Minimum wage hike proposal up to 492 baht per day being studied
A proposal is being evaluated to raise the minimum wage to 492 baht per day, a significant increase from the 313 to 336 baht per day lowest wage now. The hike proposed is a significant one and the Ministry of Labour is researching the impact of such a large wage.
The proposed large increase in the lowest wage legally offered to workers in Thailand was suggested by the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee and the Labour Ministry is launching a study on the feasibility and the impact of hiking wages that high.
In Thailand, the minimum wage varies by region based on the economy and living cost of that region. Chon Buri and Phuket currently have the highest minimum wage 336 baht per day, with Bangkok next at 331 baht, while the Deep South provinces have the lowest minimum wage in the country at 313 baht.
The last minimum wage hike was on January 1, 2 years ago in 2020 and was a meagre 5 to 6 baht for each region. The new daily wage proposal would be an exponentially higher hike of up to nearly 180 baht. To give some perspective, the previous minimum wage raise was less than 2% while the proposed increase is about 57%.
The Office of The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Labour will conduct the survey according to Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin. He met Monday with the TLSC and the State Enterprises Workers Relations Confederation to discuss the issue of the minimum wage in Thailand, and the study will aim to determine the suitability of the proposed figures.
The discussion was prompted by the TLSC and SERC who submitted a request on December 21 to create the study. They proposed the raise because of the economic hardship that people continue to suffer due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising prices of many basic necessities like gasoline, food, and other consumer goods.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
