Private sector against Pheu Thai’s 600-baht minimum wage proposal

[snoop1130]

 

The Thai private sector has expressed serious concerns over the opposition Pheu Thai Party’s ambitious plan to increase the daily minimum wage to 600 baht by 2027, claiming that this substantial rise will drive up the cost of production by about 70%.

 

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking, Sanan Angubolkul, president of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade, said today (Wednesday) that the minimum wage is usually decided by wage committees at the provincial and national levels, taking into account numerous factors, including the inflation rate, cost of living and price indices.

 

The Pheu Thai Party unveiled its 10-point manifesto yesterday, which contains the aim of increasing the daily minimum wage to 600 baht by 2027.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/private-sector-against-pheu-thais-600-baht-minimum-wage-proposal/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-12-07

 

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[realfunster]

Zzzzz - can’t we get some serious politicians in this country ?

Let’s make it 1,000 a day…whilst comparable competitor countries do it a lot cheaper and Thailand doesn’t have much to offer in terms of “added value”.

Without a holistic national strategy, it’s going to be a hard journey for Thailand to break the middle-income trap. 

[ikke1959]

Of course the greed of the private sector .... Hire  migrants to work to pay them less and let them work 7 days a week....Good that a minimum wage should be implemented for a 6 day workweek....and paid holidays too.. People have rights to kave a  holiday instead of the obligation to work as there would be no payment.. Everybody here will agree that 30 days working for 333 THB a day is 10.000 THB and that is not much nowadays with rising prices 

[dddave]

Election coming soon.  Politicians usually roll out the usual give-away programs, get some TV face time.  Once the election is done, they'll go back to sifting hi-way contracts

[Gknrd]

Actually with the Thai demographics.  600 baht is coming sooner than later. And it will rise from there. It will be interesting to see if Thailand can make the transition. But, I suspect it will be in big trouble soon.

[RichardColeman]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

claiming that this substantial rise will drive up the cost of production by about 70%.

It would also put out of business all of those people making a living from recycling plastic, glass, tins and cardboard as the the cost would not be worth the effort of collecting it. Meaning Thailand is about to become a huge tip in 2027 (yeah I know it is now, but with no reason to recycle its just going to get a few more inches in it)

[Elkski]

Business crying wolf with record profits.    Look at USA, bunch of whining businesses whenever min wage increases are mentioned.  Record profits in many sectors.   Seems like it should be indexed every year not once a decade. 

[Mickeymaus]

10 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Of course the greed of the private sector .... Hire  migrants to work to pay them less and let them work 7 days a week....Good that a minimum wage should be implemented for a 6 day workweek....and paid holidays too.. People have rights to kave a  holiday instead of the obligation to work as there would be no payment.. Everybody here will agree that 30 days working for 333 THB a day is 10.000 THB and that is not much nowadays with rising prices 

If they increase the wages the prices will even rise further. And then increase the wages again? And then the prices will increase again and then...  

[bokningar]

This will only create a spiral of increased inflation. 

Stupid politicians not learning from the past.

But they only care about getting votes, nothing new there    

[HaoleBoy]

And Apple is moving production / assembly of iPhones to Thailand looking for cheap labor, yet their profits are sooooo high.  Nike coming next???

 

Should raise min wage to 600 THB for companies that employ > 15 people.  Start somewhere ...

[Fat is a type of crazy]

31 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

If they increase the wages the prices will even rise further. And then increase the wages again? And then the prices will increase again and then...  

The problem is workers can't win. Times are bad. No pay rise. Economy surges. No pay rise due to inflationary risk. Wages are one input into the cost so a rise in wages does not mean the same percentage increase in the cost of a service or good.  There has to be common sense but if you are looking at whether a country is successful, the ability for every day workers to live a happy and dignified life, is a key benchmark. 

[kingstonkid]

10 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Of course the greed of the private sector .... Hire  migrants to work to pay them less and let them work 7 days a week....Good that a minimum wage should be implemented for a 6 day workweek....and paid holidays too.. People have rights to kave a  holiday instead of the obligation to work as there would be no payment.. Everybody here will agree that 30 days working for 333 THB a day is 10.000 THB and that is not much nowadays with rising prices 

The problem with your thinking is that you are not living in the right era.

 

Let me ask this.

 

Why do most large American companies hire Indian, Philippine or other English speaking outside of N.A. for call centers.

 

Why is almost nothing mas manufactured in England, E.U. Canada or the United States?

 

Why is Thailand no longer making any of the clothes that they used to Wacoal and other thai lingerie companies have had to leave Thailand?

 

Why is China the biggest country for producing things?

 

 The answer is the same they priced themselves out of the market.  

 

The biggest proof of that is the North American auto industry.  with the wages, benefits and medical plans that these companies got it reached a point where the sale of a car did not replace the amount that the company paid on benefits for retired people.

 

The more you raise wages and benefits, the more a company needs to spend, and the easier it is for someone else too out bid them.

 

You talk about migrants coming into Thailand and taking jobs from Thais.  I think you need to look at the U.S.  Why do you think there is an open border at the south?

 

Who do you think is washing the dishes cleaning the rooms, and bussing the tables?

 

If it was not for some of the unions  who do you think would be doing most of the construction?

 

  

[MrMojoRisin]

7 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

The problem with your thinking is that you are not living in the right era.

 

Let me ask this.

 

Why do most large American companies hire Indian, Philippine or other English speaking outside of N.A. for call centers.

 

Why is almost nothing mas manufactured in England, E.U. Canada or the United States?

 

Why is Thailand no longer making any of the clothes that they used to Wacoal and other thai lingerie companies have had to leave Thailand?

 

Why is China the biggest country for producing things?

 

 The answer is the same they priced themselves out of the market.  

 

The biggest proof of that is the North American auto industry.  with the wages, benefits and medical plans that these companies got it reached a point where the sale of a car did not replace the amount that the company paid on benefits for retired people.

 

The more you raise wages and benefits, the more a company needs to spend, and the easier it is for someone else too out bid them.

 

You talk about migrants coming into Thailand and taking jobs from Thais.  I think you need to look at the U.S.  Why do you think there is an open border at the south?

 

Who do you think is washing the dishes cleaning the rooms, and bussing the tables?

 

If it was not for some of the unions  who do you think would be doing most of the construction?

 

  

Wrong.

 

https://www.epi.org/blog/inflation-minimum-wages-and-profits-protecting-low-wage-workers-from-inflation-means-raising-the-minimum-wage/

[pegman]

$1.30hr. I was making more than that working a summer job as a kid 50+ years ago.  Minimum wage where I am from has gone up more than 10 fold since then. Growing wages leads to capital investment which strengthens a country's economy. 

[ikke1959]

26 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

The problem with your thinking is that you are not living in the right era.

 

Let me ask this.

 

Why do most large American companies hire Indian, Philippine or other English speaking outside of N.A. for call centers.

 

Why is almost nothing mas manufactured in England, E.U. Canada or the United States?

 

Why is Thailand no longer making any of the clothes that they used to Wacoal and other thai lingerie companies have had to leave Thailand?

 

Why is China the biggest country for producing things?

 

 The answer is the same they priced themselves out of the market.  

 

The biggest proof of that is the North American auto industry.  with the wages, benefits and medical plans that these companies got it reached a point where the sale of a car did not replace the amount that the company paid on benefits for retired people.

 

The more you raise wages and benefits, the more a company needs to spend, and the easier it is for someone else too out bid them.

 

You talk about migrants coming into Thailand and taking jobs from Thais.  I think you need to look at the U.S.  Why do you think there is an open border at the south?

 

Who do you think is washing the dishes cleaning the rooms, and bussing the tables?

 

If it was not for some of the unions  who do you think would be doing most of the construction?

 

  

First of all as I have wrote already the minimun wages in Thailand are too low...compare with the US as you do and yes if migrants come work there they will get a minimum wage too, but that is enough to live in the US. Besides that they have days of and paid holidays... Hpw on earth can you nowadays live with 10.000THB if you work 30 days a month and have a  kid that has to go to school?? The Government is helping with lower electricity bills and water use and with 50/50 but who are benefitting from it? The people still have to work 30 days to make ends meet. And the tax reduction announced for the holiday sales is only for the better paid.. I can't spend 40.000 THB to get tax promotions if I earn 10.000 THB. And in the US an European countries, yes, they have migrant workers too but still they don't need to work 30 days a month and have unpaid holidays...  

[VocalNeal]

1 minute ago, ikke1959 said:

compare with the US as you do

Why ????

 

Asia is different. Embrace the difference.

[pegman]

31 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

The problem with your thinking is that you are not living in the right era.

 

Let me ask this.

 

Why do most large American companies hire Indian, Philippine or other English speaking outside of N.A. for call centers.

 

Why is almost nothing mas manufactured in England, E.U. Canada or the United States?

 

Why is Thailand no longer making any of the clothes that they used to Wacoal and other thai lingerie companies have had to leave Thailand?

 

Why is China the biggest country for producing things?

 

 The answer is the same they priced themselves out of the market.  

 

The biggest proof of that is the North American auto industry.  with the wages, benefits and medical plans that these companies got it reached a point where the sale of a car did not replace the amount that the company paid on benefits for retired people.

 

The more you raise wages and benefits, the more a company needs to spend, and the easier it is for someone else too out bid them.

 

You talk about migrants coming into Thailand and taking jobs from Thais.  I think you need to look at the U.S.  Why do you think there is an open border at the south?

 

Who do you think is washing the dishes cleaning the rooms, and bussing the tables?

 

If it was not for some of the unions  who do you think would be doing most of the construction?

 

  

  Those things happen because of crooked politicians taking down trade barriers and tariffs for a fee from the multi-national business community. 

 

You must be disappointed that you missed out on the days of slavery. Although it's still happening on fishing boats working out of Thailand so that must warm your heart. 

[EVENKEEL]

14 minutes ago, pegman said:

$1.30hr. I was making more than that working a summer job as a kid 50+ years ago.  Minimum wage where I am from has gone up more than 10 fold since then. Growing wages leads to capital investment which strengthens a country's economy. 

Was it typical for head of household working these jobs for those wages back then.

[seajae]

what thais need to realize is that when the wages go up so does the cost of living, this is just an election bribe attempt as per usual, will drag all the uneducated people in tom thinking they wil be better off when they wont. While wages in Thailand are low they are similar to wages in all the countries around them, yes they do need higher wages but they do come with a cost to them as well, Thailand is third world, it is not in the same class as western nations so wage difference should not come into it, the wages have to align with the costs of living in this country. A pay rise is great as long as it does not mean that the cost of living rises and puts the thai people in an even worse postion of not being able to support themselves and their families, wage rises do come with a cost and businesses will always make profits whether they are here or in the west, people cannot compare Thailand to the US etc or would the expats whinging about thai pay rather see Thailand collapse on itself trying to compete with western countries

[hotchilli]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Thai private sector has expressed serious concerns over the opposition Pheu Thai Party’s ambitious plan to increase the daily minimum wage to 600 baht by 2027, claiming that this substantial rise will drive up the cost of production by about 70%.

BS

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, HaoleBoy said:

And Apple is moving production / assembly of iPhones to Thailand looking for cheap labor, yet their profits are sooooo high.  Nike coming next???

 

Should raise min wage to 600 THB for companies that employ > 15 people.  Start somewhere ...

Then no company would hire the 16th person as it would immediately cause their costs to rise significantly, stifling growth.

[dpcjsr]

Minimum wage laws make no sense and cause problems where ever they are implemented. Check out California for a good example. This is pure politics trying to gain a few votes by promising money to the poor. Same story worldwide. Nothing new here. 

[VocalNeal]

Yeaah but there are still guys looking to hire locals for 300 baht to cut their grass????

[kingstonkid]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

  Those things happen because of crooked politicians taking down trade barriers and tariffs for a fee from the multi-national business community. 

 

You must be disappointed that you missed out on the days of slavery. Although it's still happening on fishing boats working out of Thailand so that must warm your heart. 

This has nothing to do with slavery but if you think it does not exist in the U.S., take a look at all the sweatshops that exist. Or in the U.K. the slaughterhouses.

 

The bottom line is that the West. used to be producing countries now it is consuming.  If you want proof look at all the issues the world had with getting TP, thermometers and medical supplies during covid.

 

Why is the west having trouble getting chips for computers?

 

Now getting to Thailand,

 

If I had 100 baht for every time someone here complains about the price of a beer or the price of anything related to tourism I would be one of the richest people in the country.

 

People complain because Thailand is too expensive and pricing itself out of the tourism market.

 

Have you lived in any other countries other than your home country and Thailand?

 

The bottom line no matter what country you live in is that there will always be rich and there will always be poor.  No matter how much you raise the wages this is a given.

 

Wages are set by what the market allows. 

 

BTW you say that western countries' are so good

 

How many people could have a good life living off of

 

7.25 an hour on a 40 hour week in the U.s.

9.50 pound

12,00 EU in germany

$21.38 per hour or $812.60 per 38 hour week 

 

The challenge in Thailand is not the minimum wage as much as it is the minimum skill level of Thais.

 

I agree there are trades that are underpaid especially teachers, but I would love to see the percentage of people in Bangkok working real jobs not associated with the bars and tourist businesses that are making minimum wage.

 

It is great to raise the wages in a country the challenge is that companies then look at other areas and decide that based on  education and skill level country X is just as qualified therefore if money is better they move.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

[kingstonkid]

25,000 minimum wae for a BA graduate.

 

To me, that is going to kill many people from getting a job.

 

You can not guarantee a wage like that nationally.

 

These kids are having trouble finding jobs now imagine a girl going to a bar as a waitress she is an absolute stunner all real, no plastic, big smile definitely will bring in the punters.

 

The owner goes to hire her and then asks her what her education is, and she says I just graduated from Issan U with a BA in basket weaving.

 

Not even Rotten Ronny will be able to hire them.

 

That means that schools will not be able to hire teachers either because the government does not give them enough money 

[VocalNeal]

15 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

People complain because

????

[MrMojoRisin]

2 hours ago, seajae said:

what thais need to realize is that when the wages go up so does the cost of living, this is just an election bribe attempt as per usual, will drag all the uneducated people in tom thinking they wil be better off when they wont. While wages in Thailand are low they are similar to wages in all the countries around them, yes they do need higher wages but they do come with a cost to them as well, Thailand is third world, it is not in the same class as western nations so wage difference should not come into it, the wages have to align with the costs of living in this country. A pay rise is great as long as it does not mean that the cost of living rises and puts the thai people in an even worse postion of not being able to support themselves and their families, wage rises do come with a cost and businesses will always make profits whether they are here or in the west, people cannot compare Thailand to the US etc or would the expats whinging about thai pay rather see Thailand collapse on itself trying to compete with western countries

Not true.

Wages can go up without a cost of living increase quite easily…, all it takes is for profits to go down.

Have you any ideas what has happened to the respective share of the pie going to wages and profits since 1971?

Educate yourself, don’t just parrot the false narrative that perpetuates exploitation of the working class.

 

https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

 

 

[Dart12]

4 hours ago, Elkski said:

Business crying wolf with record profits.    Look at USA, bunch of whining businesses whenever min wage increases are mentioned.  Record profits in many sectors.   Seems like it should be indexed every year not once a decade. 

it does not matter. Raise the wages, the businesses just pass that cost back onto the buyers.  The businesses will never eat it.  See McDonald's food prices now.

Just another form of inflation.

[worgeordie]

Most workers here are  Living to work , not working to live , 6 days a week.

when I started working  62 years ago in the UK it was 5.5 days a week , now

my daughter  in UK works 4 days a week , Daughter in Thailand 6 days a week 

with I think 7 days holidays a year , one hotel she worked at ,they wanted her

to work 2-3 hours extra a day "to help the company" as they need money to

refurbish a new hotel they had bought ......that was without pay , she easily found

a new job , 

 

You can imagine how they treat the Burmese and Cambodians  , profit at all cost.

 

regards Worgeordie

[roger101]

Rather than just saying no Big Business should be saying "right we will try to improve efficiency so the we can pay 600 Baht a day".