Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

A labour market profileThailand

ii Thailand A labour market profile

Copyright International Labour Organization 2013First published 2013

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Thailand A labour market profile ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok: ILO, 201373 p.

ISBN 9789221269038; 9789221269045 (web pdf)

Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

labour market / employment / unemployment / wages / labour shortage / labour migration / social protection / gender equality / Thailand

13.01.2

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Photos copyright ILOLayout by Sync Design Co. Ltd. ThailandPrinted in Thailand

iiiThailand A labour market profile

Thailand is an export-reliant, middle-income country that now confronts new challenges. The global situation remains unstable and volatile, which can seriously affect jobs in Thailand, especially in the export sector. On the other hand, as the 2015 Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic integration approaches, the labour market dynamics in the region are likely to change, which also will impact Thailands labour market. A comprehensive profile of the current labour market scenario based on reliable information is thus critical for policy-makers in the country.

This publication, Thailand A labour market profile, brings together available labour market indicators to provide the most up-to-date picture of the Thai labour market in a simple, easy-to-read style. It spans a wealth of socio-economic and labour market information from gross domestic product growth rates, disparities, employment and unemployment to migration, labour shortages and working time and includes the gender and regional implications. The impact of the recent economic crisis on the labour market is also assessed, and the final chapter provides some conclusions and recommendations.

The indicators presented in this report go beyond the usual labour market indicators and include demography, literacy and inequality data all of which are relevant for labour market policies. The choice of indicators was based on discussions with a number of colleagues in the Decent Work Team and Technical Cooperation projects working in Thailand and reflects the comments and queries that they received from partners and constituents. The document thus should be particularly useful for ILO constituents in Thailand representatives of government and workers and employers organizations and anyone else interested in knowing the current state of Thailands labour market.

This publication was prepared by Sukti Dasgupta, Ruttiya Bhula-or and Tiraphap Fakthong from the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, with contributions from Theerawit Chainarongsophon and Jiun Kim. Bill Salter, the previous Director of the ILO DWT for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific was very supportive of this work and provided several comments on earlier versions. Special thanks are also due to Jiyuan Wang, Director of the ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, whose guidance and support throughout the process has been noteworthy. The publication also benefitted extensively from reviews by ILO colleagues Nilim Baruah, Tuomo Poutainen, Max Tunon and Tite Habiyakare in Bangkok and Makiko Matsumoto and Miranda Kwong in Geneva. Comments received from colleagues in the Bank of Thailand, especially from Somsachee Siksamat, during seminars and discussions where these indicators were presented, are gratefully acknowledged. Karen Emmons edited the text and Masaki Matsumoto designed the presentation.

I gratefully acknowledge the financial contribution towards the editing and printing of the report from the ILO-IPEC Combatting the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Shrimp and Seafood Processing Areas in Thailand Project and the Tripartite Action to Protect Migrant Workers Within and From the Greater Mekong Subregion From Labour Exploitation (TRIANGLE) Project, both based in Bangkok, along with the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

This document is meant to be a quick reference that highlights the main socio-economic and labour market variables for Thailand. I am sure that it will be extremely useful for our constituents and others because it offers current and insightful details about the Thai labour market against the backdrop of an unstable global economy and the shadow of the European crisis, which continues to impact on growth and labour markets worldwide.

Yoshiteru UramotoRegional Director

ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Foreword

iv Thailand A labour market profile

Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Abbreviations and acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. Socio-economic issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1 GDP and GDP per capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Regional disparity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3. Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4. Literacy, school enrolment and skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4.1 Literacy rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4.2 School enrolment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4.3 Skills training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5. Labour force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.1 Labour force participation rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.2 Inactivity rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6. Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6.1 Employmentpopulation ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6.2 Employment by sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

6.3 Employment by status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6.4 Employment by occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

6.5 Employment by educational attainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

6.6 Working poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

6.7 Informal employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7. Unemployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

7.1 Unemployment rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .