News Forum - Thailand to study whether to increase the daily minimum wage

[Thaiger]

Thai authorities are studying whether to increase the daily minimum wage. The Labour Ministry will start a feasibility study. The State Enterprises Workers Relations Confederation has recommended 492 baht as the starting pay. Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin told reporters that the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the Labour Ministry would conduct a study to examine the minimum wage’s suitability. According to a TLSC representative Sawit Kaewvarn, his committee and Serc requested the probe on December 21 last year since the economy was hit severely, resulting in greater expenditures for consumer goods, food, and gasoline, among other things. Figures from […]

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[Guest1]

Whow, from ~320 to just under 500? Aside that people can survive from 9 or 12k/month only , if in a group/family, sharing fix costs, even 15k will just give a little advantage, b/c:

That will come with a price rise, methinks!

And how much the employer will have to pay minimum for the same job to people with obviously usless university degrees? Right now, their minimum pay is about 100 baht / day more, as the "normal people" get, right?

[dingdong]

its time 500 bhat a day and max. 5 day a week...plus some paid holidays...and they should train craftsman ( plumber, furniture making, bricklaying, tyling etc etc and pay these groups of skilled workers 1000 bhat minimum )same as in many western country's...it looks to me that in thailand everything is geared towards cheap and not towards quality work and processes...

[Jason]

I can save the Thai Government a lot of money on this study....just do it!

[Cabra]

At the current rate of inflation, that increase should get eaten up fairly quickly. Regardless, applaud the proposal... It's the right think to do.

[STCLAUS]

My son has a small rubber plantage and can't even pay the 300 Thb to employ a help.If he wold do it the helper would earn more than the owner!500will only rise the prices more.

[longwood50]

19 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Thai authorities are studying whether to increase the daily minimum wage.

You need to stop saying "Just how stupid can these people be"  They are taking it as a challenge. 

You have an economy in dismal shape because of Covid.  You have small business owners struggling to keep their doors open and now they propose adding additional costs on to the businesses to force them to raise prices to cover increased labor costs. 

The only thing minimum wage does is to increase the focus on business to use as little human labor as possible and hire as few people as possible. 

Here is Bangkok and in a country with very low minimum wages businesses are already focused on mechanizing to reduce cost.  

You want higher wages for workers.  Increase the "need" for workers by increasing tourism.  A business that needs more workers is willing to pay for more workers and workers with a booming economy can pick the employer who pays the most. 


 

 

[Saltire]

2 hours ago, STCLAUS said:

My son has a small rubber plantage and can't even pay the 300 Thb to employ a help.If he wold do it the helper would earn more than the owner!500will only rise the prices more.

Yes agree.

My brother in law is self employed providing music equipment to funerals, weddings etc. He can ask 500 - 1500 Baht a day depending on the event requirements.

However when there are currently not many people dying or getting wed, he joins the pickup crews on the various local farms. He normally gets 300 per day, but this week as I type this, he is harvesting bamboo for 200 Baht per day. Many of his Thai friends refused this smaller payment, the Myanmar migrants are happy to jump in for that.

Sign of the times, and I thinky many rural workers are probably unaware a legal minimum wage even exists. Just another law unenforced.

 

Edited January 27 by Saltire