Cambodian workers flock into Thailand

BANGKOK, December 27 (TNA) - Cambodian workers are rushing into Thailand, where daily minimum wages will be raised to 300 baht in all areas nationwide as of January 1, 2013. Sombat Juengtrakul, vice president of the Association of Thai-Cambodian Border Traders in Thailand's eastern Chantaburi Province, told reporters on Thursday that at least 3,000 Cambodian people have crossed the border to find jobs in Chantaburi daily, just days before the nationwide 300 baht daily minimum wage takes effect. Sombat noted that most migrant workers go to factories and hold border crossing papers issued by the Thai and Cambodian governments, noting that with the documents, they can stay in Thailand for one year, instead of 7-15 days as previously. Reports said that Thai orchard owners and traders in Chantaburi are facing labor shortages, as their employment is not so long as that in factories. Meanwhile, the Kasikorn Research Center or KRC assessed that the higher wage should improve the life of millions of workers in Thailand, but it would affect about 2.3 million small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs which account for 99 per cent of overall business operators in Thailand. The Bangkok-based research house pointed out that unemployment would initially rise, though not considerably, as some business operators would reduce their workforces and the sizes of their businesses due to the wage hike. The leading Thai think tank predicted that jobless people in Thailand would stand at about 300,000 next year and the unemployment rate at 0.8 per cent, slightly higher than 0.7 per cent this year, suggesting that the Thai government improve workers’ capabilities and enhances local business operators’ abilities in cost management to boost their productivity with machineries. (TNA)