On September 17, 2024, at 18.00 hours, the Labour Minister, Mr. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, chaired the award ceremony or certificates of honour for competitors in the WorldSkills Lyon 2024. He also presented plaques of honour to competition sponsors. Thailand’s young competitors brought won one gold medal, one silver medal, and seven medals of outstanding skills, along with a total prize of over a million Baht. The Permanent Secretary of Labour, Mr. Pairoj Chotikasathien, the Department of Skill Development’s Director-General, Ms. Bubpha Rueangsud, executives from the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Skill Development attended the ceremony at the Ministry of Labour’s meeting room, 5th floor, Ministry of Labour.
Mr. Phiphat congratulated the participants of the 47th WorldSkills competition who won medals on the world stage. This is a success in demonstrating the abilities and potential of Thai youths who have skills that are second to none in the world. He gave words of encouragement to all the youths who missed out on winning medals this time but said that all of them have gained valuable experience that cannot be found anywhere else. In addition, he said that all 22 youths are top-quality and are Thai workers with international standards. The competition had 59 categories in total; Thailand sent 22 youths to compete in 19 categories, including 3 team categories. The results of the competition were satisfactory. From now on, they will look to future competitions, promoting opportunities for youths to showcase their potential in other categories, including developing various technologies that need to be applied to Thai workers. As for sending youths to compete in the next competition, in terms of which categories or the number of categories to compete in, many factors must be considered, such as the economy, the direction of labour demand, the readiness of youths, and supporting agencies from training camp to traveling to compete abroad. From asking experts who observed the competition this time, the category in which Thailand excels and in which the government supports further development is the tourism sector. Therefore, the expected career fields that Thai youths can be sent to compete in for the next competition are beauty, spa, and hotel services. For other areas, such as transportation or logistics and supply chain, the communication group is a career field that is in high demand in the labour market as well. In this part, the Department of Skill Development will be assigned to discuss with the labour skill development networks to prepare for the future.
Mr. Phiphat added that the success of sending youths to compete in this skill competition is a result of the support of all supporting agencies, including the government, private sector, and educational institutions, who have support in terms of budget, tools, machinery, materials and equipment, training camps, as well as specialists who have helped prepare the youths for the competition. The Department of Skill Development under the Ministry of Labour cannot achieve these goals on its own. Therefore, the development of the Thai workforce’s potential comes from all sectors joining forces, supporting, and driving investment to push the country’s economy forward.
The Department of Skill Development’s Director-General, Ms. Bubpha Rueangsud, added that this competition has received excellent cooperation and support from many organizations, including educational institutions, government agencies, and private sectors, such as Denso International Asia Co., Ltd., K Consulting and Supply Co., Ltd., Ramathibodi School of Nursing, SCG Foundation, Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd., Toyota Daihatsu Engineering and Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Silpakorn University, Phetchaburi Information Technology Campus, Sripatum University, and Dusit Thani College. Today, the prize money presented in the ceremony was held with a total value of 1,098,000 Baht, consisting of the individual categories where a gold medal was 372,500 Baht, a silver medal was 248,500 Baht, a bronze medal was 124,000 Baht, and the Excellence medal was 51,000 Baht. Those who did not receive a medal will receive a scholarship of 10,000 Baht each. As for the team category, the gold medal was 745,000 Baht, the silver medal was 497,000 Baht, the bronze medal was 248,000 Baht, and the excellence medal was 102,000 Baht. There was also a consolation prize of 20,000 Baht per team. In addition, the private sector also gave prizes to the competitors for their dedication and sacrifice. In 2026, the 48th WorldSkills Competition will be held in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. During this time, the Department of Skill Development will select new young competitors to prepare for training for the next competition.
