Employment picture looks brighter for Thais, at home and abroad

Demand, both domestic and overseas, is picking up for Thai workers, with more than 140,000 positions expected to be opened next year, the Economic Cabinet meeting was told yesterday.

Of all 140,000 positions, some 48,000 would be in Taiwan, deputy government spokesman Watchara Kannikar said.

United Arab Emirates has 29,000 Thai workers, including 8,000 in Dubai.

The Dubai financial crisis resulted in only 41 of those Thai workers getting laid off while the legal deadlock that halted construction projects in the Map Ta Phut industrial area in Rayong has cost 40,000 workers their jobs.

Applications for unemployment insurance have fallen from 101,000 last February to fewer than 40,000 last November.

The prime minister has instructed the Labour Ministry to solve major local labour disputes, including two cases involving an undergarment maker and a US carmaker, Watchara added.