Thailand to increase minimum wage to 400 baht by year-end

Thailand’s Labour Ministry has assured the public that a minimum wage increase to 400 baht will be implemented nationwide by the end of the year, as stated by Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the Labour Minister.

The tripartite wage committee is currently awaiting the official appointment of two new members: the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and the Director-General of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW). The previous holders of these positions retired at the end of September.

Boonsong Thapchaiyuth was named the new permanent secretary yesterday. The name of the new DLPW director-general will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval next week, according to Phiphat.

There is also a pending decision from the Bank of Thailand (BoT) regarding their representative on the wage committee. The current representative retired last year but can remain on the committee until March next year. Phiphat stated that the new permanent secretary will discuss this issue with the BoT.

“I confirm that we will continue increasing the minimum wage to 400 baht (US$12) and it must be done by the end of the year. When the committee is ready, we can proceed again.”

In addition, the ministry announced plans to amend regulations within the next two months to ensure monthly employees receive overtime (OT) rights. These amendments are aimed at aligning the OT pay for monthly employees with that of daily wage workers.

Phiphat recently met with Panat Thailuan, president of the National Congress of Thai Labour (NCTL), and representatives from seven labour councils. They submitted a petition advocating for changes to the Labour Ministry’s Ministerial Regulations No.7 and No.13 under the Labour Protection Act BE 2541 (1998).

Currently, these regulations exclude monthly-paid employees from receiving overtime pay on the same terms as daily wage workers. Phiphat has tasked a tripartite panel, comprising seven representatives from employers, employees, and the government, to study the potential impacts of these regulatory changes.

The panel will explore allowing monthly workers to receive overtime pay at 1.5 times their hourly rate on regular workdays and three times for work performed on days off, reported Bangkok Post.

Phiphat has directed the DLPW to conduct meetings on this matter and report the findings of their study on the proposed amendments within two months.