Thailand's Jobless Find Future Dim

by Prangtip Daorueng

The three construction workers left Amnatchareun village more than a month ago and came to Bangkok in search of jobs, bringing more than 100 kg of rice to see them through their stay here.

But weeks passed without success, so they headed to Phuket province in the south. But Phuket, which like Bangkok and the rest of Thailand had seen their real estate sectors collapse, also had no construction jobs to offer.

The three ended up selling the rice they had carried all the way from home and made $36.50 -- just enough to buy bus tickets back to their village.

"It used to be so good that we didn't have to go to Bangkok to look for jobs. They came to look for us in the village," said Samreng, 40, who like most construction workers in big cities usually leave home after the rainy season to find some work elsewhere.

"After this trip I realized there is no job left in town (Bangkok). I don't know what to do apart from working in the rice field at home," he explained.

But this simply does not work, Samreng says, because his inability to find a job in the city means his family cannot make ends meet in the village.

From the 4,000 baht ($97) a month he made from construction work, he used to send home 3,000 baht ($73) for his two children's schooling, electricity bills and fertilizer for the rice fields.

Now there is no money to send home and prospects for agriculture are poor. "There is no rain for the rice this year, which means we may not make any money. I will have to borrow money from someone in the market. The interest rate is 50 percent per three months, but I have no choice," Samreng said.

Samreng is one of Thailand's growing army of unemployed, as the jobless rate approaches 9 percent. Labor Minister Trairong Suvankiri says 2,000 people lose their jobs everyday, in an economy is expected to contract by 7 percent this year.

Not surprisingly, the unemployed are getting restless.

Early this month, 5,000 laid-off textile workers from the Thai Melon factory in Bangkok organized weeks of protest demanding compensation. A week after they got paid, another 5,000 workers from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which the government is closing down in three months, took to the streets.

Many complain that the government lacks workable plans to deal with the real issues of the poor, apart from giving small loans of 10,000 baht ($244) for unemployed workers to start a small business.

Trairong has his hands full. "Don't ask only me how to help the unemployed. The problem is too big for me to fight. You must ask the whole government about this," the labor minister said this week.

Lampai Orapa, who used to work at the Thai Melon factory, says the government just has to be more realistic in its solutions.

For instance, she said: "The government sent somebody to the factory to teach us how to make desserts to sell in case we lose our jobs. Well, if everybody went out to sell that dessert, who would the buyers be?"

"I have been working here for 15 years and had sent money to my family in the village every single month," Orapa said, saying it was impossible for her family there to live on the small earnings made from selling rice it cultivates.

"Now I have to go back to live with them without money. I don't know what our future will be," she explained.

The Forum of the Poor and some academics have criticized the policies pursued by the government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which led a $17.2 billion bail-out package to Thailand last year.

After reaching a new round of agreements with the Fund, the government is seeking Parliament's approval in order to get a $474 million tranche in funds in September.

"What the government is doing according to the policies initiated under the IMF is only an attempt to solve the problems of financial sector while the poor are neglected. It is unfair to make the poor pay for measures to solve economic problems caused by a minority," Suriya said.

Suriya pointed out that IMF-backed measures such as hiking value-added and oil taxes, removing subsidies for public services and privatizing state enterprises have hit the poor hardest.

The cost of living has soared since the IMF rescue plan took effect last year. Massive lay-offs are having a devastating effect on the agricultural sector, which relies on cash from rural migrants working in the cities.

"The recent government policy to help the poor, such as the loans for the unemployed, only delays social unrest. It doesn't help solve the real problem of poverty among the majority. I can't see any way out for the unemployed workers who go back to die in the village," she added.

Boonta Jansri, a 30-year-old former construction worker who returned to Baan Sai village in north-east Surin province, sees little choice but to plod along. Early this month he sold two water buffaloes for $244, to get fertilizer.

"I lost my job three months ago and now we have no money left at home. I don't know what to do next if rice is not good this year. All I do is just pray to Buddha to help us."