More than 500,000 additional foreign workers are needed to support agricultural product processing and food industries for export, construction, tourism and services, according to the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
According to Poj Aramwattananont, vice-chairman of the chamber, now that the government has lifted almost all Covid-related travel and business restrictions to accelerate economic recovery, demand for workers is surging.
"Labour is considered a key machine in propelling Thailand's entire economy from the export-orientated industries, manufacturing, processing and construction to tourism and service-related sectors," Mr Poj said.
"This is regarded as a serious problem as Thailand desperately needs foreign workers to help rehabilitate the economy battered by the Covid-19 outbreaks. We now have a lot of key infrastructure projects in the construction pipeline and we also have many tourism and service-related jobs that need to be filled after the government announced it would fully reopen the country to international tourists."
Pairoj Chotikasathien, director-general of the Department of Employment, said the pandemic had resulted in a delay to imports of foreign workers from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
But after the Thai reopening and the easing of outbreaks, the import of foreign workers from these three countries would likely become more convenient, especially from Myanmar, where 100,000 workers are expected to return to Thailand by the end of this year.
"As far as the responsible authorities have discussed this with Thai business operators, Thai businesses demand the import of around 277,000 foreign workers, but only about 20,000 have arrived so far," said Mr Pairoj.
Under normal circumstances, Thailand's economy demands around 3 million foreign workers, but at present there are about 2.5 million documented migrant workers in the country, said Mr Pairoj.
In a bid to ease the shortage, the cabinet last week approved labour management plans including allowing documented workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to stay until Feb 13, 2025.
Thailand will also allow illegal workers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to be registered and work until February 2025, said Mr Pairoj.
With the improved labour plans and arrival of more workers, Thailand may see nearly 3 million migrant workers by the end of the year, he said.
