Unemployment a major worry for most Thais: poll
Suan Dusit Poll on Sunday pointed out that the majority of respondents are worried about unemployment during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The survey on "Unemployment, the biggest problem among Thais" was conducted between March 15 and 18 on 1,155 samples nationwide.
Asked about what increased during the Covid-19 outbreak (multiple choice):
38.65 per cent said healthcare and medicine expenses;
22.59 per cent said food and beverage expenses;
22.49 per cent said credit card debt.
Asked about what decreased during the Covid-19 outbreak (multiple choice):
47.10 per cent said their savings;
36.40 per cent said clothes and beauty expenses;
26.39 per cent said daily travel expenses.
Regarding funding sources (multiple choice):
55.23 per cent said their savings;
42.57 per cent said borrowing cash from family members;
32.98 per cent said getting bank loans;
27.70 per cent said borrowing cash from friends;
26.56 per cent said using cash cards.
Regarding unemployment in Thailand (multiple choice):
65.94 per cent said they were worried;
61.51 per cent said it was due to prolonged economic slowdown;
60.30 per cent said it had led to more crimes/robberies;
59.25 per cent said it was due to the Covid-19 outbreak;
53.00 per cent said it had caused family problems.
Asked about what the government should do to tackle unemployment (multiple choice):
56.66 per cent said organise job training;
49.52 per cent said provide subsidies;
48.39 per cent said develop labour skills;
47.08 per cent said create jobs for locals;
46.30 per cent said offer part-time jobs.
Asst Prof Dr Prasat Niyom, a lecturer at Suan Dusit University's Faculty of Management Science, said Thailand's economic data were on the slide due to the decline in people's income.
He pointed out that 14 million state welfare card holders had income less than Bt2,500 per month, while 86.6 per cent of Thai nationals had deposits of less than Bt50,000.
"Currently, unemployment in Thailand is likely to increase even more than the previous year, so the government and the private sector must create jobs and develop labour skills to deal with the problems" he said.