4-6-2024 (BANGKOK) A worrying revelation has emerged from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) of Thailand, highlighting the potentially severe economic consequences stemming from the alarmingly low levels of literacy and digital skills among the nation’s youth and workforce.
In a sobering assessment, NESDC Secretary-General Danucha Pichayanan expressed grave concerns after a survey revealed that a staggering 64.7% of Thailand’s population possess literacy skills below the standard, while an even higher proportion, 74.1%, lack adequate digital skills. These findings indicate that a significant portion of the country’s youth and working-age population are ill-equipped to perform basic reading and computer tasks effectively, raising red flags for the nation’s economic prospects.
Compounding the gravity of the situation, data from the renowned digital agency We Are Social ranks Thailand a dismal 39th out of 63 countries in digital skills, despite the high daily internet usage observed within the kingdom. This deficiency in essential skills could potentially result in a colossal economic loss of up to 3.3 trillion baht per year, stemming from low labor productivity, limited innovation, and reduced foreign investment.
The predicament becomes even more pressing when coupled with Thailand’s low birth rate crisis, which threatens to diminish the number of capable workers in the future. “This underscores the urgent need for Thailand to seriously enhance the skills of its population to compensate for the shrinking workforce and support the transition to a high-value economy and industry,” Danucha warned.
Recently released statistics paint a sobering picture of the challenges ahead. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of employed persons in Thailand stood at 39.6 million, a slight decrease of 0.1% compared to the same period the previous year. This decline was primarily driven by a substantial 5.7% drop in agricultural employment during the off-season.
On a more positive note, non-agricultural employment grew by 2.2%, with the hotel and restaurant sector continuing to expand by a remarkable 10.6% due to the influx of over 9.3 million international tourists. Similarly, the construction sector witnessed a growth of more than 5%.
While wages in the private sector increased by 0.5% from the previous year, averaging 13,789 baht per person per month, the overall average wage slightly decreased by 0.4% to 15,052 baht per person per month. This increase was partly attributed to the minimum wage hike implemented on January 1.
Unemployment numbers remained relatively stable, with the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2024 standing at 1.01%, or 410,000 unemployed persons, a decrease of 3.2% from the same quarter in 2023. This improvement was driven by a reduction in unemployment among university graduates with work experience. However, new graduates aged 20 to 24 continue to face significant challenges in securing employment, currently comprising the largest proportion of the unemployed.
Danucha also addressed concerns regarding the sustainability of the Social Security Fund, pointing out that like many countries around the world, Thailand is grappling with the challenge of paying pensions to a rapidly increasing number of retirees, even as the number of new workers contributing to the fund declines. By 2032, the number of retirees claiming old-age benefits could reach a staggering 2.3 million, up from just 760,000 in 2022.
Illustrating the gravity of the situation, Danucha cited the findings of a NESDC study on Thailand’s social protection budget in 2023, which revealed that the ratio of expenditure to revenue had skyrocketed from 34.6% in 2013 to a concerning 73.4% by 2021. “This poses a risk to the fund’s liquidity and sustainability, which could affect the future benefits for insured individuals,” Danucha cautioned.
