Thai Airways expects to return to profit earlier than expected in the fourth quarter, aiming to cut 1,500 jobs this year under its recently approved restructuring plan. The airline also said it would shed more than a quarter of its full-time employees by 2018, the first major job cuts announcement since the plan was given … Continue reading
KEY FINDINGS In the last 20 years, East Asia Pacific saw rising productivity amid a brisk structural transformation, with large movements of people into cities and higher output in agriculture, manufacture and services. Countries that were poor a generation ago successfully integrated into the global value chain, taking advantage of low labor costs. The unprecedented … Continue reading
IN RECENT YEARS, Thai young people have grown less and less interested in studying at vocational schools. This is despite it being an educational model tailored to support students’ training for occupational competency in various business sectors Continue reading
The Ministry of Education is looking to boost the capacity of teachers at vocational schools in order to allow the yielding of quality vocational students to feed the labor market. According to Deputy Education Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana, the number of vocational students needs to be increased by 50% from the present due to the overwhelming … Continue reading
The cabinet has approved a cooperation treaty on vocational education development between Thailand and Germany aimed at bringing excellence to the Thai education. Mr. Tosaporn Sererak, spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office announced the outcomes of the cabinet meeting, saying the ministerial council has approved a treaty in which the Ministry of Education of Thailand … Continue reading
Thailand’s Bt300 minimum wage has attracted Khmer workers to leave Cambodia to work here in Thailand, causing Cambodia itself to have a labour shortage and to try to recruit Thai workers. Currently Cambodia is amid the cassava harvest season but as many Cambodian workers are now employed in Thailand due to the incentive of a … Continue reading
The Thai government, known for its string of populist policies including rice and fuel subsidies, is delighting working class voters (those with a job, anyway) with the introduction of a national minimum wage, which kicked in on January 1. The policy has already triggered fierce criticism in business circles and reports of job losses, particularly … Continue reading
Five to ten per cent of Thailand’s labour intensive businesses, unable to tolerate the new Bt300 daily minimum wage, will close down in the first quarter of this year, Federation of Thai Industries’ vice chairman Taweekit Chaturacharoenkhun predicted on Wednesday. He said labour intensive small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in the textile, service and agricultural … Continue reading
More than eight years have passed since Her Majesty the Queen lamented the effects of the brain drain caused by the mandatory retirement of civil servants at the age of 60. The Civil Service Commission agreed with her suggestions and in 2008 a legal amendment to the Civil Service Act was approved to allow a … Continue reading
Thailand’s private sector today called on the government to take serious action to alleviate entrepreneurs’ financial burdens after the January 1 nationwide increase of the daily minimum wage to Bt300. Payungsak Chartsutipol, president of the Federation of Thai Industries, said a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industries and Banking (JSCCIB) agreed to … Continue reading
Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) said on Friday it was investing 11 billion baht ($358 million) to build a second assembly plant in Thailand that will have an annual production capacity of 75,000 vehicles when it opens in August 2014. Capacity would eventually be raised to 150,000 vehicles. “Adding 150,000 units of production capacity will … Continue reading
Without help, 5 million underprivileged children whose parents cannot afford to give them a proper education are fated to become low-skilled workers, an outcome that could cost the country trillions of baht in the long run. To prevent this scenario, the Education Ministry has been urged to ensure that these children are properly educated. Amornwich … Continue reading
Everyone is moving to the city – and, especially, emerging market cities. According to a report by Credit Suisse this week, by 2037 half of the world’s population will live in one emerging market city or another. So where should investors look to first if they want to capitalize on this trend? Apparently the smart … Continue reading
Flooding in Thailand last year forced more than 45,000 people out of work and has put another 164,552 jobs at risk as 284 flood-hit firms have still not reopened, the state planning agency said in a report, adding that wage increases in April could add to the problem. The worst floods in decades battered seven … Continue reading