Former PM Thaksin slams modest minimum wage hike of 5%, calls for ฿800 a day rate over 2 terms

[webfact]

Former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra

 

by James Morris and Son Nguyen

 

Slow and fragile recovery is being seen which is driven by boosted consumer confidence in Thailand despite inflation and an effective haircut in real wages. Employment levels in Phuket, the first foreign tourist destination to reopen, are still only at 50% of pre-pandemic levels. 

Thailand’s former Premier has slammed a 5% increase in the minimum wage for Thai workers as ‘sad’ and called for a Pheu Thai-led government to steer the economy towards a minimum wage of ฿800 per day over two terms in government.

 

The slow pace of Thailand’s economic recovery means that it will be the second half of next year before the kingdom’s economy will have recovered from the loss of GDP caused by the virus emergency. In the meantime, the country, like others worldwide is reeling from the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war and the growing impact of rising geopolitical tensions which will see an elevated level of inflation going into next year and a real loss of income for many working Thais despite the new minimum wage which will come into force on October 1st.

 

A top economist with the Economic Intelligence Centre, the research arm of Siam Commercial Bank in a briefing this week stated that it will be the second or third quarter of next year before Thailand recovers from the economic setback inflicted by the country’s shutdown in 2020 to deal with the virus emergency.

 

Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/09/16/former-pm-thaksin-slams-new-minimum-wage/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Examiner 2022-09-17

 

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[MRToMRT]

Oh lordy. He must be sensing his return.

[Ralf001]

800 a day would force us to lay of a lot of staff.

[it is what it is]

  On 9/16/2022 at 8:33 PM, Ralf001 said:

800 a day would force us to lay of a lot of staff.

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he's appealing to his base

[malathione]

Well that's sure to help inflation and exports. I thought this guy was a businessman.

[spidermike007]

An out of touch man, yakking and spouting more nonsense. No doubt it is difficult for many Thais to survive on 300-400 baht a day. But, doubling that sounds unrealistic. Likely just pandering to his base, which is likely dwindling after all these years. 

[KIngsofisaan]

  On 9/16/2022 at 10:17 PM, spidermike007 said:

An out of touch man, yakking and spouting more nonsense. No doubt it is difficult for many Thais to survive on 300-400 baht a day. But, doubling that sounds unrealistic. Likely just pandering to his base, which is likely dwindling after all these years. 

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Not dwindling is Isaan, sorry.

[smedly]

  On 9/16/2022 at 7:38 PM, webfact said:

minimum wage of ฿800 per day over two terms

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is that two jail terms that you should have got if you hadn't fled with the loot

[2baht]

  On 9/16/2022 at 7:38 PM, webfact said:

Thailand’s former Premier has slammed a 5% increase in the minimum wage for Thai workers as ‘sad’

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Tony Hairdye, put your hand in your pocket and give back some of the billions you acquired as premier! Get your sister to pitch in too!

[RichardColeman]

Isn't it a bit like saying factory workers should get more money as they refuse to move up the chain of command in a job to get more money ? 

[HappyExpat57]

Poverty is a man made construct. The robber barons around the world need cheap labor to continue their amassing wealth. There are more than enough resources to afford everyone a decent, dignified life and STILL keep the robber barons rolling around in their gold.

[Ralf001]

  On 9/17/2022 at 12:04 AM, HappyExpat57 said:

Poverty is a man made construct. The robber barons around the world need cheap labor to continue their amassing wealth. There are more than enough resources to afford everyone a decent, dignified life and STILL keep the robber barons rolling around in their gold.

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Doubling the min wage would force all manufacturing businesses to dramatically increase their costs in turn making Thailand an unattractive place to manufacture.

 

Are the robber barons really that stupid ?

 

Don't bite the hand that feeds you comes to mind !!

[jonclark]

  On 9/17/2022 at 12:12 AM, Ralf001 said:

Doubling the min wage would force all manufacturing businesses to dramatically increase their costs in turn making Thailand an unattractive place to manufacture.

 

Are the robber barons really that stupid ?

 

Don't bite the hand that feeds you comes to mind !!

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Sadly though for most people the hand doesn't give them enough to feed them. 

 

I think before they raise the minimum wage they should sort out the state pension. about 600 baht per month...for a huge number of elderly rural people that is their sole income as they were so poor without any opportunity to save for later life. So now they rely their sate pension and any money their family can send from their minimum wage jobs.

 

Given the vast amounts of money companies make in profits I do not buy the arguement that they can't afford it. More like they don't want to afford it.

[2baht]

  On 9/17/2022 at 12:12 AM, Ralf001 said:

Are the robber barons really that stupid ?

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Banks are a prime example, there was a time when people robbed banks, now, banks rob people! 

[Gluuay yai]

  On 9/17/2022 at 12:00 AM, RichardColeman said:

Isn't it a bit like saying factory workers should get more money as they refuse to move up the chain of command in a job to get more money ? 

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So all the factory workers can move up to senior management positions can they? Maybe ALL the factory workers could become CEO's or CFO's. 

[Gluuay yai]

  On 9/17/2022 at 12:12 AM, Ralf001 said:

Doubling the min wage would force all manufacturing businesses to dramatically increase their costs in turn making Thailand an unattractive place to manufacture.

 

Are the robber barons really that stupid ?

 

Don't bite the hand that feeds you comes to mind !!

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Yes keep the sweat shops running there's no way these companies could afford to pay people a living wage. 

[2baht]

  On 9/16/2022 at 8:33 PM, Ralf001 said:

800 a day would force us to lay of a lot of staff.

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I would'nt get out of bed for 800 baht an hour!

[marcusb]

  On 9/17/2022 at 1:03 AM, 2baht said:

I would'nt get out of bed for 800 baht an hour!

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Whoppee for you.  

 Meanwhile if you were a struggling Thai (which is the topic) doubling your daily wage would be an incredible boost in your quality of life.  

[2baht]

  On 9/17/2022 at 1:17 AM, marcusb said:

Whoppee for you.  

 Meanwhile if you were a struggling Thai (which is the topic) doubling your daily wage would be an incredible boost in your quality of life.  

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Do you realise in Thailand that 1% of the population controls 66% of the wealth, the distribution of wealth is disgusting!

[jacko45k]

  On 9/17/2022 at 1:03 AM, 2baht said:

I would'nt get out of bed for 800 baht an hour!

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Usually costs me substantially more to get a Thai  out of mine!

[BangkokReady]

  On 9/16/2022 at 8:33 PM, Ralf001 said:

800 a day would force us to lay of a lot of staff.

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It makes you wonder how these people really see things progressing in Thailand along the lines of wages.

 

Clearly you cannot have the wage increases these people want as well as businesses employing double the workers they need, with most of them sitting around on their phones all day.  And jobs are so easy to come by, workers start and quit very quickly.

 

I think a lot of people don't realise how good some Thai employees have it.  If people want to see workers being treated more like they are in wealthier countries, they have to be aware that they might end up being treated more like they are in wealthier countries.

[Ombra]

The minimum daily wage will be 337 baht from October 1st and he is proposing to raise it to 800 baht over two terms (eight years?). Is that a radical proposal?

[Rmac442]

  On 9/17/2022 at 1:17 AM, marcusb said:

Whoppee for you.  

 Meanwhile if you were a struggling Thai (which is the topic) doubling your daily wage would be an incredible boost in your quality of life.  

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Not necessarily....everything they buy now would double ... And many would lose there jobs and, or jobs moved to Vietnam or Indonesia ...

How many jobs would be lost if PTT decided to move to self service at petrol stations !!!??

[steven100]

oh Thaksin .....   crawl back in your hole will ya  '

 

" towards a minimum wage of ฿800 per day "     this coming from a guy who absconded millions & possibly billions of baht from Thai's and the thai economy and now living a life of luxury. 

 

 

 

 

[dpcjsr]

...and as always the million baht question "who is going to pay for these wage increases". Not the government. Yes, you, and me, and everyone else.  Another no skin in the game, feel good, economically stupid, law. 

[ezzra]

When in exile you say all sorts of thinks you'll  probably wouldn't have done yourself, and creating chaos and ruffling feathers it's easy to do when you're a fugitive overseas...

[Ralf001]

  On 9/17/2022 at 1:27 AM, BangkokReady said:

It makes you wonder how these people really see things progressing in Thailand along the lines of wages.

 

Clearly you cannot have the wage increases these people want as well as businesses employing double the workers they need, with most of them sitting around on their phones all day.  And jobs are so easy to come by, workers start and quit very quickly.

 

I think a lot of people don't realise how good some Thai employees have it.  If people want to see workers being treated more like they are in wealthier countries, they have to be aware that they might end up being treated more like they are in wealthier countries.

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We recently employed a 2nd Automation Engineer and have placed orders for an addition 10 robots to add to our current fleet of 30.... Robots are much more reliable than people... and they produce consistent results !!

 

doubling min wage will have us buying more robots and employing skilled (not min wage workers) to run them.

 

[BangkokReady]

  On 9/17/2022 at 1:33 AM, steven100 said:

this coming from a guy who absconded millions & possibly billions of baht from Thai's and the thai economy and now living a life of luxury. 

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Unfortunately, most people only care about the money in their pocket that day.  "Thaksin gave us money so we like him."  I doubt many cared about what he actually did to the country or the economy.

[lordblackader]

  On 9/16/2022 at 11:10 PM, KIngsofisaan said:

Not dwindling is Isaan, sorry.

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See the results from the last election - his base is slowly dwindling. The North and Isan used to be uninterrupted red and slowly that is changing. Where do you think Anutin is getting votes from? 

[Sydebolle]

Excellent idea, the puppet master's sister managed to crawl upto the PM throne by screwing the economy in increasing the wage from 200 to 300 Baht and a minimum pay of 15,000 Baht for anyone with an university degree. 
1) did the efficiency increase by 50% (from bottom) or 33% (from top)
2) this populistic election promise was to be paid by the private industry 
Uncle Tu jacked up the salaries again to 350 Baht or 14%, so I assume that the efficiency of the Thai worker increased in line or 67% in ten years

Thaksin's "proposal" is of course yet another electoral jump starter. Go for it and Thailand will see most industries departing elsewhere as the efficiency, in all fairness, dropped over the last ten years. But the Thai voters have always managed to achieve a suicidal outcome; just see the consecutive governments which have been doing everything possible to line their own pockets on the electorate's expense. Go figure!