NESDB fears Thai labor lacks quality

Bangkok: May 27 - NESDB fears Thai labor lacks quality. Worried about psychiatric patients, the number rose to 2.9 million in 2023, higher than the global average. It may cause high economic damage. Mr. Danucha Pitchayanan, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDB), said that the labor situation in the first quarter of 2024 saw a slight decrease in employment. Average working hours decreased And the unemployment rate was 1.01 percent, or there were 410,000 unemployed people and 39.6 million people employed, a slight decrease from the previous year at 0.1 percent, suggesting that the problem of lack of skills among Thai workers must be followed up. It may affect the economy in the long run. The Skills and Readiness Survey of Youth and Working Age Population (ASAT) in Thailand found that many Thai youth and working age population have below-average skills. by the sustainability of the Social Security Fund It is likely that pensions must be paid to the insured. More reti rees in 2032. There may be as many as 2.3 million people applying for old-age benefits. Most workers are still not highly skilled. and working in fields with low labor productivity As a result, they receive low wages. During the 4th quarter of 2023, household debt was valued at 16.4 trillion baht, expanding by 3.0 percent, slowing down from 3.4 percent in the previous quarter. The ratio of household debt to GDP stood at 91.3 percent, increasing slightly. It is accepted that household debt burden expanded at a slower pace for almost every type of loan. Except for credit card loans and personal loans. Meanwhile, automotive loans contracted. In terms of debt repayment ability of all types of households deteriorated. The bad debt of commercial banks has a value of 158 billion baht, accounting for 2.88 percent of total loans. This increased from 2.79 percent in the previous quarter, considered home loans with an amount of less than 3 million baht for people with middle or lower income levels. It may be necessary to monitor and accelerate the debt restructuring of this group of debtors. To reduce the risk of bad debt Therefore, financial institutions Need to accelerate public relations to chronic debtors Participate in measures to solve debt problems NESDB admits that society is still at risk from being deceived into receiving/paying bills online. Through an online product sales application Users may be at risk of being tricked into transferring money or having their personal information used for other purposes. and the problem of improper or illegal tour services Accounting for more than 85.9 percent of complaints according to the Consumer Organization Council (October 2022-January 2024) and with a total damage value of more than 67 million baht. Mental Health is an important problem that must be monitored. Mental health problems continue to increase in Thai society. Data from the Department of Mental Health found that the number of psychiatric patients receiving services increased from 1.3 million in 2015 to 2.9 m illion in 2023. It is accepted that 2.9 million patients received treatment, but there may be as many as 2.9 million people with problems. 10 million people, making the proportion of people with problems higher than the global average Reflecting that there are still many people who do not receive treatment. It was found that 15.48 percent of people with stress were at risk for depression, 17.20 percent at risk for suicide, and 10.63 percent at risk for suicide. This may have a greater impact on the economy than expected. The World Health Organization (WHO) found that depression and anxiety among people around the world This causes an estimated 12 billion workdays to be lost, causing economic losses worth more than US$1 trillion. Nearly 1 in 5 people with mental health problems are unable to take care of themselves. causing households to find caregivers And it is a loss of a lot of human resources Source: Thai News Agency