Phuket leads Thai tourist hot spots battling labour shortage

The labour shortage may hurt Thailand’s plan to draw 25 million tourists to the country this year. - Reuters

PHUKET (Bloomberg): 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 Labor, said in a statement Wednesday (Jan 18). While Chiang Mai is short of about 850 workers, Chonburi, a seaside province located 90km (56 miles) east of Bangkok, needs almost 600 more workers, according to a survey by the ministry.