Private sector calls on Yingluck to step down

[Loles]

Yes the private sector pays enough for benito suthep and his armed dogs, so over the huge investment they want some result.clear. But I guess they have to complain to their suthep puppet and not to yingluck. yingluck just told she stays to a lst minute.

[SaamBaht]

"The private sector," who dat?

[tomacht8]

This is the opinion of the private sector.

It is good if many sectors express themselves publicly.

That is democracy.

The police has expressed a desire for reform too.

It can be seen that many groups/persons profess (from all camps) to nonviolence.
Hope they can stop this sad killings.
Talking and understanding is much better.

[Macrohistory]

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The private sector has long held the view that the Yingluck administration's ever precarious grip is fading, and that it is hurting the economy, let alone things like the rice scheme scandal. And now, the reality of a quorum-less parliament, terrorist attacks on innocent civilians, an emergency decree that has been neither effective nor fair in its implementation, and rising threats of unrest now from the UDD - point to a calamitous situation that requires Yingluck to step down. She has to make that call - in the best interests of the country - and she also has the responsibility to call on the UDD to respect her decision. More than anything else - Yingluck needs to make an overseas call, tell her brother she's had enough of him, and slam the receiver down. And then charge the call collect.

This is a hugely important development. Long-time Thailand watchers and/or Thailand residents will recall that business groups withdrawing their support was a key factor in wannabe dictator Suchinda's final fall in 1992. So now the Thaksin forces lack the support of all the most powerful elements of Thai society. Even a third or so of the northern and northeastern voters who supported Thaksin in 2011 declined this time to go to the polls -- and possibly those who did go to the polls voted for smaller parties. All Thaksin has left are the police, the dwindling ranks of Red Shirt extremists, and a few boneheaded pseudo-intellectuals and journalists (some in Thailand but most abroad) who idiotically consider him to be a persecuted hero of democracy.

[AleG]

a good story except for not liking the minimum wage..all business bosses hate workers having a living wage...they moaned in the uk but it had no impact ...sorry that was off topic..its a concern if big business is not happy,

Impossible to agree with you. Have you ever heard of a 33% hike in the minimum wage anywhere else in the world? No! Absolutely unsustainable! Business folk and economists understand this only too well.

Thailand was long overdue for a wage rise since 1997. They were due to receive such a rise in 2006 but due to political–instability and numerous Coup’s thereafter it was placed by the way side. The 33% minimum wage hike is reflective of not addressing the problem retrospectively for so long. Sorry if this has impacted upon your business suddenly but the wage rise was long over to meet the demands of inflation and the cost of living irrespective of who was to remain in power. The concept of Thailand people working for price of a bowl of rice per day are over; now they work for the price of a mobile phone pre-paid card per day.

thank you for bailing me out.i was unable to counter those very valid arguaments by the guys here.i now stand corrected and informed..(did i lose face)hahahahahaha

A good story it may be, but it's a work of fiction, the minimum wage was adjusted yearly. Not to mention the part about the numerous coups since 2006.

[Robert2006]

a good story except for not liking the minimum wage..all business bosses hate workers having a living wage...they moaned in the uk but it had no impact ...sorry that was off topic..its a concern if big business is not happy,

I'm a "business boss" (80+ employees) and I'm in favor of workers have a better than living wage. The problem is that the minimum wage was raised to 300 baht without considering the resulting impact on the costs of goods and services. I live in an ordinary working-class Thai neighborhood because it's a 200 meter walk to my office. Prices of food alone (small shops on the soi) have increased more than 25% in the past year. Most of my neighbors say that although wages were increased, they are worse off than before,

Haroldc,

You are exactly correct mandatory government wage increases never works. Minimum wage increases always cause inflation; there is little if any net gain to the minimum wage earner. It’s a feel good policy that doesn’t work.

The practice causes a dislocation in the established price of the goods and services affected. Businesses adjust their expenses to maintain their bottom line which results in a combination of higher prices, reduction in services and elimination of a portion of their labor force.

The focus on wages creates a distraction from the core issue that needs to be addressed. The answer is not wage mandates but to educate people that they need to master a skill that their community values. If you don’t provide a value to the community that you can exchange for a living wage then you need to invest in acquiring those skills. If you provide value your community will be more than happy to support you and use your skill or service, it’s a 100% guarantee for success.

Bottom line is that if you think you can depend on a government policy to help you earn a living it’s going to be a difficult life for you.

[Gweiloman]

bloody hell i wish i never bought the minimum wage into it...anyway getting back to yingluck..

For a self proclaimed bridge expert, that was a definite overboard

[Gweiloman]

Fine to raise the min wage but it should have been a gradual raise, not 50% abruptly.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You are absolutely right. Those who disagree and say the raise was OK probably do not have any experience in running a business.

I run a business. But then, my lowest paid staff earns Bht 18,000 per month plus benefits

[HD 205]

What a shocking turn of events!

[3NUMBAS]

if she steps down it will also plunge into anarchy .

this just underlines the gap between the rich businessmen and the overall poor majority who have no say in yet another of their PMs removed by unfair means .

[Mosha]

a good story except for not liking the minimum wage..all business bosses hate workers having a living wage...they moaned in the uk but it had no impact ...sorry that was off topic..its a concern if big business is not happy,

When and if you ever have a business in Thailand, ONLY then you can express your opinion what the wages should be

Business bosses, hate having to pay 30% more but receive just as much if not less than before, while at the same time being pressured to keeping the prices down

There was one guy on Thai Visa who had a small business making flower pots. He was making a small profit. 300 baht came and his customers would not pay extra for his product. He saod at the time he was closing.

[kratiam]

a good story except for not liking the minimum wage..all business bosses hate workers having a living wage...they moaned in the uk but it had no impact ...sorry that was off topic..its a concern if big business is not happy,

I agree with you, it is about the only good thing this government has done, I can also understand the VP of Thai Industries saying his member do not like it, they have to compete in markets where there is no minimum wage.

The reality in my village is there is less work than before, because local employers of labour and low skilled cannot afford to pay. So business is down. They have priced themselves out of the market. More unemployment. Add to this the the associated increase in the cost of living ( substantial ) the rural poor are I fact poorer because of the barking mad 33% increase. Harsh reality is evident for all to see in truly rural Thailand. I wouldn't mind betting small businesses all over will not be able to cope with the increase either. Folly, stupid populist policy.

The minimum wage should have been increased to Bt1000/day so that an unskilled Thai worker can have the same income as one from the West.

So what if unemployment shoots up to 70%. The few jobs available can be fought by the many applicants who then will wise up that they need to be skilled or knowledgeable to survive.

Sarcasm....or breathtakingly naive......... Either way, a nil contribution!

[rikkie]

Yawn! Another branch of the ruling elite are wheeled out to fan the dying embers of mr. Sutheps insurrection. Only the courts can save him now.

How has the state of emergency harmed the economy? It is the daily protests that have harmed the economy.

Effectively this group supports Suthep because he says he'll reduce the minimum wage. I don't know how people manage on 300 ฿ a day, let alone any less. The minimum wage is a populist policy according to the ruling elite. It's a populist policy that allows millions of Thais to live with some dignity. Not much, but some, and now the RE would like to take it away. No wonder PT keep winning elections!

Imagine you own a bar/restaurant with 5 employees who used to get 200 a day and now you have to pay 300 a day. That is 500 a day on your daily wage bill, or, 15,000 per month. You would need to sell a lot of beer, pies and Sunday roasts to recoup that. That's assuming you were breaking even in the first place.

So the worst case scenario is you go out of business and x5 Thais are unemployed.

Best case scenario is you convince them to stick with the 200 rate

it make you a slave owner, remember me never to come to your place

[BlueNoseCodger]

a good story except for not liking the minimum wage..all business bosses hate workers having a living wage...they moaned in the uk but it had no impact ...sorry that was off topic..its a concern if big business is not happy,

I'm a "business boss" (80+ employees) and I'm in favor of workers have a better than living wage. The problem is that the minimum wage was raised to 300 baht without considering the resulting impact on the costs of goods and services. I live in an ordinary working-class Thai neighborhood because it's a 200 meter walk to my office. Prices of food alone (small shops on the soi) have increased more than 25% in the past year. Most of my neighbors say that although wages were increased, they are worse off than before,

Haroldc,

You are exactly correct mandatory government wage increases never works. Minimum wage increases always cause inflation; there is little if any net gain to the minimum wage earner. It’s a feel good policy that doesn’t work.

The practice causes a dislocation in the established price of the goods and services affected. Businesses adjust their expenses to maintain their bottom line which results in a combination of higher prices, reduction in services and elimination of a portion of their labor force.

The focus on wages creates a distraction from the core issue that needs to be addressed. The answer is not wage mandates but to educate people that they need to master a skill that their community values. If you don’t provide a value to the community that you can exchange for a living wage then you need to invest in acquiring those skills. If you provide value your community will be more than happy to support you and use your skill or service, it’s a 100% guarantee for success.

Bottom line is that if you think you can depend on a government policy to help you earn a living it’s going to be a difficult life for you.

How can the low end workers 'invest' in aquiring those skills, while earning no money and having no free time? Of course they can't, it's called the poverty trap.

Thailand can't compete in the $3/day factory worker market with China and Bangladesk and Africa. That's 100 baht a day, if we had 100 baht/day workers, then they couldn't pay 20+20 baht each way for the bus, and feed and cloth their kids on the remaining 60 baht.

Without buses we can't have bus companies, and without bus companies we can't have their office workers in an office using Powerpoint.

If you want a wealthy economy at the top end, you need to raise the wealth at the bottom end too! So you do need to pick up low wage stragglers.

She judged it well at 300 baht, it improved people's lives, it did not price labour out of the market, and Thailand grew faster than ever, so it worked internationally too, it also has lots of social benefits, and creates lots of higher end jobs.

The problem with Sommart Kunset PAF, shoe business ( see the post higher up ) was competing on price. But his business model failed 4 years ago, not 2 years ago. It wasn't the minimum wage, it was the increase in wealth of Thailand pushing up labour prices anyway. He needed to get his wage cost down to 100 baht a day to compete, it was nuts.

Then his next strategy was to invest in Cambodian contract shoe factories, but if he can invest there, so can Nike, so why would they go through him?

So his problems are really of his own making. He was just once of the zombie companies that needs to be pushed to something else.

Edited February 25, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[Robert2006]

a good story except for not liking the minimum wage..all business bosses hate workers having a living wage...they moaned in the uk but it had no impact ...sorry that was off topic..its a concern if big business is not happy,

I'm a "business boss" (80+ employees) and I'm in favor of workers have a better than living wage. The problem is that the minimum wage was raised to 300 baht without considering the resulting impact on the costs of goods and services. I live in an ordinary working-class Thai neighborhood because it's a 200 meter walk to my office. Prices of food alone (small shops on the soi) have increased more than 25% in the past year. Most of my neighbors say that although wages were increased, they are worse off than before,

Haroldc,

You are exactly correct mandatory government wage increases never works. Minimum wage increases always cause inflation; there is little if any net gain to the minimum wage earner. It’s a feel good policy that doesn’t work.

The practice causes a dislocation in the established price of the goods and services affected. Businesses adjust their expenses to maintain their bottom line which results in a combination of higher prices, reduction in services and elimination of a portion of their labor force.

The focus on wages creates a distraction from the core issue that needs to be addressed. The answer is not wage mandates but to educate people that they need to master a skill that their community values. If you don’t provide a value to the community that you can exchange for a living wage then you need to invest in acquiring those skills. If you provide value your community will be more than happy to support you and use your skill or service, it’s a 100% guarantee for success.

Bottom line is that if you think you can depend on a government policy to help you earn a living it’s going to be a difficult life for you.

How can the low end workers 'invest' in aquiring those skills, while earning no money and having no free time? Of course they can't, it's called the poverty trap.

Thailand can't compete in the $3/day factory worker market with China and Bangladesk and Africa. That's 100 baht a day, if we had 100 baht/day workers, then they couldn't pay 20+20 baht each way for the bus, and feed and cloth their kids on the remaining 60 baht.

Without buses we can't have bus companies, and without bus companies we can't have their office workers in an office using Powerpoint.

If you want a wealthy economy at the top end, you need to raise the wealth at the bottom end too! So you do need to pick up low wage stragglers.

She judged it well at 300 baht, it improved people's lives, it did not price labour out of the market, and Thailand grew faster than ever, so it worked internationally too, it also has lots of social benefits, and creates lots of higher end jobs.

The problem with Sommart Kunset PAF, shoe business ( see the post higher up ) was competing on price. But his business model failed 4 years ago, not 2 years ago. It wasn't the minimum wage, it was the increase in wealth of Thailand pushing up labour prices anyway. He needed to get his wage cost down to 100 baht a day to compete, it was nuts.

Then his next strategy was to invest in Cambodian contract shoe factories, but if he can invest there, so can Nike, so why would they go through him?

So his problems are really of his own making. He was just once of the zombie companies that needs to be pushed to something else.

The point is the minimum wage earner does not benefit because of the inflationary effect of the wage increase on the economy, the net gain is minimal.

The minimum wage earner does not need to be distracted by government programs that in the end don’t work. They need to learn something that’s make them valuable. It doesn’t cost money to learn something valuable but you have to know what you want and have the motivation to learn.

The minimum wage increase is a distraction, the method to a better life is not complicated, you get an entry level job in a field that you have a desire and learn the business or trade from the bottom up and you learn it well. That’s all you have to do, it’s really that simple.