Struggling SRT to hire 4,000 as new lines loom

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is moving ahead with plans to recruit 4,000 additional staff in the next four years to overcome a severe manpower shortage.

Anont Luangboriboon, acting governor of the SRT, said the authority is proposing the Ministry of Transport recruit hundreds of workers to replace 300 who have retired this year.

If the request is granted, the SRT expects to accept up to 500 new employees by next year, 176 of whom will come from the SRT Vocational School.

Buoyed by a new cabinet motion, which lets the SRT go on a recruitment drive, the SRT plans to hire 4,000 workers to cope with its expanded services.

This includes dual track lines and highspeed trains that have already been approved for construction.

The government’s plan to boost rail services breathes new life into the century-old authority, which has been marred by decades of poor investment and under-staffing.

The SRT’s business rehabilitation plan aims to boost services from the existing 250 trains to 450 trains in the future.

The rail authority is expected to need an additional 20,000 staff overall to serve its new services. It currently employs about 10,000 people.

The agency is also investing 10 billion baht to build a centre of excellence that will train a modern workforce with the skills needed to man the new services.