Workers earn more money

Labourers today are becoming better educated, enabling them to earn more, although many are also increasingly in heavy debt, a new study has found.

Chuenruthai Kanjanajinda, of Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research, said 16% of labourers graduated from university last year, up from 10% of the labour force in 1999.

The higher education has allowed workers to get better-paid jobs. Many labourer families now earn more than 20,000 baht in combined income a month. But the study also found that the more the families earn, the higher their household debt.

The study was part of a report on Thai labourers' health released recently to coincide with Labour Day tomorrow. The report was jointly prepared by the institute and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.

Ms Chuenruthai said labourers aged from 15-29 suffer the most from accidents, psychiatric disorders and HIV/Aids. Also, more male labourers between the ages of 30-59 are suffering from cancer while more women in the same group develop coronary heart disease.

The study has also found two thirds of labourers are in the so-called non-mainstream labour sector in which they are not protected under labour laws. Non-mainstream workers are mostly in the farm, fish and handiwork industries.

According to the National Statistical Office's 2008 report, non-mainstream labourers suffer more injuries at work and work longer hours than those in sectors covered by labour laws.