Bangkok minimum wage is under study, committee to discuss new rate on Jul 6

BANGKOK, 24 June 2015 (NNT) – The Bangkok Minimum Wage Subcommittee has reached criteria for use in the consideration of a new wage rate to be decided on July 6, according to Deputy Permanent Secretary for Labour Arak Prommanee, chairman of the Subcommitee.

Arak said the Subcommittee comprising representatives from the employers, the employees, the Commerce Ministry and the National Statistical Office, agreed to base their decision on wage hike on three sets of criteria.

The first set that the subcommittee will look at is the cost of living of employees which involves the cost of living index, inflation rate and prices of consumer goods.

The second set of criteria is the employers’ financial capability to be decided by production costs and labor productivity. The last factor to consider will be the social and economic outlooks and the GDP growth at both national and provincial levels.

The panel chief said the decision must be carefully made as the country is still faced with international pressure on human trafficking and IUU fishing. He said any decision could affect Thai exports. The Bangkok Minimum Wage Subcommittee will meet again on July 6 to discuss whether the wage should be raised from 300 baht per day currently. The result of the meeting will be submitted to the National Wage Committee (NWC) for consideration.


-- NNT 2015-06-24

Just as economy is going down and people are getting laid off they are planning to increase the wage, very smart.

So more people would be laid off and more business will close down and prices will rise even more.

Perfect plan and perfect timing.

From my observation, most of the bars in Bangkok are still only paying 100 Bht per day, amazing !

Wasn't Yingluck thoroughly trashed back in 2013 for increasing the minimum wage, a move that people said was transparently 'populist' and would bring the economy to a screeching halt...?