Minimum Wages For Foreigners.

[DaveYo]

Hi and whoopie doo!!!!

I have a very interesting Question and would like to know specifically just what and how far does this Thai Law apply regarding the minimum wages for foreigners. This can be found on http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=459 courtesy of our friend George!

Here is the story and question:

If a foreigner is hired to do work here in thailand, for the government of Thailand, does this scale of wages apply to the Government or just to companies??????????

I have a friend, particularly probably the best friend here in Thailand, and he is an Australian, who is a Tourist Police Officer, and does other duties working for the Commerce in dealing with rice etc., and was hired by Thailand thru a contract with someone from the Australian Government similar to the Peace Corps.

Lately they have been cutting back his wages for some unknown reason, yet they demand all this work to be done, and I am really pissed off on the way he is being treated, but at same token he is somewhat handcuffed somehow due to his contract which expires coming December just before Xmas.

His salary for some time has been only 10,000 Baht a month, instead of the previous 35,000 Baht according to Thai Law, and now they cut him down to 5,000 Baht a month just recently which according to Thai Law says he is supposed to be getting 50,000 Baht a month since last year when the Gazette was issued last year. Shit, this is the pits for this guy, and they make him travel on many days over 175 kilometers going to different places and they never re-imburse him for all the gas he uses back and forth. Sometimes he works till 1 to 3 am in the morning if such work is hot, and needs to be done. Much of this work is translating English documents into Thai. Including with this work, being a Tourist Police Officer he has those duties besides doing cases involving with foreigners or illegals etc. More than what this current salary can ever offer. He is forced to use his limited spare time to teach of which he is certified and they don't even pay him according to the Thai law. So what gives????????

What can he do about this situation and can this law apply to his contract???????? with the Thai Government and his side kick Teaching?????

I need to have these answers because I do believe he is getting screwed out of his wages by his superiors who are pocketing his salary into their own pockets or paying others out of his salary without him knowing it.

If he is entitled to this pay, and all that back pay how can he legally go about it?????

So how about it folks, lets pitch in and help this guy with knowledge and facts that the law applies so that he can use it in his favor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time is running out on him so he has to do it very soon before this contract is up, so he can collect what is due to him legally.

Daveyo

[Tywais]

Possibly due to this:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=46636&hl=

[lopburi3]

Those are guidelines for immigration to issue an extension of stay and are not minimum wage laws in any why, shape or form.

[DaveYo]

Tywais, good information there, because this friend of mine said the same thing. The real question is the PAY and does this pay apply, or can the Thai Government put in a by-law into their contract to reduce the pay?????????????? The way my friend explained to me they did just that in putting in that by-law thus they weasel out of the Gazette that was issued by the HRH.

I want to know from some legal beagle who is familiar about Thai Law here just exactly what my friend can do concerning his predicament.

There has to be some loophole or answer.

Daveyo

[samran]

If your mate is legit, odds are he is on an Australian Volunteers Abroad scheme, which is organised through the Australian Government and wehre he is twinned with a Thai government organisation. As the name suggests, he shouldn't be paid anything, though the Australian government would be giving him a very small amount per month and pay for his airfares. If he thinks he is being scammed, he should be talkiing to his project manager in Australia and air his concerns there.

[DaveYo]

Ok so that helps clarify some things samran, but now this puts one Government with another Government. However we have a Thai Law that came out being revised back in July 2004 raising the stakes as of the pay.

Again this still raises that Question concerning just exactly does the Law apply only to Companies and the like and not the Government???

Listen folks, if the Government passed the law to apply to the people, they also must follow the same rules and with no exceptions. You cannot order one bunch of people to comply and then say on the other hand we are exempt. Also from what I hear, these Volunteers so to speak get hit with a small clause called something to my understanding a by-law involving hiring Tourist Police. Hold it right there. Here is my point

If the law says folks everyone gets a raise etc, and it is passed by the Government and by HRH, and now some branch of the Government inserts a by-law clause to minimize the paychecks, this is considered ILLEGAL, because such was not approved by HRH or even the Parliament.

Why have the Law be passed only to find out later someone comes up with a brainstorm to secretly find a loophole and insert the by-law clause to save money.

In doing so, one defeats the true intent of the Law illegally. In short this means anyone can do this at random and say tit for tat to you take it or leave it. These people are crooks. Once you sign that document of agreement, your doomed unless one knows for a fact this is an illegal act.

That is why I posted this topic in my efforts to find out if the Government is exempt from complying with the Thai Law that supposingly affects everyone.

From reading that topic of about the Volunteer project, it is a super joke. I am sure is not going to waste my time looking for stranded individuals, but if I come across one, yes I will point them in the right direction straight to the Tourist Police Station and that is it. If they do something illegally, I don't want to know about it or even want to be involved. Not my business.

If the Government contracts for the services of some foreigner, that alone itself says you hired a foreigner period. It cannot be any other way in plain black and white.

Daveyo

[Maestro]

If a foreigner is hired to do work here in thailand, for the government of Thailand, does this scale of wages apply to the Government or just to companies??????????

I have a friend, particularly probably the best friend here in Thailand, and he is an Australian, who is a Tourist Police Officer, and does other duties working for the Commerce in dealing with rice etc., and was hired by Thailand thru a contract with someone from the Australian Government similar to the Peace Corps.

I should think that the amount of salary stated in the contract applies. Have you seen and read that contract?