During this Plan period, the labor force increased
at an average rate of 3.0 percent per year, including a
sharp increase in the proportion of the labor force
educated. With slow economic growth and the
consequent slow employment-generation rate,
unemployment increased. To sum up, at the end of the
Fifth Plan period, the major economic issues faced by
Thailand were economic instability, resource depletion,
poverty, employment generation, development
management system, and unfavorable external economic
conditions (Abonyi and Bunyaraks 1989, 40-42).