Thai Cabinet OKs Bt6.5-bn job creation scheme

[webfact]

JOB CREATION
Cabinet OKs Bt6.5-bn job creation scheme
Erich Parpart
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet has approved job-creation measures worth Bt6.529 billion in a bid to boost grass-roots purchasing power amid the slowdown of domestic consumption that was brought on by the economic slump that began last year, high household debt, and natural disasters.

The programme consists of nearly 5,000 projects that would create enough jobs to affect about 2 million households. The projects, which would comprise 6,740 "activities", are largely aimed at the agricultural sector.

Meanwhile, Thailand is seeking bilateral trade relations with South Korea, as trade ties between the two countries currently exist only within the Asean framework.

Under the job-creation scheme, the Cabinet yesterday approved 4,966 projects. Besides directly creating employment, the projects aim to reduce various agricultural production costs.

"The aim is to help farmers and low-income earners and to stimulate the grass-roots economy, which currently needs the most help from the government," said Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda, whose ministry is spearheading the measures.

The Bt6.529-billion cost of the projects will be allocated from the fiscal 2015 central budget, which was set at Bt80 billion at the beginning of the fiscal year. Budget Bureau director Somsak Chotrattanasiri did not reveal how much of the central budget has been disbursed or how much is left, as that is confidential information between the bureau and the prime minister, who has direct authority over its disbursement.

Anupong said the hiring, procurement and contract signings were expected to be completed by the end of this month and the disbursement of the budget was expected to begin by September.

"The disbursement of the budget is expected to be fast, as these are existing projects that have had some preparation in terms of the procurement process, and the majority of the projects are in clusters that consist of collective aims," he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Government Spokesman Maj-General Weerachon Sukhonthapatipak said the government was seeking to further the Kingdom's trade ties with South Korea via a bilateral free-trade agreement.

"There is huge potential in furthering Thailand's trade ties with South Korea, as the trade value between the two countries is currently only US$1.3 billion, while that between Thailand and Japan is $6.3 billion and that with China is $6.5 billion," he said.

"The only trade agreement between Thailand and South Korea currently is under the South Korean-Asean framework, but Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia all have FTAs with South Korea, so the Cabinet believes there is a possibility to increase the trade relationship with South Korea," he said.

Weerachon said the Thai side had reviewed the benefits it would enjoy by increasing trade ties between the two countries and has proposed measures to reduce tax and non-tax trade barriers, while South Korea had proposed measures to boost and facilitate bilateral investments.

"The Cabinet has approved the Thai proposals and the government along with the South Korean government is currently reviewing the proposed measures before making it into a reality as soon as possible," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Cabinet-OKs-Bt6-5-bn-job-creation-scheme-30265878.html


-- The Nation 2015-08-05

[Pormax]

This is a bit contradictory to the claims that Thailand has 0% unemployment. Ok we all know that this is not true and this supposed action confirms it.

[Thai at Heart]

They might as well have paid the rice farmers a 500 baht per kilo subsidy.......

[ramrod711]

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet has approved job-creation measures worth Bt6.529 billion in a bid to boost grass-roots purchasing power amid the slowdown of domestic consumption that was brought on by the economic slump that began last year, high household debt, and natural disasters.

They have already created new opportunities for bar and liquor sales employees and probably for enforcement personnel to find new jobs.

[bangkokfrog]

Nice to see so much of the money being spent on the environment. How about using some of it to replant all the encroached forests that the big man he was going to take back?

[Lunchbob]

I wonder if any of the approved projects are described in English. Would be jnteresting to get involved and help somehow.

[Orac]

Interesting that budget dispersement has now become confidential information.

[bamnutsak]

They might as well have paid the rice farmers a 500 baht per kilo subsidy.......

Unfortunately this would probably just be used to pay down existing debt, ending up right back in the pockets of those who already have a lot of disposable income,but are still not stimulating the economy, enough.

It is very challenging to stimulate the economy with government schemes, not impossible, but still much easier to make things worse, rather than better.

[Krataiboy]

Why are their no job centres in Thailand, along the lines of those which exist in other countries? A present, as I discovered when my two oldest boys left vocational training college, finding suitable work can be a very laborious and somewhat hit-and-miss affair.

The problem is only large organisations and government agencies tend to advertise on TV or in newspapers, generally for people with university degrees or similar qualifications. Most youngsters leaving school or college with less distinguished qualifications have to rely on tip-offs from friends and relatives or wander round, looking for "Vacancies" signs outside shops, factories and offices.

In a high-tech age like ours this is ludicrous and unnecessary..

A state-run national network of job centres could easily be established, using the computers in existing national and local government offices to store information on job vacancies and job seekers. Employing the relatively few extra staff needed to run the network would itself help reduce the national unemployment figure.

If the government is not interested, there is an obvious golden opportunity here for some enterprising entrepreneur to launch a potentially profitable business in their own backyard.

[Krataiboy]

If the government is truly concerned about unemployment, it should start by setting up a national network of job centres such as exist in most developed countries..

This could easily be created at minimal cost, utilising the computer systems at government and municipal offices to store information on job seekers and job vacancies.

The recruitment of additional staff required to screen employers and job applicants would in itself help reduce the overall unemployment figure and be more than compensated by faster filling of vacancies and fewer square pegs in round holes.

If the present administration is unwilling to act, perhaps some enterprising entrepreneur has the nouse to recognise a potentially profitable venture when he or she sees one.

Anything has to be better than the present situation where millions of job seekers are expected rely on tip-offs from relatives and friends and wander the streets looking for “Vacancies” signs outside shops, offices and factories.

[talisman01]

I agree with you that it can be hard for non-degree holders to find jobs in Thailand without a tip-ff or a contact. It also depends greatly on location as well. I know so many school leavers who have left my village, and other nearby villages, in rural Isaan for the only work they can find which was in Bangkok. It is so sad that there are so few, if any, opportunities for young people away from the big cities.

[phoenixdoglover]

I'm viewing this with a little skepticism. The article clearly indicates the projects have been long in the planning and procurement phase, and that is why they will be started in a matter of weeks.

This announcement just looks like a repackaging of efforts, with a sort of PR spin. The government has been under criticism just within the past few weeks about the lack of action on addressing economic issues. Now, voila, thousands of ready "projects" are being rolled out as a "job creation scheme".

I think it is more likely that the call went out to some ministries to make lists of all their current projects, and then the lists were consolidated, and a nice message was attached. "Job creation" got the nod as the reason for the projects. But probably many of these projects were conceived for a wide variety of reasons, and job creation might be only a secondary consideration.

Moreover, it's not obvious this 6.5 billion would represent spending over and above regular annual spending on similar initiatives. The "confidentiality" of the budget/spending figures makes it impossible to determine this. If the spending levels are not above average, economic stimulus and job creation are not likely to be above average.

It could be that many of the projects are worthwhile. But how could this be judged? These are the kinds of questions that recur frequently in a non-transparent environment.

[tomacht8]

Cabinet OKs Bt6.5-bn job creation scheme.

How stingy, only 6.5bn,
but want to buy 3 submarines for 36bn.
Shame On You.

Edited August 5, 2015 by tomacht8

[casualbiker]

Why are their no job centres in Thailand, along the lines of those which exist in other countries? A present, as I discovered when my two oldest boys left vocational training college, finding suitable work can be a very laborious and somewhat hit-and-miss affair.

The problem is only large organisations and government agencies tend to advertise on TV or in newspapers, generally for people with university degrees or similar qualifications. Most youngsters leaving school or college with less distinguished qualifications have to rely on tip-offs from friends and relatives or wander round, looking for "Vacancies" signs outside shops, factories and offices.

In a high-tech age like ours this is ludicrous and unnecessary..

A state-run national network of job centres could easily be established, using the computers in existing national and local government offices to store information on job vacancies and job seekers. Employing the relatively few extra staff needed to run the network would itself help reduce the national unemployment figure.

If the government is not interested, there is an obvious golden opportunity here for some enterprising entrepreneur to launch a potentially profitable business in their own backyard.

Not 100% sure but I think that's one of the roles of the Labour office.

[Chicog]

Should probably be entitled "oks Bt6.5Bn wealth distribution scheme".

[phoenixdoglover]

Let's do some calculations to try to scope out the magnitude of a 6.5 billion baht "job creation scheme".

I've got 3 perspectives.

1) 6.5 billion spending on 5,000 projects is 1.3 million baht per project (about US $37,000). These aren't big projects on average.

2) With a population of 67 million, Thailand has about 40 million people in the workforce, of which about 40% are in the informal, underemployed sector, about 17 million Thais. Of those, perhaps 50% are either continuously underemployed or working only on a seasonal basis

This leads to a rough guess of 8.5 million people whose job situation is bad. These people could be helped by a job creation scheme. However at 6.5 billion spending, that's just 750 baht per person, if spread out to those "jobless" folks. That seems like a very small amount.

3) Let's turn it around. If we are spending 6.5 billion, and we want to create jobs that might be sustained, we might pump in training costs or job subsidies equivalent to 2 months wages, and hope this is enough to get the ball rolling (I would expect only partial sustained success). So 2 months minimum wage at 300 baht per day is about 13,000 baht.

That is enough to jump start employment for 500,000 people. This is roughly 6% of the "badly underemployed" as estimated above. Or about 1.2% of the total workforce.

So this last estimate suggests, if the money were perfectly spent, and the job creation were sustained, a good result could be expected for some people.

But this is Thailand. So I feel it is fair to apply a sort of discount factor to the spending efficacy.

All in all, it's more than "a drop in the bucket", but not much more.

(Now, if that much touted submarine budget were re-purposed for job creation..... )

Edited August 5, 2015 by phoenixdoglover

[swissie]

This is a bit contradictory to the claims that Thailand has 0% unemployment. Ok we all know that this is not true and this supposed action confirms it.

..... and the annual inflation rate is 3,5 %

[Nigeone]

This is a bit contradictory to the claims that Thailand has 0% unemployment. Ok we all know that this is not true and this supposed action confirms it.

Yes how's this going to work? Not only there's supposed to be 0% unemployment but many employers say the Thais who come for jobs don't want to work. So where are this work force going to come from? For all these new jobs. And more importantly who's going to oversee these schemes which is more of an issue!

Edited August 5, 2015 by Nigeone

[Pormax]

This is a bit contradictory to the claims that Thailand has 0% unemployment. Ok we all know that this is not true and this supposed action confirms it.

Yes how's this going to work? Not only there's supposed to be 0% unemployment but many employers say the Thais who come for jobs don't want to work. So where are this work force going to come from? For all these new jobs. And more importantly who's going to oversee these schemes which is more of an issue!

To say many Thai people do not want to work maybe a bit harsh though I agree some are lazy, however would you want to work for 400B a day and then find the 'boss' will not pay.

This happens to a lot of people who go to work on building sites. Many from my village suffer this fate with the pay day being delayed or in some cases never being paid.

No doubt the 'Boss' knows there is nothing the workers can do about this as there are no contracts and so they leave and look elsewhere for work.

Meanwhile the 'Boss' knows it is easy to get new workers and he has saved himself a shed load of money by not paying for the labour.