This fiscal year, the Ministry of Labour aims to send 100,000 Thai workers overseas, with the latest batch left on Thursday for Israel.
From March to December last year, the coronavirus hit Thai labour exports by a whopping 71 per cent compared to figures for the same period in 2019, when 94,994 Thais landed jobs overseas.
On Thursday, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said the ministry hoped to send 100,000 workers overseas in the current fiscal year that officially started on Oct 1.
9,920 people went to work overseas from October to December last year.
The latest batch of 210 Thais flew to Israel on the Thailand-Israel Workers' Placement Cooperation (TIC) program yesterday.
Mr Suchart said that the target for labour export was divided into two groups.
About 89,000 people were sent overseas for temporary jobs or skills training by brokers or Thai employers, while the Ministry of Labour found work for others in countries that have signed labour export agreements with Thailand.
After employers in those countries arranged for the Department of Employment (DoE) to recruit the workers and send them to work there, a further 11,000 people secured jobs in South Korea, Japan, Israel, and Taiwan.
"The Covid-19 crisis has gripped the world and it has continued to depress the labour export volume since the onset of the pandemic in March last year," said the minister.
Mr Suchart said that the DoE had secured work for Thais in various countries, particularly in the agricultural sector.
DoE Director-General Suchat Pornchaiwiseskul released labour export figures which last year confirmed a nosedive induced by a virus.
In the 2016 fiscal year, Thailand exported 114,003, 114,958 in 2017, 115,554 in 2018, 114,656 in 2019 and 58,673 last year to work overseas.
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