In eastern Thailand, ripe jackfruits and rambutans hang from the branches, unattended by anyone who would pick them.
Bloomberg reported on the 12th that due to a shortage of migrant workers, Thai farmers have had to make choices: they must harvest crops that are worth enough, while leaving the rest to rot.
Zhaosa Putitratana, who grows durians and other fruits, said that the daily wage of some workers has more than doubled. It has increased from about 350 to 400 Thai baht to 800 to 1000 Thai baht. As a result, the cost of harvesting some low-value fruits has become very high.
We can only pick a portion of fruit to harvest, and the cheap fruits will rot on the trees. He said he originally hoped to reduce agricultural waste but this expectation was "steadily fading away."
Reports indicate that the labor shortage highlights Thailand's growing dependence on foreign workers. Foreign immigrants account for about one-tenth of Thailand's total workforce. For a long time, immigrants from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos have taken on jobs in Thailand's farms, construction sites, and factory assembly lines. These positions are difficult to fill with local Thais. Nowadays, more and more foreign workers work in service industries such as store counters, restaurants, and bars in Bangkok and other major cities...
Thailand’s Labour Minister said that Thailand is looking for workers from further away, planning to recruit labor from Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. “We need to build resilience and flexibility; we cannot rely too much on a single source of labor.”
