Thailand faces a chronic and pervasive shortage of qualified technical and vocational workers across all industries, due to the challenges faced by both public and private tertiary education in keeping pace with industry demands, as well as a cultural bias towards a more academic education. These are among the key findings from a year-long study conducted by SMU, in partnership with global financial services firm J.P. Morgan, on the skills challenges faced by the ASEAM economies of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Commenting on the findings of the study, SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer said that education and training programs need to be accelerated to equip the workforce with the necessary skill sets and communication skills, such as proficiency in the English language. The study recommends policy incentives at the national level to attract more talent to train in technical and vocational schools, helping to mitigate demonstrated skills challenges. This needs to be accompanied by a concerted effort by all stakeholders to improve the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs in schools. The government should also explore more innovative ways to incentivise the private sector to take lead in skills training programmes, either in collaboration with the government or with educational institutions, the study noted.