This has nothing to do with the lovable cartoon charactersthemselves. They were alsodemanding better working conditions. The Eden Group's behaviour is a classic example of how littlerespect the process of globalization has for the rights of workingpeople,'' says Chin Thaplee, chairman of the National EmployeesCouncil, a federation of Thai private sector trade unions.
Many commentators blame Thailand's current high unemployment onthe Asian financial crisis.
Lae Dilokvidyarat, a labor economist with Bangkok'sChulalangkorn University. According to the World Bank, since the start of the crisis inmid-1997 unemployment has risen by over 50 percent. By the end of1998 there were an estimated two million jobless Thais out of atotal workforce of 30 million. Using cheap labor worked well for several years for foreigninvestors, especially in the labor-intensive garments, footwearand toy manufacturing industries. Investors from Europe, NorthAmerica and other Asian ''tiger'' economies queued up, drooling at Thailand's low wages, tax incentives, and tight controls ontrade union organizing.