Low-income earners unable to make ends meet on 300 baht minimum wage

[webfact]

Low-income earners unable to make ends meet on 300 baht minimum wage

BANGKOK, 11 July 2014 (NNT) - Factory workers and those in the low-income range have voiced out complaints that even though their wages are on the rise, their expenses have risen faster due to higher costs of living.

Yongyut Chalaemwrong, the President of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), revealed that workers have expressed dissatisfaction with their quality of life. Even though 13 percent of the lower working class have reported increased income, 16 percent of them also had increased expenses.

According to the TDRI, by 2015 the 300 baht wage would not be adequate for workers to make ends meet, let alone enabling the lower working class to salt anything away. Mr. Yongyuth said the minimum wage policy was simply a temporary measure to help boost psychological support that workers were making more money. However, it only masked the real problem that higher income usually meant higher costs of living.

Meanwhile, the National Statistical Office revealed that all single workers under 25 years old had been able to save at least 656 baht per month in their savings accounts before the wage policy came into force. Nowadays, this same group of people manages to save only 364 baht per month.

-- NNT 2014-07-11

[whatsupdoc]

I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

[Mosha]

As soon as PTP removed the diesel subsidy policy of the Dems, prices for food started to go up, add the 300 Baht policy and eg 20% rise in the tanks of water.

[siampolee]

whatsupdoc.

I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

The main reason there was a rise in the minimum wage level was so as people could live as opposed to exist.

No doubt you are comfortably living on an average Thai wage in your ivory tower?

[mrtoad]

Thaksinomics in full force. It will only get harder, as the governemnt is saddled with the burden of debt from the rice scam.

[smedly]

as I predicted 2 years ago - the minimum wage policy would fail due to inflation getting out of control - another vote buying policy of Thaksin that has proven to be destructive

I hope the Thais realise now that voting for these unworkable populist policies has backfired in their faces - promising people a 40% pay rise to get their vote

I wonder have the voters learned from this

Some very careful fiscal control needs to take place now before this completely implodes

Inflation must be held in check or this country is going to get very expensive

Droping interest rates and fuel tax would be a good start

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

The various schemes that PTP introduced to win votes is going to cost this country dearly but they need to do the right thing now and take it on the chin

[Thai at Heart]

Everyone was crying for a weaker baht.

Well they got it, and everything went up in price. Inflation. its a bitch

[smedly]

Everyone was crying for a weaker baht.

Well they got it, and everything went up in price. Inflation. its a bitch

it's a little more complex than that - the strength weakness of the baht does not drive inflation - it is a product of measure taken to curb inflation - measures will likely have the effect of driving inflation and the baht down which is exactly what is needed

[cgphuket]

Funny how those with a nice fat bank account are the first to criticize raising wages. "What? I have to pay my servants more? no way!" Let have those driving the BMWs and Benzes live on 300 baht a day, even for one week. Suicides would increase 500%.

[mrtoad]

I still reckon it's fairly cheap in the grand scheme of things, but I'm not living on a Thai wage. I can certainly understand that the low income earners really do struggle. All of our Thai staff are on wages above the minimum wage, and get other benefits such as accommodation and meals, which certainly helps - but even then it's still tough.

[marcusd]

Funny how those with a nice fat bank account are the first to criticize raising wages. "What? I have to pay my servants more? no way!" Let have those driving the BMWs and Benzes live on 300 baht a day, even for one week. Suicides would increase 500%.

I can see where you are coming from but no as easy as that.

More money in pockets buying more imported goods adds to extra costs.

I employ a few people here because I can on lower wages.

Push up wages and Off i go and so do many others and the result will be even more inflation as many people will lose jobs.

Take the car industry - lets say Toyota employing a heap of workers and about 8% of the Thai economy - lets say use as an example - this is NOT FACT people just an example.

they get higher wages, cars go up, overseas buys Korean Cars and Thai cars exports go down,people, get laid off and that market is LOST and Toyota looks for cheaper workers in another country. Thailand loses.

Yes a weaker baht mean IMPORTS go UP but THAI goods become more affordable. THAILAND is a MANUFACTURING country not a SERVICE provider country so they need a weak baht to be competitive. Thats is a fact.

More pay means Thia are getting more imports . I do agree that people deserve a good life and I try with my staff - but in a manufacturing scenario. people can not have work and affluent lifestyles. It just does not work. Companies will leave and THAILAND and the average Jo will suffer moreso.

[allan michaud]

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I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

With lots of Thai dollar billionaires, it's clear where all the money is going. In a truly equitable system (not western capitalism) having a reasonable minimum wage should not be a problem, it's just a matter of greed. Why should a few people have palatial homes and live like royalty, while the rest live in poverty?

[belg]

thai people never heard of : inflation ?

oh raise everybody suddenly to 300 baht, but they tought prices would not follow ?

[Thai at Heart]

Everyone was crying for a weaker baht.

Well they got it, and everything went up in price. Inflation. its a bitch

it's a little more complex than that - the strength weakness of the baht does not drive inflation - it is a product of measure taken to curb inflation - measures will likely have the effect of driving inflation and the baht down which is exactly what is needed

Virtually every drop of fuel in Thailand is imported and priced in USD.

A cheaper baht feeds directly into the cost of everything because you can't make or move anything without oil, gas and elextricity.

Just go an ask even the most labour intensive factory what went up the most last year. His boiler, his electricity or some other input.

[Thai at Heart]

Funny how those with a nice fat bank account are the first to criticize raising wages. "What? I have to pay my servants more? no way!" Let have those driving the BMWs and Benzes live on 300 baht a day, even for one week. Suicides would increase 500%.

I can see where you are coming from but no as easy as that.

More money in pockets buying more imported goods adds to extra costs.

I employ a few people here because I can on lower wages.

Push up wages and Off i go and so do many others and the result will be even more inflation as many people will lose jobs.

Take the car industry - lets say Toyota employing a heap of workers and about 8% of the Thai economy - lets say use as an example - this is NOT FACT people just an example.

they get higher wages, cars go up, overseas buys Korean Cars and Thai cars exports go down,people, get laid off and that market is LOST and Toyota looks for cheaper workers in another country. Thailand loses.

Yes a weaker baht mean IMPORTS go UP but THAI goods become more affordable. THAILAND is a MANUFACTURING country not a SERVICE provider country so they need a weak baht to be competitive. Thats is a fact.

More pay means Thia are getting more imports . I do agree that people deserve a good life and I try with my staff - but in a manufacturing scenario. people can not have work and affluent lifestyles. It just does not work. Companies will leave and THAILAND and the average Jo will suffer moreso.

Toyota Thailand can mechanise past wage increases. They can't mechanise past increase fuel, electrify and diesel prices caused by a weaker baht.

[sprq]

"16 percent of them also had increased expenses"

Well, 100 percent of everybody in Thailand is experiencing increased expenses due to the constant rising costs of everything, so that statistic is nonsense.

[ggold]

whatsupdoc.

I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

The main reason there was a rise in the minimum wage level was so as people could live as opposed to exist.

No doubt you are comfortably living on an average Thai wage in your ivory tower?

the minimum wage level was so as people could live as opposed to exist.

and they still only exist!

No doubt you are comfortably living on an average Thai wage in your ivory tower?

Would there be any point in living in Thailand if we could not live in our ivory towers. It doesn't mean we should be concerned with the standard of living for Thais. Or some farang could not live here either!

[djjamie]

Mr. Yongyuth said the minimum wage policy was simply a temporary measure to help boost psychological support that workers were making more money

Rest assured the PTP were definitely not of that opinion when they implemented it. The PTP claimed the instant wage rise would boost the wealth of workers, putting more cash in their pockets.

The DEM's proposed a 25% wage increase before elections which makes more sense and is a gradual step up, but of course the PTP despite the obvious erosive ramifications of a 300 baht minimum wage increase so quickly which we have witnessed decided to propose it anyway, just to out do the DEM's and get those votes.

When the ramifications of this one up man ship set in as the PTP were warned did the PTP admit they were wrong? Did they say "As it turned out you were right"? No, in typical PTP fashion the ignored the problem when yingluck stated “The flood and the hot weather, when combined, could make people feel that product prices are more expensive,” she went on to say “From the information gathered by the government, we can assure you that prices are on a downward trend.” So the official statement from the PTP was prices are going down after the minimum wage went up! Rewrite the history books on what academics have learnt regarding economic forces. yingluck's theory now stands…No one believed her statement though, even the uneducated ones, but the fact she said it highlights her contempt for the people that voted her in and all it did was insult the intelligence of the people.

PTP allow me to believe in alternate universes. In this one;

• the rice scheme was supposed to benefit the poor. It didn't. The poorest were not even eligible.
• The reconciliation bill was supposed to bring reconciliation. It didn't. It nearly started a civil war.
• The first car buyers scheme was supposed to benefit the people. It didn't. Traffic jams got worse.
• The tablet per student scheme was supposed to improve children's education. It didn't. They broke, teachers did not know how to use them, they could not be charged in schools with no power etc etc.

In the alternate universe I could see them introduce a civil war bill that brought peace.

Lets hope the Junta can resolve these issues for the good people of Thailand that have already suffered long enough.

[shirtless]

I warned some Thais i know that this would happen, employers simply pass on the extra expenses to consumers.

[ggold]

as I predicted 2 years ago - the minimum wage policy would fail due to inflation getting out of control - another vote buying policy of Thaksin that has proven to be destructive

I hope the Thais realise now that voting for these unworkable populist policies has backfired in their faces - promising people a 40% pay rise to get their vote

I wonder have the voters learned from this

Some very careful fiscal control needs to take place now before this completely implodes

Inflation must be held in check or this country is going to get very expensive

Droping interest rates and fuel tax would be a good start

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

The various schemes that PTP introduced to win votes is going to cost this country dearly but they need to do the right thing now and take it on the chin

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

You also forgot that it would cost more for imports, so what? it would be more expensive to live.

When the financial crisis hit the value of foreign currencies, we were getting less baht for our $ £.

But if the signs are to be believed the west is moving out of crisis, so maybe it is expected that the Baht will return to pre crisis levels. Maybe it has less to do with the situation here in Thailand. But to devalue the currency pushes costs up not down. That would not help People here.

[londonthai]

but a minimum wage was introduced only in a very few provinces, I think only 6 of them. The rest of the country is without any minimum wage.

but the ultimate solution to exploitation of work and powerty of employed is not a minimum wage, but a socio-economic system, where human needs of all, and not profit for a few, are the objective. That means ending with capitalism. So far thailand is closer to feudalism than global capitalism

Edited July 11, 2014 by londonthai

[sanuk711]

"Low-income earners unable to make ends meet on 300 baht minimum wage"

.

Let them eat cake..................................

Edited July 11, 2014 by sanuk711

[wprime]

whatsupdoc.

I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

The main reason there was a rise in the minimum wage level was so as people could live as opposed to exist.

No doubt you are comfortably living on an average Thai wage in your ivory tower?

Increasing the minimum wage while keeping interest rates low redirects money from taxpayers (middle class) and money hoarders (old elite) to investors in the Thai sharemarket (new elite, Thaksin, foreign investors, etc).

It does not benefit the poor at all.

[ericthai]

as I predicted 2 years ago - the minimum wage policy would fail due to inflation getting out of control - another vote buying policy of Thaksin that has proven to be destructive

I hope the Thais realise now that voting for these unworkable populist policies has backfired in their faces - promising people a 40% pay rise to get their vote

I wonder have the voters learned from this

Some very careful fiscal control needs to take place now before this completely implodes

Inflation must be held in check or this country is going to get very expensive

Droping interest rates and fuel tax would be a good start

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

The various schemes that PTP introduced to win votes is going to cost this country dearly but they need to do the right thing now and take it on the chin

Where do you get a 40% increase, Min wage was 150B and it went to 300B that is a 100% increase. We were paying workers at our factory 200B a day, of course we followed the rules and paid the 300B but we could go any higher than that. Not only did our labor rate go up but our raw material rate went up because our suppliers had to pay more for labor.

allot of People don't realize how far reaching it is when you make such a drastic increase in labor rates. You can see what happened in food prices and everything else here in Thailand. I'm sure allot of farmers are still using Cambodians and not paying 300B a day, only 100 or 120 a day. If all of the framers ore forced to start paying 300B you will see increase in the local markets too. We are having a hard time competing with manufactures in Vietnam and China. Any more increase we will need to look at relocating to Vietnam, Cambodia or China.

[smedly]

as I predicted 2 years ago - the minimum wage policy would fail due to inflation getting out of control - another vote buying policy of Thaksin that has proven to be destructive

I hope the Thais realise now that voting for these unworkable populist policies has backfired in their faces - promising people a 40% pay rise to get their vote

I wonder have the voters learned from this

Some very careful fiscal control needs to take place now before this completely implodes

Inflation must be held in check or this country is going to get very expensive

Droping interest rates and fuel tax would be a good start

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

The various schemes that PTP introduced to win votes is going to cost this country dearly but they need to do the right thing now and take it on the chin

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

You also forgot that it would cost more for imports, so what? it would be more expensive to live.

When the financial crisis hit the value of foreign currencies, we were getting less baht for our $ £.

But if the signs are to be believed the west is moving out of crisis, so maybe it is expected that the Baht will return to pre crisis levels. Maybe it has less to do with the situation here in Thailand. But to devalue the currency pushes costs up not down. That would not help People here.

what exactly do you think Thai people import ? Most of the stuff they eat - drive in - furnishings - electrical goods - building materials......................they are all made here, yes there are exceptions - fuel - some raw materials, do you think Thailand imports steel for the Toyota factories ? or does Toyota ?

Thailand eats it's own produce - exports a considerable amount of it which contributes to likely over 70% of GDP (that includes tourism) - Japan etc employ people and pay wages - how much do they actually contribute to the trade balance is likely negligible - they import materials and export cars - Thai workers get paid in the process - the government gets corporation tax

Meats vegetables are all going up in price, these are things that Thais buy - it's called inflation - the value of the baht contributes nothing to this except for energy which can be subsidised

Thailand is an exporter that is why the baht needs to drop

[soalbundy]

I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

Either that or the price of lao kao and ya baa have risen steeply.

[soalbundy]

whatsupdoc.

I guess the reason that the cost of living is higher is to a large extent due to the steep rise in minimum wage. If so, raising the minimum wage further might not have the desired effect.

The main reason there was a rise in the minimum wage level was so as people could live as opposed to exist.

No doubt you are comfortably living on an average Thai wage in your ivory tower?

It didn't work though did it, any rise in wages must be coupled with a rise in productivity otherwise it doesn't work,prices just rise to compensate.

[barryofthailand]

Inflation in this country has been reported in the 2 to 2.5% range, while the actual inflation mainly due to the steep increase in Minimum wage was actually in the 30-35% range. This includes food, and Fuel the two highest price increases for the last year and now in 2014 has been out of control.

[quidnunc]

as I predicted 2 years ago - the minimum wage policy would fail due to inflation getting out of control - another vote buying policy of Thaksin that has proven to be destructive

I hope the Thais realise now that voting for these unworkable populist policies has backfired in their faces - promising people a 40% pay rise to get their vote

I wonder have the voters learned from this

Some very careful fiscal control needs to take place now before this completely implodes

Inflation must be held in check or this country is going to get very expensive

Droping interest rates and fuel tax would be a good start

which in turn will devalue the baht - that keeps the export business alive including tourism farming and others - the downside is that Thais wishing to travel abroad have to pay more - so what

The various schemes that PTP introduced to win votes is going to cost this country dearly but they need to do the right thing now and take it on the chin

You're quite wrong about this. Inflation in Thailand isn't out of control Manufactured goods haven't seen much of a rise at all. But there has been a worldwide rise in meat and poultry prices due to drought which leads to shortages of beef and diseases which have led to a decline in pork production. Since poorer people devote a larger share of their income to food, it has affected them disproportionately. Or maybe it's the PTP's fault that worldwide food prices have risen?

As for fuel prices, the gradual removal of subsidies has contributed to the price rise. Apart from that, fuel prices are determined internationally. The recent fall in the value of the baht, certainly doesn't help.

Edited July 11, 2014 by quidnunc

[phantomfiddler]

Give the little darlings 5,000 Bht per day, in fact some of them are demanding it and even getting it I would say that in the Philippines the average wage probably wouldn,t be 100 Bht per day, so 1st January 2015 could be very interesting !