A TWO MILLION baht grant to Labor Phuket will be used to train people in Thai massage and English, just as the island's resort staff face reduced working hours because of the political unrest.
The massage program goes for 60 hours, with payment of 120 baht a day. The English program of 30 hours of basics is aimed at people who are between jobs. Other volunteers will be paid 150 baht a day for up to 20 days to undertake community projects.
The money comes as resorts cut back on hours for staff to cope with declining bookings. Job losses may be staved off by the interim option of reducing working hours.
The Director of the Phuket Labor Office, Suthipong Saisakared, told Phuketwan that Phuket had so far weathered the two months of red protests in Bangkok with fewer job losses than in other parts of Thailand.
''People are still moving between jobs at resorts,'' he said. ''There is a lot of movement. Employers are usually constantly on the lookout for skilled workers.''
Khun Suthipong sees the need for more English training to support the tourism industry. ''Once the protests are over, we can expect to have more projects to assist a rapid recovery,'' he said.
Morale, though, becomes a problem when people work shorter hours for months on end, as staff did at many resorts in the low season last year. It was anticipated that normal times would return this low season.
But the red protests and travel alerts have slashed low season bookings, forcing many resorts to again reduce working hours. Training and upskilling are sometimes a positive benefit of the downtime.
Resorts that are forced to lay off staff permanently are advised to follow the regulations and procedures that cover such a measure. One resort that opted to terminate staff in 2009 paid out termination sums as great as 800,000 baht to some of its more loyal employees.
Staff at resorts are advised not to enter into large purchases on credit unless they know for certain that their income will not change in the next six months.
Candidates for the massage and English courses should call the Phuket Labor Office on 076 354035-6.
Patong Councillors Question Seafront Market, Bangla SmellThe massage program goes for 60 hours, with payment of 120 baht a day. The English program of 30 hours of basics is aimed at people who are between jobs. Other volunteers will be paid 150 baht a day for up to 20 days to undertake community projects.
The money comes as resorts cut back on hours for staff to cope with declining bookings. Job losses may be staved off by the interim option of reducing working hours.
The Director of the Phuket Labor Office, Suthipong Saisakared, told Phuketwan that Phuket had so far weathered the two months of red protests in Bangkok with fewer job losses than in other parts of Thailand.
''People are still moving between jobs at resorts,'' he said. ''There is a lot of movement. Employers are usually constantly on the lookout for skilled workers.''
Khun Suthipong sees the need for more English training to support the tourism industry. ''Once the protests are over, we can expect to have more projects to assist a rapid recovery,'' he said.
Morale, though, becomes a problem when people work shorter hours for months on end, as staff did at many resorts in the low season last year. It was anticipated that normal times would return this low season.
But the red protests and travel alerts have slashed low season bookings, forcing many resorts to again reduce working hours. Training and upskilling are sometimes a positive benefit of the downtime.
Resorts that are forced to lay off staff permanently are advised to follow the regulations and procedures that cover such a measure. One resort that opted to terminate staff in 2009 paid out termination sums as great as 800,000 baht to some of its more loyal employees.
Staff at resorts are advised not to enter into large purchases on credit unless they know for certain that their income will not change in the next six months.
Candidates for the massage and English courses should call the Phuket Labor Office on 076 354035-6.
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i am so sad that it has come to this after the tourist were just starting to get back to some normality and the Thai people who i admire so much can't come to some agreement and end all this trouble and put thailand on top of the 'want to go' places in the world.
Posted by David Hindhaugh on May 12, 2010 16:17