Phuket leads Thai tourist hotspots battling labour shortage

PHUKET and Chiang Mai, among Thailand’s most-popular tourist destinations, are battling a shortage of workers in the hospitality sector as the country braces for a rush of Chinese travellers.

The tourism-related sectors in Phuket are in immediate need of about 3,600 more workers, Boonchob Suttamanaswong, permanent-secretary of the Ministry of Labour, said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 18). While Chiang Mai is short of about 850 workers, Chonburi, a seaside province located 90 km east of Bangkok, needs almost 600 more workers, according to a survey by the ministry. 

The labour shortage may hurt Thailand’s plan to draw 25 million tourists to the country this year, a target seen as key to sustaining an economic recovery. The labour ministry is devising short-term measures to address the labour crunch by supporting students to work part-time in the hospitality and services industry, Boonchob said. 

Training of students in hospitality and foreign languages are long-term measures aimed at addressing the labour shortage, he said.

South-east Asia’s second-largest economy welcome about 11.5 million foreign visitors last year, compared with 40 million before the pandemic in 2019. Chinese are expected to make up 25 per cent of the total visitors this year, with arrivals expected to gather momentum from the second quarter, according to government and industry officials. BLOOMBERG