Thai unemployment to hit one million this year: PM

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva warned Sunday that the number of jobless could nearly double to one million people this year because of global and local financial turmoil. Thailand's export-driven economy has been hard-hit by the global financial meltdown, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth expected at minus 1.0 and zero percent this year. Abhisit's government has launched a number of stimulus measures and agreed to borrow money from overseas donors, but Thailand is still expecting a GDP drop of at least four percent in the first quarter of 2009. "We will borrow money to stimulate the economy. If we do nothing, more people will be jobless which will impact the economy more seriously," Abhisit said at the launch of a career fair near Bangkok.