Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and ... - GFDRR

3.2 Livelihoods and Employment
Introduction
The 2011, flooding in Thailand has severely harmed the livelihoods of millions and
presents a grave threat to the nation’s economy. The floods have already caused significant
losses in terms of lost wages and damage to commercial, industrial, and agricultural
property, facilities, and equipment. The effects of the flooding further jeopardize Thailand’s
overall economic well-being by reducing investor confidence and leaving those in
flood-affected areas with a reduced capacity to provide for themselves and their families.
At the same time, post-disaster environments often provide a “recovery boom” should
emerging demands in the market be appropriately captured. Employment-led recovery can
foster a “recovery boom” and contribute to a smooth recovery and sustainable reconstruction.
Robust action is critical to counteract these threats and assist those affected. Immediate
and short-term activities are required to assist those in urgent need. However, a robust
mid-to-long term strategy is necessary to meet shifting market demands, limit the effects of
future disasters, and restore foreign investor confidence. With all of these needs in mind,
the ILO has created the recommendations that follow.
As noted, the impacts of the flooding have been severe. Even conservative calculations
estimate at least THB 100 billion has been lost in wages alone. A large proportion of these
losses have occurred among the most vulnerable sectors of Thai society, further emphasizing
the need to employ the social protection strategies outlined elsewhere in the Rapid
Assessment. For a more complete explanation of damage and losses related to livelihoods,
please see the section on damage and loss.
Damage and Losses
Overview
Between THB 110 billion and THB 122 billion in wages have been lost since the beginning
of the flooding. 139 A large proportion of these losses occur within the most vulnerable
worker populations where limited social protections exist. The affected populations are
drawn from the latest estimates at the district level – 1.9 million households are affected
from the floods, which resulted in 562 deaths and approximately 5.1 million others who
have been directly impacted by the floods. Within the 26 affected provinces, the floods
covered 13.12 percent of the land areas on average, or 18 billion square meters. Within
the affected regions, 15.79 percent of all agricultural land has been flooded.
The methodology for identifying the effect on employment is as follows. Firstly, employment
is classified into three types: formal employment, informal employment and international
migrant workers. Two sources were available for the baseline estimation. The number of
affected formal employed persons is reported daily to the Ministry of Labor, and the area
139 Estimated at the time of writing, November 25, 2011.
206 THAI FLOOD 2011 RAPID ASSESSMENT FOR RESILIENT RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION PLANNING