{
  "id": 14091377,
  "title": "Thailand’s deepening labour shortage roils harvest as unpicked fruits rot",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/thailands-deepening-labour-shortage-roils-harvest-as-unpicked-fruits",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-13T01:36:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3370655/thailands-deepening-labour-shortage-roils-harvest-unpicked-fruits-rot"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ripe fruits hang uncollected in eastern Thailand due to a severe shortage of migrant workers. Jomsak Putirattana, a durian farmer in Chanthaburi province, now faces a dilemma: he must decide which crops to harvest and which will perish. Daily wages for migrant workers have nearly tripled, from 350 baht to as much as 1,000 baht, making less valuable crops unprofitable to pick. Jomsak fears that more of his fruit will rot on the trees. This labour shortage underscores Thailand's heavy reliance on migrant workers, who make up about one-tenth of the country's workforce. Migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos have traditionally filled jobs on farms, construction sites, and in service industries. However, political tensions and stricter recruitment rules in Myanmar are making it harder to find new workers there. Thailand is now eyeing Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh as new sources of migrant labor, with the first Sri Lankan workers expected to arrive in January. The shift could increase competition for labor with Singapore and Malaysia, which already recruit South Asian workers. The construction industry, which relies heavily on migrant workers, is particularly concerned about the shortage, fearing delays in major infrastructure projects. The Thai government is also working on a program to streamline the registration process for migrant workers and bring undocumented workers into the legal system, potentially affecting millions of people. But for Jomsak, the next harvest season may be too late to solve the problem.",
  "summary": "Ripe mangosteen and rambutan hang unpicked from trees in eastern Thailand, where a shortage of migrant workers is forcing growers to decide which crops are valuable enough to harvest and which will be left to rot. For Jomsak Putirattana, who also grows durian in Chanthaburi province, the departure of his five Cambodian workers after a border dispute disrupted crossings has intensified competition…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}