Minimum wage to rise by 5Bt-10Bt in 69 Thai provinces

[webfact]

Minimum wage to rise by 5Bt-10Bt in 69 provinces

By The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- Minimum wages will rise to between Bt305 and Bt310 per day in 69 provinces from the current nationwide rate of Bt300, effective from January 1, 2017.

 

Labour Ministry permanent secretary ML Puntrik Smiti said after chairing a meeting of the tripartite Central Wage Committee yesterday that the meeting approved rises of the minimum daily wage next year in 69 provinces, while the minimum in the other |eight provinces will remain at Bt300.

The wage in seven provinces – Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Phuket – will rise by Bt10, while that in 13 provinces will increase by Bt8, and in 49 provinces by Bt5.

The committee will submit its resolution to the Labour Ministry, which will forward it to the Cabinet.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/business/etc/30297978

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-10-20

 

 

[anotheruser]

So if they work 6 days a week people in rural provinces will 120 to 192 Baht per month. They must be celebrating this news. It is such a low increase that it is almost an insult. A bit like tipping a waitress a penny.

[taichiplanet]

Woohoo! Don't spend it all at once!

[Caveat Emptor]

A committee worked this out,  just how long did they deliberate before coming to this momentous conclusion ?

[worgeordie]

Just enough to buy a couple of small eggs,that's about it,

with the cost of food,especially rice and vegetables,its a

wonder  poor people can survive.

regards worgeordie

[Asiantravel]

This is a really difficult one for the government because even though people need higher incomes to grapple ever increasing prices, Thailand’s competitors are way behind . I distinctly remember the Prime Minister in one of his televised speeches to the nation warning people here they shouldn't expect significant increases because Thais are already being paid well above workers in neighbouring countries.

Cambodia is still at $140 a month, Laos is at $111 a month  and Myanmar is only $67 a month.

[JAG]

A committee worked this out,  just how long did they deliberate before coming to this momentous conclusion ?

Perhaps as pertinent - how much did they pay themselves for their efforts?

A tad more than ThB 310 a day?

[doremifasol]

No comment

[aussieinthailand]

Ok so a committee has ever so kindly granted a 5-10 baht per day minimum wage increase,  but a few provinces will not get the increase.  WOW!!!    I wonder how much per day these people on this committee get per day???

 

[Caveat Emptor]

22 minutes ago, JAG said:

Perhaps as pertinent - how much did they pay themselves for their efforts?

A tad more than ThB 310 a day?

Where did they meet to work this out and what were the arrangements for food and ' refreshments ' ?   

[bmiller1985]

39 minutes ago, Asiantravel said:

This is a really difficult one for the government because even though people need higher incomes to grapple ever increasing prices, Thailand’s competitors are way behind . I distinctly remember the Prime Minister in one of his televised speeches to the nation warning people here they shouldn't expect significant increases because Thais are already being paid well above workers in neighbouring countries.

Cambodia is still at $140 a month, Laos is at $111 a month  and Myanmar is only $67 a month.

 

True.  And actually the thai rate is equivilent to Malaysia where workers are more educated, more bilingual, etc.   This puts employers in Thailand at a disadvantage.  It goes back to the raise it too much and there will be no jobs from which to be paid.  I have a factory friend who already had to lay off half of his factory workers and close one building when the last raise occured.

 

[maoro2013]

And many do not currently receive the 300 baht anyway.

Pretty hard to enforce when so many things are 'cash in hand' and not reported or reportable.

[Asiantravel]

42 minutes ago, bmiller1985 said:

 

True.  And actually the thai rate is equivilent to Malaysia where workers are more educated, more bilingual, etc.   This puts employers in Thailand at a disadvantage.  It goes back to the raise it too much and there will be no jobs from which to be paid.  I have a factory friend who already had to lay off half of his factory workers and close one building when the last raise occured.

 

 

 

 Actually I didn’t think about Malaysia and it says The Minimum Wages Order 2016 that came into effect last July  is RM1,000 per month for Peninsular Malaysia, and RM920 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. That is still only $240 US per month. I also forgot about Vietnam where they also have a great work ethic and much greater willingness to learn English than in Thailand. Vietnam's minimum wage is only  between $107 to  $256.

If you look at the following graph the initial jump back in 2012 seemed to happen too quickly compared with neighbouring countries and stands out like a sore thumb.

[Srikcir]

Workers led by the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee called for a minimum wage of 360 baht. Currently 90% of workers are  supporting at least one other person that has no income.

http://www.samuitimes.com/workers-in-thailand-seek-minimum-wage-of-360-baht/

If inflation keeps creeping upward, wonder if we'll see worker protests or strikes in 2017? Especially if elections are delayed beyond 2017.

[fruitman]

1 hour ago, bmiller1985 said:

 

True.  And actually the thai rate is equivilent to Malaysia where workers are more educated, more bilingual, etc.   This puts employers in Thailand at a disadvantage.  It goes back to the raise it too much and there will be no jobs from which to be paid.  I have a factory friend who already had to lay off half of his factory workers and close one building when the last raise occured.

 

 

Add to that you need 2-3 Thai to do the same work as 1 Chinese in a day...and the chinese will do it perfect and can do his own quality control.

 

Lack of education/drive for quality is playing parts for the Thai...they better start working on that.

[the donger]

God, I assumed it was hourly which would be a good rise of 10%. But 5bht per day?! 

[DM07]

Actually, with this gigantorous amount of money at hand, people should be glad to live upcountry!

At least there you can have chicken or just go out and collect some herbs to spice up your bland rice! 

[little mary sunshine]

Absolutely disgusting .....Every person. that works 8 hours a day

should be paid at least 700B a day.   Just to be able to live and eat. 

[overherebc]

42 minutes ago, fruitman said:

 

Add to that you need 2-3 Thai to do the same work as 1 Chinese in a day...and the chinese will do it perfect and can do his own quality control.

 

Lack of education/drive for quality is playing parts for the Thai...they better start working on that.

 

If what you say is true about the Chinese then why do many fabrication contracts in O&G have a 'No Chinese Material' stipulation.

Many of the Thai welders I've known have been well skilled and most of the QC operators are Thai and do as good a job as any.

[anotheruser]

10 minutes ago, little mary sunshine said:

Absolutely disgusting .....Every person. that works 8 hours a day

should be paid at least 700B a day.   Just to be able to live and eat. 

That is simply unrealistic in many ways. If you want all the factories to relocate you can try doing this. 

[JKfarang]

This is a huge problem in Thailand and elsewhere.  Before I met them, my Thai gf and her 16 year old daughter both had to work full time (i.e. 10 hrs per day, 6 days a week) just to survive.  The girl's still working (and going to alternative school Sunday morning's to get her "high school" certificate) but at least now the money's going into her pocket instead of helping mom to pay for rent, food, etc.  I wish I could think of a solution for others like them and those in even worse situations.  Of course, companies like many from America scouring the world for the cheapest labor and fewest environmental regulations so they can please their stock holders and pay their executives outrageous salaries is a big part of the problem.

[little mary sunshine]

6 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

That is simply unrealistic in many ways. If you want all the factories to relocate you can try doing this. 

 

 

Unrealistic to to pay people  a  meager living wage...Pathetic

[joskeshake]

2 hours ago, maoro2013 said:

And many do not currently receive the 300 baht anyway.

Pretty hard to enforce when so many things are 'cash in hand' and not reported or reportable.

this is very right spoken, my wife works in small hotel in Pattaya and boss also cheap charly,for overtime he pay 30,00 baht/houre.And everybody afraid to report something,because they not want to loose jobs.

[mike324]

20 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

That is simply unrealistic in many ways. If you want all the factories to relocate you can try doing this. 

 

I agree, for a manufacturer to be able to pay workers this much means losing many businesses on the same note. Its hard to strike a balance, that is just the reality. People should not think all manufacturers are rich. Examples can been seen from the manufacturing sectors in China in the past couple years. Worker wages in China use to be lower than that of Thailand, now its higher, with higher wages in China factories has been closing at a fast rate. 

 

One of the main problems in Thailand is that workers are inefficient, workers in China / Japan / Korea can do the work of 2 people in Thailand for the most part.

[anotheruser]

Even at Mcdonald's and such places a significant raise would lead to the people taking orders being replaced by iPads with menus basically. Just push a button to add fries to your meal. The problem is you can't change how things are with minimum wage increases. You have to change the entire system and it isn't that easy. 

 

If you raise the minimum wage you aren't really bringing poor people closer to the top you bring the people just above them closer to the bottom. I am sure this will end up in a long drawn out argument but for example if you raise the minimum wage in the USA to $15 an hour that guy who was doing well on $25 an hour just demoted to near the poverty line. 
 

We need to completely reject the idea that people actually need to work everyday to justify their existence. Everybody should get 3 meals a day and a roof over their head regardless. 

 

We are moving into an age robots will build robots, computers will be able to write their own software, taxis will be autonomously driven. bla bla bla, you get the idea.  20th century models of societyare being out grown and will not work for much longer in the future. Somebody please call me a socialist. I have never really considered myself one but the paradigm is rapidly shifting. 

 

 

[petermik]

10 hours ago, Caveat Emptor said:

A committee worked this out,  just how long did they deliberate before coming to this momentous conclusion ?

The committee were unanimous in granting the increase,as it enabled them to increase their "pitiful"salaries by a rather more substantial amount

[khunPer]

5 hours ago, anotheruser said:

So if they work 6 days a week people in rural provinces will 120 to 192 Baht per month. They must be celebrating this news. It is such a low increase that it is almost an insult. A bit like tipping a waitress a penny.

It's 1.6% to 3.3% – more than the annual average inflation, which last time I read about in the news, was just around 1 percent – how much over average inflation do you get in minimum pay-rise in your country..?

[elgordo38]

5 hours ago, anotheruser said:

So if they work 6 days a week people in rural provinces will 120 to 192 Baht per month. They must be celebrating this news. It is such a low increase that it is almost an insult. A bit like tipping a waitress a penny.

Wait till they get to a pensionable age it gets even worse. 

[anotheruser]

Just now, elgordo38 said:

Wait till they get to a pensionable age it gets even worse. 

 

In this case to help the poor they would be better off lowering the price of beer and cigs.

[F4UCorsair]

6 hours ago, anotheruser said:

So if they work 6 days a week people in rural provinces will 120 to 192 Baht per month. They must be celebrating this news. It is such a low increase that it is almost an insult. A bit like tipping a waitress a penny.

Do you mean $120-192$$ per month?

 

If so, still more than some other SE Asian countries.

 

Unable to edit out $$.