Firms Go To Court Against Thai Govt Bt300-Wage Order

[Buchholz]

I scratch my head in dismay watching people rant against the idea of someone making 300B / day as a minimum wage.

The Puea Thaksin government is doing more than scratching their heads. This is just another election promise they deeply regret and trying to find ways to back-track from ...

Delaying a promise 5 years from when it was made could be a very successful back-track way they found.

Still, before the 2010 promise is delivered in 2015... even more delays can occur.

p.s. I don't think they regret it at all. It was a very successful campaign lie that immeasurably aided their election campaign and assisted them getting into office.

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Edited March 16, 2012 by Buchholz

[Thaddeus]

I scratch my head in dismay watching people rant against the idea of someone making 300B / day as a minimum wage.

The problem isn't that they're getting 300 baht. It's simply not economical to increase it by so much so quickly.

I respect your opinion, and your post is not part of the ranting from the first page, either.

As for the timing, both campaigns promised to raise the minimum wage, so businesses have known this was coming for almost a year.

Ok, so all the businesses knew for almost a year that the Thai government planned.this.

The basic notion of a government trying to control fundamental economic principals of private companies is not only wrong, it is a recipe for disaster.

The bottom line is this, it was a vote winner, nothing more and nothing less, just like all the other vote winner promises that they made knowing full well that they were not going to happen.

The people who can vote got fooled, and guess what .... so did you.

[Buchholz]

Additionally, it is not everywhere at one time (other posters point to that as "breaking" a campaign promise... )

They are breaking 70/77 of their promise.

and they are bending the remaining 7/77 of their promise by still not implementing 8 months into office .

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[tlansford]

I scratch my head in dismay watching people rant against the idea of someone making 300B / day as a minimum wage.

The problem isn't that they're getting 300 baht. It's simply not economical to increase it by so much so quickly.

I respect your opinion, and your post is not part of the ranting from the first page, either.

As for the timing, both campaigns promised to raise the minimum wage, so businesses have known this was coming for almost a year.

Ok, so all the businesses knew for almost a year that the Thai government planned.this.

The basic notion of a government trying to control fundamental economic principals of private companies is not only wrong, it is a recipe for disaster.

The bottom line is this, it was a vote winner, nothing more and nothing less, just like all the other vote winner promises that they made knowing full well that they were not going to happen.

The people who can vote got fooled, and guess what .... so did you.

You sound like you have a libertarian political/economic viewpoint. TAWP and I had an interesting exchange not too long ago on these lines.

Protecting basic worker rights is a fundamental part of a functioning economy. There is no such thing as a free market, there are only markets that are regulated under different rules.

The rules that govern a national economy, be it the USA or Thailand are not (officially) under the domain of the corporations, but under the domain of the government. The government creates the rules under which everyone plays.

So the government writing the rules under which companies operate is not only right, but it is reality.

I sincerely do not think that I am the one who has been fooled here.

[hellodolly]

pay hike scheduled to take effect from April 1, workers in Bangkok, Phuket, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom and Nonthaburi

While workers in 70 other provinces will have to wait as late as 2015 before Yingluck's 2010 promise is delivered to them.

Protesters rally to pressure the government to honour the Pheu Thai Party's campaign promises of a Bt300 minimum wage for labourers and a Bt15,000 monthly wage for recent graduates. They carry party campaign posters featuring pictures of PM Yingluck Shinawatra promoting the policies.

The Nation / 2011-10-08

Why all the pressure to give them raises Thaksin said they were all going to be rich in six months.

[hellodolly]

I scratch my head in dismay watching people rant against the idea of someone making 300B / day as a minimum wage.

The problem isn't that they're getting 300 baht. It's simply not economical to increase it by so much so quickly.

I respect your opinion, and your post is not part of the ranting from the first page, either.

As for the timing, both campaigns promised to raise the minimum wage, so businesses have known this was coming for almost a year.

Additionally, it is not everywhere at one time (other posters point to that as "breaking" a campaign promise... )

And not all companies are affected, but all get a lower corporate tax rate. Looks to me like they got a pretty good deal.

People are worried about companies relocating from Thailand because of the raised minimum wage, but Toshiba recently confirmed they will stay in Thailand (flood-related announcement) and mentioned that the minimum wage did not affect them.

Then there is the CEO of the food processing company, which will be affected by the increase, who not only supported the new rate, but offered his opinion that the minimum wage could be higher.

Minimum wage is one thing but up to over 40% for some all ready making over minimum wage is caring it a bit far don't you think?

One year to prepare while they suffer from a flood it all makes good Thai sense.

Here is the article

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Posted 2012-03-02 06:51:46

22 jobs to be paid above minimum wage rates

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Wage Tripartite Committee yesterday issued a list of 22 vocational jobs which qualify for rates higher than the Bt300 daily minimum wage, which will come into effect across the country on April 1.

The Bt300 daily minimum wage will be implemented in seven provinces, including Bangkok on the same day, said Labour Ministry permanent secretary Somkiart Chayasriwong, who also chairs the committee. The committee did not discuss a demand by labourers calling for a blanket minimum daily wage of Bt300 in all provinces, not just in the seven provinces initially, he added.

The highest raise is for Thai-food cooks, going up 40 per cent from Bt280 to Bt400, while the lowest rate of increase is 11.7 per cent, for carpentry work Class 1, from Bt300 to Bt335, he said. Somkiart did not give details of the criteria used by the committee to determine the raises in both categories.

The jobs are divided into six groups, then subclasses, depending on skill levels in the same groups: auto repairs; service sector; electronic and computer technicians and repairmen; handyman and helpers in computer-assisted designs; construction workers, and industrial workers.

In the list, auto paint repairmen Class 1 will get Bt400 a day from Bt315 at present, while Classes 2 and 3 will get Bt465 and Bt530, respectively, up Bt380 and Bt445, respectively at present.

In the service sector: Thai-food cook position Class 2 will get Bt510 from the current Bt360; traditional masseurs Classes 1, 2 and 3 will get Bt440, Bt580 and Bt720, respectively from the current Bt310, Bt410 and Bt510; while spa service people in Class 1 and 2 will get Bt490 and Bt650 respectively, up from the current Bt350 and Bt460.

The Labour Ministry will soon grant a special fund to help small- and medium Japanese enterprises affected by the flooding who have not received a 10 per cent tax deduction like large-scale firms, he said. The flood-hit Japanese SMEs are being affected the Bt300 daily wage.

-- The Nation 2012-03-02

Edited March 16, 2012 by hellodolly

[kimamey]

This raise in minimum wage will cost many folks their jobs and do more harm than good.

As I said in a different thread, once the government dabbles with the basic economic principles of companies that it doesn't own, you get a train wreck.

Minimum wages can work. We have them in the UK and they didn't cause massive job losses as was predicted by many companies. However it was based on an hourly rate which works when someone doesn't work a full day of 8 hours or however many it is for a Thai working day and it was done slowly not 40% in one go. That is obviously not going to go smoothly. But then PTP headed by Thaksin and Yingluck being business people would have known that.

[Thaddeus]

This raise in minimum wage will cost many folks their jobs and do more harm than good.

As I said in a different thread, once the government dabbles with the basic economic principles of companies that it doesn't own, you get a train wreck.

Minimum wages can work. We have them in the UK and they didn't cause massive job losses as was predicted by many companies. However it was based on an hourly rate which works when someone doesn't work a full day of 8 hours or however many it is for a Thai working day and it was done slowly not 40% in one go. That is obviously not going to go smoothly. But then PTP headed by Thaksin and Yingluck being business people would have known that.

Yes, minimum hourly rate does work, and it prevents exploitation, however, dictating a base salary for a job doesn't.

Let's just face some raw facts here, Khun T made promises to get back in to power, never intended to deliver them, it;s just about power, his lil' sister means naught, she's just a pawn, ready to be sacrificed at a moments notice, and the general populous think that he cares for them..................... winning formula.

I get so sick and tired sometimes of hearing the red sympathisers on this board claiming that he is for the people, utter <deleted>, the red sympathisers on this board are either wadded or pensioned up to the eyeballs...... one message for them, live in a two up two down wooden shack for a few months,be told that everything is Ok, it's fine.... most red shirt apologists have never liver anything like the people that they pretend to support.

[Thaddeus]

Can someone sort out the ridiculous formatting on this thread.

[Buchholz]

pay hike scheduled to take effect from April 1, workers in Bangkok, Phuket, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom and Nonthaburi

While workers in 70 other provinces will have to wait as late as 2015 before Yingluck's 2010 promise is delivered to them.

Protesters rally to pressure the government to honour the Pheu Thai Party's campaign promises of a Bt300 minimum wage for labourers and a Bt15,000 monthly wage for recent graduates. They carry party campaign posters featuring pictures of PM Yingluck Shinawatra promoting the policies.

The Nation / 2011-10-08

Why all the pressure to give them raises Thaksin said they were all going to be rich in six months.

Instead, eight months later, the minimum wage earners are being told to wait until 2015.

Regarding their other promise depicted on their campaign poster above, how's that 15,000 minimum monthly salary for university graduates coming along?

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