Work hours and productivity
Thailand’s economic transition is characterised by a persisting, low level of worker productivity, rooted in the low educational attainments of the general work force. At present around 57% of the Thai workforce have primary school or lower education (National Statistics Office, 2008a). In the period of rapid, largely industrial driven growth an uneducated workforce was not a hindrance to the country’s economic success. But now the economy is moving to skilled service and knowledge jobs, leaving Thailand with both a shortage of skilled workers and a large pool of unskilled labour lacking good quality jobs.