Bangkok: Prime Minister Chulaphan announced that the Cabinet has approved social development projects, including a 250 million baht budget for the development of Hat Yai Hospital, along with measures to address labor issues and reduce educational inequality.
According to Thai News Agency, Labour Minister Chulaphan Amornvivat stated after the Cabinet meeting that, regarding the social dimension, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Yoschanan Wongsawat, the Cabinet approved urgent quick-win solutions to several key issues aimed at comprehensively improving the quality of life for citizens. This includes upgrading the capabilities of Hat Yai Hospital. The Cabinet approved an initial budget of 250 million baht for the study and design of a project to enhance the hospital's capacity, within a total project budget of over 9,000 million baht, to adequately meet the healthcare needs of the large population in this major city.
Mr. Chulaphan stated that, regarding labor management and upgrading, the Ministry of Labor has been assigned to expedite labor management in the five provinces connected to Malaysia. This includes speeding up the signing of MOUs between the two countries to streamline procedures and facilitate the process, reviewing regulations for registering foreign workers to address labor shortages in the area, and developing skills upgrading training courses in collaboration with community colleges and universities in the region to align with market demands.
Mr. Chulaphan said that, in addition, they also want to reduce the educational gap between schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) and Tadika schools by encouraging local administrative organizations to participate in providing budget support, as well as accelerating the Zero Dropout project to bring children who have dropped out of the system back into education.
Furthermore, they also agreed to integrate databases from government agencies to assist vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, drug addicts, and out-of-school children, so that the government has a mechanism to provide unified and targeted care and solutions.