parlours etc,etc.

20%

30%

40%

50%

????

[Thai at Heart]

"About 40 per cent of Thailand's workforce is in the agricultural sector, 40 per cent in service industries and 20 per cent in manufacturing. The agricultural sector has low productivity with average incomes of Bt27,000 per capita per year, while manufacturing sees Bt350,000 and services Bt150,000."

​Agricultural workers have an average income of 27kbht/year ............... that's 2k/month!

But putting in place some kind of a subsidy would be apparently immoral.....

[retsdon]

2 disastrous failed policies come back to bite Thailand on the bum ( ...red, yellow, pink responsible, doesn't matter). First, failure to invest in a quality vocational education system ( although they did get some parts of it, relating to hospitality/cooking, close to ok, the rest is pretty awful). Second, the failure to pursue a quality english language program for students. They were on track about 30 years ago with some good initiatives but the have fallen away. A tragedy. A huge missed opportunity/own goal.

Also disappointing is the level of underemployment, almost 'shared poverty'...3 people doing the job of one and getting paid a pittance. Look no further than Big C or any of the mega stores to see that system in operation. I don't know what future these kids can have but it can't be good.

You need to have worked in the Thai education system to fully comprehend just how utterly atrocious it is. The whole edifice is rotted through with corruption, ignorance, laziness, and indifference. Education itself is barely on the agenda. The system is simply a cash cow to be milked for all it's worth by anyone who can get their snouts to the trough. A terrible, terrible indictment of the country.

[Thai at Heart]

2 disastrous failed policies come back to bite Thailand on the bum ( ...red, yellow, pink responsible, doesn't matter). First, failure to invest in a quality vocational education system ( although they did get some parts of it, relating to hospitality/cooking, close to ok, the rest is pretty awful). Second, the failure to pursue a quality english language program for students. They were on track about 30 years ago with some good initiatives but the have fallen away. A tragedy. A huge missed opportunity/own goal.

Also disappointing is the level of underemployment, almost 'shared poverty'...3 people doing the job of one and getting paid a pittance. Look no further than Big C or any of the mega stores to see that system in operation. I don't know what future these kids can have but it can't be good.

You need to have worked in the Thai education system to fully comprehend just how utterly atrocious it is. The whole edifice is rotted through with corruption, ignorance, laziness, and indifference. Education itself is barely on the agenda. The system is simply a cash cow to be milked for all it's worth by anyone who can get their snouts to the trough. A terrible, terrible indictment of the country.

Well I suppose this can be universally covered by the ever increasing permissiveness and corruption in the culture.

If they had cleared that up, by now it would be the second generation entering a society with corruption on a level to Singapore. The education would have taken care of itself because people would not buy their way to a degree or result .

Corruption is the root of all problems.

[marcusd]

Well.. How are you going to compete in the services industry when service is a word no one in Thailand really understands and secondly, the English for business is amongst if not the worst in the world

[marcusd]

With 2 millions civil servants working for the government and they still don't have a clue as to how

high is the unemployment rate is.. 0.9 ?? my eye.... more like 10-15% judging from all the loafers

that hangs around doing nothing all day but still, somehow, have money for beer and smokes...

There are only 2 lessons successfully taught that ALL Thai people understand.

1. How to grade rice

2. How to find a farang

All problems solved this way

[marcusd]

The unemployment figure published by the Thai government does seem to agree with one observation I have made over the past few years. Less than 1 % of the Thai who are not employed, want to WORK for someone else and earn a living wage, The rest seem content to scrounge, steal, scam, pimp, prostitute themselves, sell drugs, etc just as long as they can get by with it.

I advertise for staff non stop 365 days per year.

On average 5 calls per day, 7 days per week. so thats 35 people calling per week, out of 35 calls only about 3 show up for interview.

99.9% of the time, their past work history is working at a place for 1-2 months.

99.9% of the time reason for leaving is "go home" or "mama sick"

Average time for break to "go home" or "mama sick" is 6 months

So in reality they work 2-3 months per year, while the rest of the time do as you mentioned.

Another interesting phenomenon, 99.9% of the time, 3 days after they started to work they try to borrow money from other staff.

99% of the time, even when desperate for money, they would not do OT.

99.99% of the time, do not even attempt to learn company rules or to follow any of it.

PS. Feel so much better after my rant

What business are you in? It may be just your industry