Job seekers look at vacant positions at the Labour Ministry on Jan 2, 2020 (Photo: https://www.bangkokpost.com/)Bangkok (VNA) – The number of unemployed workers inThailand reached 2.5 million in the first half of 2020, and will keep growingnext year if state stimulus packages are not strong enough to battle economicwoes, according to the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry andBanking (JSCCIB) of Thailand.
Supant Mongkolsuthree, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said theunemployment rate is expected to increase if the government's economic stimulusmeasures are not strong and many rehabilitation projects are delayed.
Many businesses, particularly those operating in tourism and export sectors,remain weak, though some have slowly recovered, he added.
Supant also expressed concern about a second wave of COVID-19 infections in thecountry as infection rates spike in many Asian countries, including Myanmar,which borders Thailand.
Kalin Sarasin, Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said JSCCIB will askthe government to abandon some unnecessary laws and regulations in order tofacilitate business operations.
Meanwhile, the Thai government has been promoting measures to createjobs, in the context that the country is trying to recover its economy from theeffects of the health crisis.
The Thai Ministry of Labour has planned to create year-long jobs for 260,000students graduating from universities and vocational schools. The budget forthis plan is expected to be 23.47 billion baht (750 million USD).
According to the National Economic and SocialDevelopment Council of Thailand (NESDC), the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in thesecond quarter of 2020 decreased by 12.2 percent year on year, the sharpestfall since the 1998 crisis./.
VNA
