BANGKOK, Jan 27 — More workers are expected to be unemployed after last year’s flood crisis reduced forward purchase orders for some factories while others shifted their production to other provinces to avoid a repetition of flood problems, according to a senior labour official.
Labour Protection and Welfare Department Director-General Arthit Isamo said that starting from the end of January, the establishments that were affected by the flood would terminate more contracts with their employees due to the lack of advance purchase orders.
Meanwhile some companies have moved their production bases to other provinces to avoid possible flooding, but would not relocate their factories abroad, he said.
The department, however, believed that unemployment will not reach the 100,000 worker level earlier forecast by many agencies.
According to official figures, he said, there were in total 28,195 workers being laid off from 99 flood-hit factories, while 350 factories could not reopen and 167,541 workers have not returned to work.
As of present, 28,317 factories have reopened and resumed normal production, and 822,444 workers have returned to work already, he said.
Mr Arthit said the department would collect information of the affected factories and the numbers of labourers unemployed before reporting to the labour minister. He added that the situation would become clear after Jan 31 when the three-month project period to help workers unemployed from the flood crisis ends
