Even Lotus And 7-11 Are Refusing To Pay Thai'S Minimum Wage Of 300 Baht!

[mogandave]

Full time employees get paid 30 days a month, not for the number of days they work. So in Bangkok, 300 a day comes out to 9,000 a month.

Also, most employers also provide additional benefits often including monthly and annual bonuses, meal allowances, transportation allowances, uniforms and any number of things that subsidize the minimum wage.

Where I work, the factory workers get 30 a day for meal and 40 a day for transportation and uniform shirts. They also get a 500 a month attendance bonus and 2 to 4 months of pay as an annual bonus. (3.25 months for everyone last year) This is pretty typical if not on the low side for manufacturers the area.

So do the math: THB ((255 X 30 + 30 X 24 + 40 X 24 + 500) X 12) + 2 X 255 X 30) / 12 = THB11,105 per month for a typical minimum wage factory worker with a two month bonus.

This will go up to 300 per day in January, so the new minimum at our plant will be $12,455 a month if we get the minimum bonus and $13,730 per month if we get the max.

You can rent a decent room here for 650 a month and get a good meal for 25 to 40 baht

Also, keep in mind, the government mandates employers allow 30 sick days a year, pay at least the minimum wage and pay non management employees overtime for working over 8 hours a day or 6 days a week, and pay severance if terminated. If someone is getting cheated, all they need to do is go to the labor department.

[mogandave]

Yeah, basically it's slave labor. My Thai boyfriend works (outside of BKK,) for a department store and they pay him 200 baht/day and he works 11 hours a day, 6 days a week. What provinces have the 300 baht/day wage now? Obviously, the province we're living in doesn't have it....THIS is why our goal is to go back to my home (America) so we can save money.

Not trying to be contrary but, what are his plans for working in America? Min. wage there is certainly not livable (hope you make enough to support your family)

I have been to many department stores here and if you want to call what those people do there "work," I would beg to differ.

If he has the language skills to work at a dept. store in the US he will be expected to work, to know the merchandise, and to politely and professionally engage customers.

Not saying he doesn't have the minerals to succeed in the US, but something to think about.

I'm sorry...but how do you know that he doesn't work hard? Have you ever been in a department store at all? My boyfriend is fluent in English (not that he needs to speak it really since there are few falangs around here,) and the department store is new, so he is constantly helping them move boxes, etc, as well as managing the cash registrar, as well as driving to Hat Yai to pick up supplies, etc. Does that qualify as work to you??

Well, he's aiming to go to cooking school and work in a Thai restaurant over there (which by the way...I talked with a thai immigration attorney, and in some places she told me Thai chefs can make as much as 30,000 dollars/year). ALSO, minimum wage where I come from is one of the highest in the country, along with the fact that I am planning on getting my masters degree....so, yes. We DO plan on making fairly decent money there, especially compared to what we make here.....

I think he was generalizing. While I don’t doubt there are some hard working people in the department stores here, far and away most are standing around jawing with their pals. If you don’t think so, clearly you have not been to many department stores her. If you boyfriend is slaving away for 12 hours a day for 200 baht per day, tell him to grow some ‘nads and go to the labor department. They will get him all his back pay and a decent severance, and then he can go to lotus or seven for minimum wage and only have to stand around for 8 hours a day.