Bt300 million set aside to find jobs for the unemployed

The Labour Ministry has prepared Bt300 million to find short-term jobs for workers who remained in their home towns after going there for Songkran because factories had folded and farmers were awaiting the next growing season.

The jobs, at various state projects upcountry under the "Three Less, Three More" scheme, would provide each worker with Bt150 on a daily basis for 20 days, said Labour Minister Phaithoon Kaeothong.

He added that unemployed |workers in Bangkok would join |the "Tonkla Acheep" vocational-|training programme.

He also urged some 100,000-200,000 receptionists and tour guides who had lost their jobs due to a plunge in tourist numbers to contact the one-stop service centre in each province as there were nearly 120,000 positions available.

In related news, deputy permanent secretary for labour Pornchai Yooprayong said the global economic downturn had caused 1,000 out of 510,000 Thai workers abroad to lose their jobs.

Of these, 300 were in the Middle East and wished to return home because countries there had suspended construction projects.

He said Kasikorn Research Centre's projected figure of 200,000 Thais losing their jobs aboard was too high, and added that he would contact the centre for information to assess the situation.

He also said that related agencies would hold a meeting tomorrow to study the impact of unemployment in the tourism and industrial sectors and to find measures to assist laid-off workers.