Wage war: Hotels reel as 400-baht mandate hits hard
Khon Kaen hotels face big wages but lack matching tourist income
The government’s new minimum wage hike has sparked outrage among hoteliers already hanging by a thread. While Bangkok politicians celebrate, many in the provinces are calling it a death sentence for small businesses.
On Tuesday, July 1, the Cabinet approved raising the daily minimum wage for hotel workers nationwide to 400 baht, with the decision fast-tracked into law via the Royal Gazette the same evening. But in Khon Kaen, hotel owner Chatchai Kosawisut watched the announcement with dread.
“It is not reform,” he declared. “It is punishment.”
From now on, every registered hotel with at least 50 rooms—or any with conference or entertainment facilities—must pay the new wage, no matter how far they are from Thailand’s tourist hotspots.
In Khon Kaen, where room rates can’t match Phuket or Bangkok, hoteliers say they’re being forced to pay big-city salaries without big-city revenue.
“If the hotel cannot pay its staff, everyone loses their job,” warned Chatchai, who chairs the I-San Hotel Association. “Is that really what the government wants?”
His hotel, the 180-room Kosa Hotel, depends on modest government meetings and corporate trainings that never fully recovered after the pandemic.
Khon Kaen Chamber of Commerce chairman, Jakkrit Siriphanich, echoed the alarm.
“Labour is our biggest cost. Owners are now meeting daily to identify cuts—fewer staff, lower overheads, anything but higher room prices,” he said.
He stressed that wages in the northeast are highly sensitive.
“Even a 10-baht increase can trigger fierce competition.”
Deputy government spokesperson Sasikarn Watthanachan insisted the measure would “improve the living conditions of more than 700,000 workers nationwide.”
But critics, including Federation of Thai SMEs president Noppong Theeraworn, slammed it as “too fast and too harsh,” warning of layoffs, closures and off-the-books employment, reported Bangkok Post.
Larger hotel chains are also uneasy. Thai Hotels Association president Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun said rising energy and raw material costs were already squeezing margins.
“Adding 10–15% to payrolls in non-tourist provinces piles on pressure when cash flow is already thin,” he said.
Other business leaders accused the government of political opportunism.
“If the motive is genuine—raising living standards—why target only hotels?” asked Thienprasit.
As Chatchai put it grimly, “You can legislate a wage, but you cannot legislate demand.”
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