February 19, 2009
Bangkok (Own Source) – Factory workers might be forced to go back to their rural lands as the unemployment situation tends to be worsened in the coming months.
Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij warned Thai people of negative employment outlook as the country is experiencing the economic downturn and the impact of the global financial crisis.
Thailand’s export sector is hit hard by decreasing demand from the West and Japan.
It is possible that the job crisis will be worse than that of the post-financial crisis period in 1997 when 56 finance firms became bankrupt.
"It will be bad... This time we don't have the same cushion, virtually every sector is struggling," Korn told AFP.
The agricultural sector is still okay but is not strong enough to absorb job losses from the industrial sector. The export sector is becoming weak.
The Abhisit government has already approved 2,000-baht grants to nine million Thai people to help them cope with the economic recession.
"I would bet that the majority of the recipients will have spent that money within a week of receiving it," said Korn.
The policy was criticized by the pro-Thaksin group saying the government imitated former premier Thaksin’s populist policy.
The cabinet on Tuesday approved a budget deficit of 390 million baht for the 2010 fiscal year.
