I don't understand why can't these workers unionize and go on strike demanding higher salaries. My girlfirend got a new job at Tesco outside of Sisaket and she is expected to work non stop lifting objects all day and organizing the store for only 30 baht per hour! I thought my income of 200 baht per hour teaching English was bad! I really feel pity for these hard working Thais who are paid next to nothing to work like machines at multibillionaire corporations! I suggest all of you to make a complaint the next time you visit a Tesco Lotus or 7-11 or please write a letter online to fight for change. These workers deserve much better treatment! Please help if you can!

NOBODY Forces either of you to do what you do.

That's minimum wage here (Ubon) for now but will go up to 300 baht in January.

How about working out in the hot sun on a farm for the same money but it would probably be a 10 hour day.

Tesco and 7-11 are no different from any Thai company and they might even be better than some.

I thought my income of 200 baht per hour teaching English was bad!

Hahahahahaha

I don't understand why can't these workers unionize and go on strike demanding higher salaries

Read some Kamsing Srinawk or Sidaoruang to further understand the problems of the working class Thai before posing dribble....

Do Tesco / 7 ding dong also pay the staff social security payments each month?

Most "workers" i come across at these superstores are either hiding around corner isle ends texting or sitting on shelves doing nothing that resembles work,and they do enjoy chatting in big groups.

Big C is a good example of this and when you ask them info on a product they know very little.

Still i hope the minimum wage is adhered to although i doubt it.

"work non-stop lifting objects all day".........that made me laugh

Also these stores such as Tesco's are expanding in rural towns and giving opportunities to young mothers to go and work and earn a living instead of staying at home waiting for the sister or family send money for them.

Never mind, dude!

Those "poor" people will be replaced by other ASEAN member citizens in the near future.

Did you realize that the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer, because of this government?

Your girlfriend can be happy to have such a job. They don't work that hard all day long.

What do you mean to write a letter online? Let's all send a letter/mail to Yingluck and her dumb ass brother.

As Mr. Red wrote most of these workers are hiding somewhere for most of them time, they get goods cheaper and so on.

This is a developing country with huge problems for god's sake......................

Cutting sugar cane, planting rice, picking cucumbers, is hard physical work and does not often pay 220 baht a day. Sometimes, not always. Local merchants may or may not pay 200 baht, may or may not have staff work 6 1/2 days a week. The American owned clothing plant I visited a couple of years ago was not air conditioned, but had a cooling / fan system of sorts. Workers could make over 200 baht a day if they met production quotas. No one was sitting around, no one was playing on a smart phone, but no one was being hassled. It seemed to be a clean, safe, well run clothing plant. Just real work, maybe quite a bit harder than working in a Thai retail store. Tesco might be one of the better places for an upcountry Thai to work who can't pay for a Government job.

Most "workers" i come across at these superstores are either hiding around corner isle ends texting or sitting on shelves doing nothing that resembles work,and they do enjoy chatting in big groups.

Big C is a good example of this and when you ask them info on a product they know very little.

Still i hope the minimum wage is adhered to although i doubt it.

"work non-stop lifting objects all day".........that made me laugh

Also these stores such as Tesco's are expanding in rural towns and giving opportunities to young mothers to go and work and earn a living instead of staying at home waiting for the sister or family send money for them.

Or looking for an older foreigner who would always complain about everything in Pattaya, Phuket ,Bangkok etc.

They actually make their own money. Not too many people have got this opportunity.

Poor Thai people working in 7/11 or Tesco's etc, have to go to work on motorbike. Unlike in the west where they arrive in their brand new BMWs.

What's the minimum wage in your home countries, then add to that the cost of living.

At least here there are jobs, last time I was back in OZ, A supermarket chain advertised for some shelf stacker's. 2000 applicants for 10 jobs.

The money may seem small, but they can live. Jim

So where will the money come from to pay your girlfriend a higher wage? Put prices up? The new minimum wage is already putting people out of work. Farmers are not employing workers but banding together and harvesting themselves. This system of a minimum wage will make people poorer. Basically yes some of the lowrest paid will be better off but the ones already on say 300 baht office workers and the like will not get a payrise as businesses will not be able to afford to say doulble their wages. So becsuse of higher prices people will be worse off with less jobs available..

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

why dont they join the queue/add their names to the list of people who want to work for the multinational companies in thailand .. -

my gf was working 6 x twelve hour shifts alternating day and nights,in a chinese owned factory in thailand for 7000 bht a mounth .

then she met a white knight , on a internet dating sight , and they both lived happily ever after .

Do Tesco / 7 ding dong also pay the staff social security payments each month?

I am sure they do. I would say that most large legitimate companies pay it along with some other benefits.

OP not returned , not surprising.

Interesting topic.

Around here, young Thai-Ladies very much like to work at a local Tesco. But sometimes the problem is: As those Tescos and 7/11 are run by almost "european-efficiency-standards", the turnover of employees is high. For a good number of those employees it's just "too fast paced".

= Most of my neighbors do nothing most of the time unless something has to be planted or harvested. They swing in their hammocks and watch TV, only interrupted by frequent meals and extensive chats. And they seem to be perfectly happy. And for this, I can only admire them.

Much to my regret, this livestyle has no future,not even in remote aereas of Thailand/Cambodia/Laos. TV Commercials convey to everyone, what one must own these days to render happyness:(Refrigerator, TV, Car, I-Phone, etc.)

So for the time remaining and as long as it lasts, I enjoy my neighbors swinging in their hammocks and for most of the time they "do nothing".

Cheers.

Much factual truth here Swissie; "they seem to be perfectly happy" brought me up a bit though. It could be argued that they are comotose because they have no prospects. Would we all have been better off staying in the cave and not trying to better our outlook?

OP not returned , not surprising.

yes, not surprising , a farang only on 200 bht an hour , the shame of teaching in los.

even tuk tuk driers can earn more , depends on how far they want to go .

Much factual truth here Swissie; "they seem to be perfectly happy" brought me up a bit though. It could be argued that they are comotose because they have no prospects. Would we all have been better off staying in the cave and not trying to better our outlook?

It could also be argued that, as they're farmers, they work to the timetable of the seasons rather than that of supermarket opening hours.

OP not returned , not surprising.

yes, not surprising , a farang only on 200 bht an hour , the shame of teaching in los.

even tuk tuk driers can earn more , depends on how far they want to go .

Why do the driers get paid more than the washers or drivers ?

Do you mean how far up the corporate tuk tuk ladder or how far as in kilometres ?

In real terms it was not that long age Europe was an agricultural culture, farmers worked the seasons, stone masons, thatchers and most outside workers only worked in the good weather.

Remember in Edinburgh, royal mile, there is an info board in one of the pubs. States that in the olden days the poor would sit in the pubs through the winter, to keep warn, drinking, French claret and eating oysters, as that was all the could afford. Jim

OP a member for one day.. I smell a troll.. But not a good one. I see no real mud slinging as yet

"9 Hour Days For 220 Baht"

30 Baht/hour X 9 hours = 270 Baht"

So which is it?

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

why dont they join the queue/add their names to the list of people who want to work for the multinational companies in thailand .. -

my gf was working 6 x twelve hour shifts alternating day and nights,in a chinese owned factory in thailand for 7000 bht a mounth .

then she met a white knight , on a internet dating sight , and they both lived happily ever after .

that sucks, do you miss her?

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

Planting rice from dawn to dusk: 200 Baht without any additional benefits (maybe there is a simple meal and water).

Being moved with 10 people on the back of a pickup truck.

why dont they join the queue/add their names to the list of people who want to work for the multinational companies in thailand .. -

my gf was working 6 x twelve hour shifts alternating day and nights,in a chinese owned factory in thailand for 7000 bht a mounth .

then she met a white knight , on a internet dating sight , and they both lived happily ever after .

that sucks, do you miss her?

sure . i miss her to bits , never mhi, all is fair in love and war .

may the bast ATM win.

remember , your only as good as your last withdrawal .

now i look for darling other on internet .

i would appreciate your help in writing up a profile that is sure to attract a sincere, honest and , etc etc .

Poor Thai people working in 7/11 or Tesco's etc, have to go to work on motorbike. Unlike in the west where they arrive in their brand new BMWs.

What's the minimum wage in your home countries, then add to that the cost of living.

At least here there are jobs, last time I was back in OZ, A supermarket chain advertised for some shelf stacker's. 2000 applicants for 10 jobs.

The money may seem small, but they can live. Jim

Which tesco's in the west do you shop at ??

I have never seen anyone who stocks shelves turning up to work in brand new BMWs

Tesco and 7-11 are no different from any Thai company and they might even be better than some.

Isn't Tesco a British company & isn't 7-11 an American company ?

a farang only on 200 bht an hour , the shame of teaching in los.

even tuk tuk driers can earn more

So they have separate washer and drier personnel at the local tuk-tuk washing stations ?

Talk about creating jobs, that's pretty clever.

Pay workers more, then pay more for goods and services. Thai stores, especially the big ones tend to have lots and lots of workers, but I don't know if they actually work. Walk through Big C and dozens of "workers" in the appliance department. Maybe they are just on commission? And of course you know if a foreign restaurant owner how many Thais you are supposed to hire. No easy solutions

Topics like this make me smile. I used to hold this sort of uninformed views. Get out and about and learn what grass roots Thai life is all about. Where I live 220 baht a day is a great wage and when 300 baht becomes the minimum wage, many businesses will have serious cost problems.

I buy animal feed each week in the local town. The store that sells it employs a team of guys to load the customers orders. These guys carry 50kg sacks of fertiliser on their heads and maneouvre two wheel handcarts with over 500 kgs all day every day for well under 200 baht. No shortage of takers for a vacancy there.

Enslaving indeed...