Thai hotel group sues over 400 baht wage hike challenge
Nationwide chapters unite in legal fight against recent wage committee ruling
The Thai Hotels Association (THA) is planning to file a lawsuit against the tripartite wage committee in the Administrative Court, aiming to challenge the 400 baht minimum wage increase, which it argues burdens hotels in secondary tourism areas.
THA president Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun stated that the association’s committee has already agreed to proceed with the legal action, pending a consensus from its members during a scheduled meeting today, August 20.
All eight THA chapters across the country have submitted objections to the new minimum wage, which will be used to support the lawsuit. The legal challenge will request the Administrative Court to review and annul Section 2 (1) of the wage committee’s announcement No.14 issued on June 17, which stipulates the 400 baht minimum wage for hotel businesses under the Hotel Act, specifically for category 2, category 3, and category 4 hotels in all provinces.
The defendant, the wage committee, is responsible for implementing wage-related laws, including the issuance of revised minimum wage announcements. Since the new rate was implemented on July 1, Thienprasit noted that applying it uniformly across all hotels, irrespective of their location, has adversely affected operators with low income, especially in secondary tourism provinces where labour costs typically represent 30% of hotel operations.
Many hotels are still struggling to recover from the pandemic and are facing rising operational expenses. Compounding these challenges, foreign arrivals contracted during the first seven months of this year due to declining safety confidence and tensions along the Thai-Cambodian border, issues that the government has not yet addressed.
The THA suggested that the minimum wage should be determined by each province or based on workers’ skill levels. Applying the wage increase to all hotel categories means even smaller hotels with fewer than 50 rooms face increased labour costs, reported Bangkok Post.
Hoteliers in the western region of Thailand have proposed that the government revise the minimum wage only once a year, allowing hotels more time to manage operations and budgeting.
The THA argues that, as the government has already announced a wage hike earlier this year, raising the rate a second time within the same year is unreasonable.
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