Firms In North Hurt By Minimum Wage Rise, Want More Govt Help

[OzMick]

Don't know how many of you get out and wander around markets and such but I do and looking at the labels on clothes, shoes and some other things I see an increasing number of items made in China.

Even though there are industries here in Thailand that produce the same or similar.

In NZ we once had all the home grown industries, clothing, cars etc and they have now all but disappeared and been taken over by Chinese imports, Japanese used cars. This has pretty near wiped out all the NZ industries.

A large wage increase all in one go can only help to make the Thai industries, particularly the smaller ones less competitive in what is indeed a world market.

Slowly increasing wages over a managed period of time in line with growth would seem a better way of doing things.

It also avoids the aforementioned 'Wow now were rich thing'

NZ had a car industry?????

[stoli]

I have to ask those against the wage increase to 300Bt? Where do you think the money goes from the lowest paid? I would suggest it goes back to all those companies that employ all the low imcome workers! They dont have the ability to save their income, it goes on day to day commodities to survive. Remove that income from the economy and you will have a detromental effect on most companies in Thailand. It is a cicular way of using the Baht

They should increase it to 1000 baht a day then. The companies will be wrapped with the extra spending by the workers.

Of course, a lot of these companies are exporting their products, so it won't be much help to them.

Yes these companies do as well as selling domestically. And the ones exporting are usually getting a higher BAHT with the exchange rate compared to domestically.And yes if you increase the average wage it benifits the local economy

Not if you become unemployed because of it. Again, as another reply noted, why not then go to 1,000 baht a day and really benefit the local economy?

[NeverSure]

A rising tide lifts all boats. Raise the minimum wage and there's a chain reaction. Everything costs more, negating the raise. Not only that, but what about the person who makes 20 baht a day more than a newbie for being on the job a while and having more training? Do they now make the same as minimum, or do you raise them 20 baht above minimum to be "fair?" What if they are supervising the newbies but were making the grand sum of 280 baht per day? Now what? Surely you raise them to at least 320 to be "fair" and to keep them.

Now, what about that supervisor's boss who was making 300 baht already? Surely you must raise them to at least 340 to keep them above the trainer who must be kept above the newbies. And on it goes.

Now everything costs more. Gas must cost more due to delivery costs. The minimum wage people who wash and grease those trucks must be paid 300 baht. The people who pump the gas must be. How can gas not go up when the whole supply chain cost went up?

The new minimum wage will wind up buying what the old minimum wage baht bought. This is inflation. This is a drop in the value of the baht. When a currency will buy less, it is worth less, and no one wins.

[Robby nz]

I should have been more specific for people from the land of the 'just holden together'.

The NZ car assembly industry.

[ozziebloke]

@ Stoli

Not if you become unemployed because of it. Again, as another reply
noted, why not then go to 1,000 baht a day and really benefit the local
economy?

Raising the minimum wage can and does stimulate small business activity, thereby creating greater income. Innovation and productivity are the keys to business success or failure. Keeping people oppressed by very low income effects productivity and effects communities negatively

[zyphodb]

I have to ask those against the wage increase to 300Bt? Where do you think the money goes from the lowest paid? I would suggest it goes back to all those companies that employ all the low imcome workers! They dont have the ability to save their income, it goes on day to day commodities to survive. Remove that income from the economy and you will have a detromental effect on most companies in Thailand. It is a cicular way of using the Baht

That increase to 300 Baht has been swallowed up by basic commodity price rises. eg drinking water in the large containers went up 20%. They never had money to save before and they don't now.

Meanwhile with the ever strengthening Baht. They'll be soon exporting SFA

Unless they run Restaurants, Thai's, & me come to that get their drinking water from the 1 Bhat a litre water machines that you see everywhere, so I don't think that price hike will affect them...

[belg]

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

[ozziebloke]

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

Not picking you out personally Belg, but I would like more clarrification on your comments and similiar to yours. What would give you more productivity? Persons working 10 hours per day or persons working 13 hours per day, same employees working 20 days per month or employees working 28 days per month and the latter meaning those employees do not have a day off because they cannot afford to. It has been proven from studies in the US and aus that each time the minimum wage has been increased it has had no effect on business activity and or employment but the opposite with increase in the local economy an increase in employment. And usually the lowest paid in the economy remain there for many years without a change in their income while at the same time the cost of living and those in the higher wage bracket increase.

Edited March 11, 2013 by ozziebloke

[ozziebloke]

sorry about the multiple quotes. I'm not sure if it's my comp or what

[waza]

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

>>>the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

Not picking you out personally Belg, but I would like more clarrification on your comments and similiar to yours. What would give you more productivity? Persons working 10 hours per day or persons working 13 hours per day, same employees working 20 days per month or employees working 28 days per month and the latter meaning those employees do not have a day off because they cannot afford to. It has been proven from studies in the US and aus that each time the minimum wage has been increased it has had no effect on business activity and or employment but the opposite with increase in the local economy an increase in employment. And usually the lowest paid in the economy remain there for many years without a change in their income while at the same time the cost of living and those in the higher wage bracket increase.

Increased productivity means increase output for the same hours worked, thats why some business are moving to piece work, that is they are paid a set amount for each product made by them rather than a daily wage. Increasing hours worked also increases your fixed costs as well as occuring overtime penalty rates, thus decreasing productivity.

Thailand’s codified employment laws, administered by the Department of Labor, Protection and Welfare, stipulate working conditions such as maximum work hours, holidays, sick leave, minimum wage and severance pay. The laws, which may significantly affect a firm’s decision to do business in Thailand, also provide employers with flexibility in managing labor, such as in staff recruitment processes, retrenchment policies and employee transfers.Work Hours, Holidays and Sick Leave.

The maximum number of work hours is eight per day or 48 per week, except for work deemed by law to be hazardous, in which case employment is limited to seven hours per day and 42 hours per week. Overtime Compensation must be paid at a rate of between 1.5 to three times the normal hourly rate to qualifying employees. http://www.business-in-asia.com/thai_labor_law.htm

Edited March 11, 2013 by waza

[Potosi]

the whole wage hike, without any compensation was doomed from the start... do those workers suddenly work better, harder, more efficient ?

do you even dream in the west to get a sudden 30% wage increase for doing your job mediocrely ?

but whatever... thai people gets what thai people deserve, they voted them into office

they tought everybody would be rich in 6 month (woehahaha)

The point of the minimum wage isn't to increase the efficiency of the economy. I guess the idea was that the companies cut just a little at the other end, the profits, but there is no enough is enough of course.

[Jawnie]

This doesn't make much sense, 'cut 10-30 per cent of "ineffective" workers, hence productivity and income lowered." If you have 100 employees and 20% are ineffective,ie, 20 people; then you cut, say, 20% of them, then you've cut five workers, the worst presumably. The loss of these five unproductive workers lowered the productivity and income of the entire business? This makes no sense.

In any case, any business that can't pay it's workers a living wage is not a viable business. I'm still amazed that Thailand, an agrarian and tourist economy, has 10 billionaires. It's just the 1% crying that they don't have all the marbles....yet.