PEOPLE who lose their jobs when a company closes have to be notified one month in advance and be given at least one months' extra wages, says the Minister for Employment, Pitun Kaewtong.

His concern is that companies might pretend to close so employees can gain Social Security, he told the Thai media.

Other individuals may falsify information.

Companies that shut down will no longer be named publicly, he said.

Nor would figures be released on the number of companies that have closed, or new registrations.

Details of the companies involved would however be passed on to Social Security so real cases could be effectively helped.

Social Security offices in different provinces woulds work together to support those thrown out of work, he said.

So far, 7.1 million people earning less than 15,000 baht a month have collected cheques for 2000 baht each under the government's aid and economic stimulus package.

Another 500,000 to 600,000 had yet to collect cheques, he said.

Cheques that have not been collected by the end of May will return to government funds.

Latest figures, perhaps the last available for Phuket for some time, show that for businesses generally, 87 companies registered on Phuket in March this year, with 24 partnerships recorded.

This compares with 126 new registrations in March last year and 34 partnerships.

February saw 84 new companies and 18 partnerships compared to 115 and 27 the preceding February.

March this year saw 15 companies and 11 partnerships cancelling registration compared to 10 and 16 respectively last year.