Before the crisis:
Two years ago, Witaya made 24,000 baht ($705) a month as a sous chef of a luxury hotel in Ubon Ratchathani. More recently, he worked at a pub on Ratchandapisek Road in Bangkok.

How has life changed since then?
Witaya and three of his co-workers lost their jobs when the pub they worked for in Bangkok saw a sharp decline in revenue. He now works as a cook at a Thai restaurant in the outskirts of Bangkok. He makes 10,000 baht (US$294) a month, which is almost 60 percent less than when he worked the hotel. “If you spend it wisely, you’d be able to get by,” he said. Still, he was forced to cut the monthly support he gives his mother back in Ubon Ratchathani by 20 percent—to just under 2,000 baht from 2,500 baht previously.

What’s difficult about life during a financial crisis?
“It hurts everybody,” Witaya said. “Jobs are harder to find [as] employers reduce the workforce to save money. Even if you’re not laid off, you’re still affected by the crisis, because you’re stuck with more work to do for the same or less money. It stresses me out sometimes.”

How is he getting by?
Witaya recent went to a job fair designed to help workers compete for jobs and acquire an international certificate to work overseas. Vocational training was offered for labor-intensive work and service jobs, such as electronics repair, welding, clothes-making and bartending.

What does he hope for the future?
Witaya wants to go to Qatar after hearing about the good money other migrant workers have made working in the Middle East.

April 2009