The shortage highlights Thailand's growing dependence on migrant labor as an aging population shrinks its domestic workforce.
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 for labor. Daily wages have more than doubled in some cases, from about 350 to 400 baht ($10 to $12) to as much as 800 to 1,000 baht, he said, making some lower-value crops too costly to harvest.
His hope of keeping more of the crop from going to waste “is dimming every day,” he added.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
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