Waranon Pitiwan, the department’s director-general, said 243 businesses have offered to temporarily take on 1,760 students age 15 and up, in jobs such as customer service, cashiers and sales assistants.

They include Ek-Chai Distribution Systems (which runs the Lotus shopping centres), Yum Restaurants International Thailand (KFC restaurants), Nopparod (Santa Fe restaurants), MT Thongpunchang Group (Swensen cafes), Hot Pot Restaurant, MK Restaurant, CP All (7-Eleven stores) and Central Food Retail.

Several state agencies are also hiring young people for the school break.

Waranon said the public-sector employers would pay Bt300 a day for at least seven hours of work per day, excluding breaks, and Bt150 for half-days. The private sector pays Bt40 per hour up to four hours a day during the school term and up to seven hours during the break.

The Employment Department will pay 60 students Bt300 each per day from April 10-May 11, he said.

“Working during the school break or in their free time during school gives students valuable training, instils a sense of self-pride, teaches responsibility and patience and makes constructive use of their free time,” Waranon said.

“It helps ease their parents’ financial burden, while the actual experience the young people gain helps them assess their aptitudes and prepare to enter the labour market after graduation.”

Students interested in joining the programme should contact the employment office in their home province or, in Bangkok, the Smart Job Centre at the Labour Ministry in Din Daeng district. They can also call a hotline at 1694.