Raising the minimum wage in Thailand to 450 baht a day will make workers happy, but certainly not business operators, as reflected in the negative opinions voiced by various business groups.

 

Poj Aramwattananont, vice chair of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, has warned that the increase in the minimum wage, as pledged by parties during their election campaigns, could prompt potential foreign investors think twice and may delay their plans to invest in Thailand.

 

Take a look at the minimum wages in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, in comparison with the wages in Thailand. Indonesia’s minimum wage is higher than that in Thailand but, given the size of the Indonesian population, estimated at about 300 million, the prospect for domestic and external trade is greater than in Thailand.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/wages-in-thailand-are-only-one-factor-in-potential-investor-decisions/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2023-05-26

 

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I agree. Forward-looking economic policies, a stable political system, an efficient bureau- cracy and simplification of bureaucratic procedures, a minimum of corruption, a maximum of stability and rule of law, low import taxes and -restrictions, a developed

and modern infrastructure, an abundance of qualified labour possessing foreign language skills, etc., are also important...  ????????????????????????   

Damn, Thailand is screwed...

 

Edited May 26, 20233 yr by StayinThailand2much

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Poj Aramwattananont, vice chair of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, has warned that the increase in the minimum wage, as pledged by parties during their election campaigns, could prompt potential foreign investors think twice and may delay their plans to invest in Thailand.

Time Thailand stopped being the slave labour for the rest of the world, poorly paid workers toiling away in sweat shops.

The bosses and owners are rich, living good lives off the poor workers efforts.

The rest of the world will still use Thailand and other countries as sub-contractors as wages in the west are much higher.

He's saying it's time the wealth divide was closed up and the profits are shared around a little more fairly.

 

Edited May 26, 20233 yr by hotchilli

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Time Thailand stopped being the slave labour for the rest of the world, poorly paid workers toiling away in sweat shops.

The bosses and owners are rich, living good lives off the poor workers efforts.

The rest of the world will still use Thailand and other countries as sub-contractors as wages in the west are much higher.

He's saying it's time the wealth divide was closed up and the profits are shared around a little more fairly.

 

I would, in principle, agree with that… but.. i also think that IF Thailand wants out of the cheap-labour market, then they’re going to have to show their ability to show much better “value-added” to attract foreign investment and capital projects.

 

There’s also ways going to be some level of demand for the low-margin, high volume manufacturing sector (things like mid market clothing and mid-market electronics) but to me, the best way forward for a country like Thailand, is to position themselves as a high value-added design and manufacturing destination.

 

Of course, that then relies on factors like the depth and breadth of the local labour pool as far as talent, long term government policies that favor long term FI, existing infrastructure to support that kind of build-out… some of these thailand has or can implement- others are a bit hit-or-miss… IMHO

Many jobs wont be taken by Thais. Jobs for 350 a day working 12 hours a day in Restaurants and fish markets such as in Ayutthaya and Samut  Sakhon taken by Laos Cambodian and Myanmar workers and still so called 'employers' struggle to find. Thailand likes to be a 'hub' of something.Well its the hub of low skill low paid employment ..No government has yet shown any willingness to improve wages because of threats and scare stories by unscrupulous gang master employers

Edited May 28, 20233 yr by pixelaoffy