Thai government 'neglecting flood situation in the Northeast'

[iancnx]

This will run and run. A more efficient way for this forum to comment might be to make a separate thread for each of K. Boonyakiat's ten points (above). Yes, I realise its all been said before.......

My post is about the present. For the future (and past and present of course) Education is the biggest failure

For me the increase to the minimum wage is the most outrageous and unsustainable policy of the day.

IF it was 200 and now 300 that is a 50% increase.

IF it was 250 and now 300 that is a 20% increase.

Either way barking mad! All prices have to rise accordingly across the economy, and a good many rural workers used to getting 200 will now be unemployable at the lower end of the market. The evidence is already out there - far more men sat around doing squat, or forming demonstrations, when they should be at work earning 200 a day.... And the girls, bored, getting pregnant/married creating more mouths to feed.... (And I understand demographic projections are encouraging this).

Businesses across the board from the smallest restaurant just breaking even to factories will either go out of business, or, pass on the increased labour costs to customers - read consumers!.... And eventually a good many of those businesses become uncompetitive, and surprise surprise will go out of business.

International companies are looking elsewhere to base their Asian operations to ensure their Labour costs continue to fit their business plan models.

Unemployment is at 1% don't you know. That is the biggest lie which will bite the hardest just as soon as tax increases start to hurt, and empty mouths cannot be fed.

Actually if you bother talking to senior management in Chonburi industrial zones where many many workers are employed you will find that:

1. They are having to pay Thai workers more than 300 baht per day as the workers can return to their villages and receive that remuneration.

2. They have no problem paying in excess of 300 baht per day as their margins allow for this easily.

This would seem to imply that those who actually employ hundreds of thousands of people and actually know whatt is going on are saying the 300 baht wage is pretty much a nationwide reality and that the fairer days wage is actually no problem for them. In fact many will tell you that it is good to see the poor get a better deal.

If you actual bother to take a holistic view of the whole of Thailand you would realise just how irrelevant and misleading your post is.

Chonburi Industrial Estate is a predominately duty free zone set up for exporters by the BOI. It is close to Bangkok, but crucially is nearby the deep water container port and the airport. Of course they are happy to pay more for there very well qualified, well motivated, streamlined, effective, well managed and dependable workforce.

It has 101 factories; hardly representative of the Thai population of 67 million. You can be certain there are not many rice farmers in these factories serving apprenticeships!

http://www.hemaraj.com/page/industrial_chonburi_industrial_estate.asp

Well done to hemaraj and the many other leading edge industrial estates around the country. It is an excellent start for the future, and I am not being ritical of them in any way.

If nationwide the similar cutting edge industrial estates employ 1m workers for example (an ambitious figure) that would equate to just 1/56th of the workforce. So what about the other 55 million 16-64 year olds? Hence my post. A hike in the minimum wage of 50 % is economic suicide in any economy, in any country, in any part of the world!

[DocN]

This will run and run. A more efficient way for this forum to comment might be to make a separate thread for each of K. Boonyakiat's ten points (above). Yes, I realise its all been said before.......

My post is about the present. For the future (and past and present of course) Education is the biggest failure

For me the increase to the minimum wage is the most outrageous and unsustainable policy of the day.

IF it was 200 and now 300 that is a 50% increase.

IF it was 250 and now 300 that is a 20% increase.

Either way barking mad! All prices have to rise accordingly across the economy, and a good many rural workers used to getting 200 will now be unemployable at the lower end of the market. The evidence is already out there - far more men sat around doing squat, or forming demonstrations, when they should be at work earning 200 a day.... And the girls, bored, getting pregnant/married creating more mouths to feed.... (And I understand demographic projections are encouraging this).

Businesses across the board from the smallest restaurant just breaking even to factories will either go out of business, or, pass on the increased labour costs to customers - read consumers!.... And eventually a good many of those businesses become uncompetitive, and surprise surprise will go out of business.

International companies are looking elsewhere to base their Asian operations to ensure their Labour costs continue to fit their business plan models.

Unemployment is at 1% don't you know. That is the biggest lie which will bite the hardest just as soon as tax increases start to hurt, and empty mouths cannot be fed.

i dont agree sir..remember,there is not one person going round enforcing this,to check what people are earning..wearing a crash helmet is also a law..but who enforces that,unless plod is a bit skint,at the end of the month.plenty of people not even near 300 a day..just a thought for all to ponder... width=20 alt=wai2.gif>

Well if the current government is so keen to help the poor why don't they introduce proper checking mechanisms to easily and quickly catch any employers who are not paying the minimum wage? And severely punish those caught?

By the way, I believe that the poor of this country (and other countries) are downtrodden and do need help. They need help to get themselves into asituation whereby they can have a better quality of life through their own productivity.

Handouts (actually aimed more at buying votes) is not a long-term solution. And the current government have never mentioned / introduced any long-term initiatives to gain any ground whatever. And they never will, it's simply not on their agenda and never will be.

H90 already told you why - because they can get away with not doing anything and blaming the opposition (Dems) for blocking their attempts to help - and it is believed. This is no different from the dark ages when the church promised everything, then blamed the devil (and burned a few midwives as witches) when it wasn't. A no-win situation that happens when you have uneducated people that are constantly brainwashed - Red Schools only propagate this. Old Abe's statement, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time" doesn't seem to follow in Thailand (at least it could be changed here to "You can fool all the people you need to win an election all the time if you do it right")

I would agree with you, except for one small fact: you are argumenting, as if "brainwashing" is a thing that only surfaced during the last 6 yeras or so.

Thai- people were always brainwashed , f.e. into bowing to authorities and believe everything they tell you.

You don't need a "red-school" to get that accomplished.

[rametindallas]

He said it led to an average annual increase in farmers' income of Bt66,000 and helped reduce the number of poor people. He vowed to continue with the scheme.

Well, if you "give away" money like that, it probably will have a net result of improving their income. It would be better spent however teaching Thailand how to be more competitive in a global economy, but what do I know.

They spent 700 billion and average payout was 66 thousand. Does that mean they helped more than 10 million farmers? Better to just give the farmers money directly at one fourth the cost to the taxpayer, if getting them out of poverty really was your main goal. As usual, reporters here only repeat what the politicians tell them and never ask probing questions that might cause even minor embarrassment.

[gemini81]

They don't care as this place is just to extract some votes & some rice. Maybe if their cronies had land up there, they'd care.

[1plumber]

He said it led to an average annual increase in farmers' income of Bt66,000 and helped reduce the number of poor people. He vowed to continue with the scheme.

Well, if you "give away" money like that, it probably will have a net result of improving their income. It would be better spent however teaching Thailand how to be more competitive in a global economy, but what do I know.

Well , im not against it's principal , who doesn't deserve a decent wage for a hard days work ? the gap between rich n' poor the world over is growing and so will this problem unless there is a bit of fairness in the world, i can only blame ALL the worlds leaders for leading us to a future global conflict , why should anyone work for £4/$6 for a days work ? the failure of politicians is not the peoples fault ,...............is it ??; would you like to live on $6 pd ?

[Moruya]

This is what happens when you vote for family names instead of politicians with a manifesto.

You reap what you sow.

[iancnx]

He said it led to an average annual increase in farmers' income of Bt66,000 and helped reduce the number of poor people. He vowed to continue with the scheme.

Well, if you "give away" money like that, it probably will have a net result of improving their income. It would be better spent however teaching Thailand how to be more competitive in a global economy, but what do I know.

Well , im not against it's principal , who doesn't deserve a decent wage for a hard days work ? the gap between rich n' poor the world over is growing and so will this problem unless there is a bit of fairness in the world, i can only blame ALL the worlds leaders for leading us to a future global conflict , why should anyone work for £4/$6 for a days work ? the failure of politicians is not the peoples fault ,...............is it ??; would you like to live on $6 pd ?

It's all relative in the third world. 200 baht per day is adequate for rural farmers where the cost of living is minimal. Most kids are well nourished as far as I can see. They are poor yes, but their lot is nowhere near the level of poverty and starvation with no clean water for hundreds of millions across the world.

Here there is a healthcare system in place, and there are schools for all kids.

Where the problem arises is when government interfere with the equilibrium.

Raising expectations of wealth by creating a false market in commodities ( rice, rubber, corn etc.).

A govt system that encourages debt across society where default on loans will soon be the next crisis.

A Govt that raises the minimum wage and concurrently raises the price of fuel which in turn raises the price of food and other essential items. Food goes up by 3 baht, but papa and mamma and the local market raises the price by 5 baht. Mathematicians work out that as a percentage. Gas and petroleum up. I know folk who no longer work because the fuel cost for transportation outweighs the salary.

I shop a lot in Lotus, my wife in the market. In the last year we reckon food generally has increased by 30% in the last 18 months.

Would I want to live on 200 baht? NO. But I could if I had to.

I am in agreement with you - the gap between rich n poor is growing and all politicians globally have a slice of that responsibility to shoulder. But for Thailand it seems to me that the the biggest failure is those in power who fail to acknowledge the failed policies, and worse continue down a path of no return, no doubt for self interest, and the poor will get poorer as a result.

[wolf5370]

H90 already told you why - because they can get away with not doing anything and blaming the opposition (Dems) for blocking their attempts to help - and it is believed. This is no different from the dark ages when the church promised everything, then blamed the devil (and burned a few midwives as witches) when it wasn't. A no-win situation that happens when you have uneducated people that are constantly brainwashed - Red Schools only propagate this. Old Abe's statement, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time" doesn't seem to follow in Thailand (at least it could be changed here to "You can fool all the people you need to win an election all the time if you do it right")

I would agree with you, except for one small fact: you are argumenting, as if "brainwashing" is a thing that only surfaced during the last 6 yeras or so.

Thai- people were always brainwashed , f.e. into bowing to authorities and believe everything they tell you.

You don't need a "red-school" to get that accomplished.

I did not mean (if I did) to infer that this is a new phenomenon, it is hardly that (nor is a solely Thai trait either - or poor country trait for that!). It is insidious though and it is has been taken to new heights here with respect to the red shirts in the country side - I have no iron in this fire, but it is obvious for all to see and only very blinkered people (and those with selective blindness/deafness and agenda) could surely disagree. The Red Schools are another symptom - no different that the beginning of the cultural revolution, social reform in the new soviet union (harking back to Trotsky, Lenin and uncle Joe) and the Muslim Rashidun conquest of Egypt (and Persia) and many others (especially relating to religion - Catholics in S.America and medieval Europe, Islam in Africa and the Middle east and now Asia and Europe) - all did the same thing: school set up (forced) to teach a single belief/language etc and mind-set whilst ousting all others. A slippery slope. An accelerant to over take the national psyche.