Abstract:
The objectives of this independent study are to examine the quality of life of the workers in the frozen seafood business in Songkhla province, and the factors related to their life quality. The data were collected and analyzed from the questionnaires sent to both Thai and foreign workers who worked in the frozen seafood business and the seafood processing business. Most of the respondents were female (69.2%), and 48.2% of them were aged between 19-29 years. Of all the respondents, 71.8% were Thai, 42.8% earned an average salary of 3,000-5,000 baht, and 65.5% were temporary day by-day workers, earning the income on the days they worked.
The results of the study showed that the quality of life of these samples physically was assessed at the medium level, with the average score of 3.16 out of 5 in terms of the rest time, and the average score of 2.91 rated for the work demand. The result regarding the quality of their mental health also revealed at the medium level, including their happiness in their work, their concentration on work, their work satisfaction, and their pride in the work, with the scores of 3.21, 3.35, 3.33, and 3.40 respectively. The workers rated the quality of the workplace environment with a high score. The average scores in terms of the convenience in transportation from home to workplace, and the safety at work were 3.65 and 3.42. They rated their life security as high. The average score for the appropriate wage was 3.48. The workers rated the importance of an annual physical checkup at the medium level, with the score of 3.12. In addition, for the correlation effects, it was found out that different individual factors in gender, religion, educational level, and income resulted in different quality of life for these workers. The difference in job factors related to the labor law such as the type of employment, overtime working, the number of hours of overtime working, the payment rate if working on public holidays, and the commission rate also yielded different effects on the quality of life.
WALAILAK UNIVERSITY. CENTER FOR LIBRARY RESOURCES AND EDUCATIONAL MEDIA