November 18, 2008
Bangkok - 163 enterprises have already ended their operations due to the financial crisis, and 18,249 employees lost their jobs, according to the labor ministry.
It was previously reported eight enterprises stopped running their businesses in a week.
The total number of closed enterprises rose to 133 last week. 15,056 employees were unemployed, according to the ministry’s report.
The highest number of closed enterprises seemed to be in the north. 30,000-100,000 employees in Ayutthaya’s electronics industry were said to be laid off.
The unemployment situation is closely watched in five surrounding provinces where a lot of industries open.
81 more enterprises tend to lay off their employees, which will raise the number of the unemployed to 39,751.
Employees who have work-related problems can contact the hotline 1546.
The industrial sector’s orders have dropped 10-30%. As a result, investment in this sector will slow down for 1-2 years.
It was estimated that not less than one million people would be laid off next year.
