Thread: Minimum wage to increase by April 2011

Originally Posted by BobR

When you major in logistics and cannot speak virtually any English or Chinese your chances of success are about zero. Which of course leads to the question why any college would let someone study a subject like that for 4 years without mandatory classes in the languages of commerce?

^spot on.

Maybe they should just put it in the new constitution... Oh, wait....

It's real: B300 wage from Jan 1 | Bangkok Post: news

It's real: B300 wage from Jan 1

• Published: 20/11/2012 at 04:37 PM
• Online news: Local News

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to impose the minimum wage of 300 baht per day all over the country from Jan 1, Budget Bureau director Voravidh Champeerat said.

He said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong was appointed chairman of a committee to plan measures to help business entrepreneurs affected by the wage increase.

From April 1 this year, the 300-baht wage was implemented in seven provinces - Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani and Phuket.

Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol will propose the government measures to reduce the impact on the private sector after the government approved the pay rise.

The FTI will seek the establishment of a fund to compensate for some labour costs to the private sector. It also wants a reduction in the cash burden, particularly on cutting the contribution to the Social Security Fund to 2.5%, down from the normal rate of 5%, for three years. However, the Social Security Office announced earlier that for 2012, the average contribution from both employees and employers to the fund is 3.5%.


Photo by Somchai Poomlard

Rising costs from this policy should be deducted as expenses for value added tax calculation at two times of the actual cost for three years. The government should also reduce building and land taxes as well as local development tax by 50% for three years.

The federation members also want to see the creation of a matching fund that will help the private sector increase their production efficiency through machinery modernisation.

Wallop Witanakorn, an FTI vice president, said the government's decision to carry through with the 300-baht wage next year will force textile and garment manufacturers to adjust, particularly through improvement in production efficiency, while large manufacturers will need to transfer technology to small companies. It is possible that more companies will move to other countries or relocate to provinces in the central region in order to reduce logistic costs.

Hassanai Kaewkul, chairman of Phayao Chamber of Commerce, said the government's 300-baht policy is likely to produce no positive outcome as workers are unlikely to improve their skills.

He said a survey in the province showed that employers' costs will increase between 10-15% as the rate increase must be applied to all workers, though many of them already earn higher than the new rate.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

He said a survey in the province showed that employers' costs will increase between 10-15% as the rate increase must be applied to all workers, though many of them already earn higher than the new rate.
__________________

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

a proposal to impose the minimum wage of 300 baht per day

I would assume any "increase" for the above 300baht per day wage is at the discretion of the employer.

Originally Posted by baldrick

colour me unsurprised

the PT puppet govt has been too busy trying to ensure a triumphant return of the squareheaded one .

they have forgotten completely about the suckers who put them in power

Hmm ,a shrewd observation ,and of course 100% correct!.

How many posters on this forum have worked or would work for 300 baht a day
None in my opinion, thats why all western businesses have or are shifting to Asia

I would suspect it is illegal, for a westerner, to work at a 300 bhat per day job in Thailand.

FTI warns wage rise will hit SMEs | Bangkok Post: business

FTI warns wage rise will hit SMEs

B300 minimum 'may cause factory closures'

• Published: 21/11/2012 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: Business

The cabinet approved a plan yesterday to impose a daily minimum wage of 300 baht nationwide on Jan 1 even as companies warned the government it must take full responsibility for damage to small and medium-sized enterprises.

"SMEs will definitely suffer from more unpaid loans, which eventually will hurt the whole labour force if they stop hiring and the government does nothing to help them cope with the wage hike next year," said Vallop Vitanakorn, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

He said the industrial sector will wait 6-12 months to reassess the situation and decide whether it will have to close down their offices in provinces.

"We might have to lease the closed factories to the government for rice storage," quipped Mr Vallop.

Petcharat Eksaengkul, vice-chairman of the FTI's industrial department, said even though it is difficult to change government policy, it should look at the FTI's 27 proposed measures.

The measures include lending money to help improve production, seeking new marketing channels, lowering corporate income tax and expanding the time frame for loan repayment.

Thailand has 2.9 million SMEs generating 3.7 trillion baht or 37% of the country's 10-trillion-baht gross domestic product.

The figure rises 1.9% a year on average.

"In reality [such measures] will not provide much help at all," said Ms Petcharat.

Marc Spiegel, vice-chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT), said foreign enterprises will also feel the impact of the wage increase, and some may be forced out of Thailand.

Foreign SMEs rarely receive any support and many find it difficult to access funding, he said.

"We support the wage increase on a conceptual level, but it has to come with an improvement of education, productivity and training," said Mr Spiegel.

With Myanmar opening up, Thailand will be less attractive to manufacturers in the coming years, he added.

Pornsil Patcharintanakul, vice-chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, suggested the government set up a special fund to compensate Thai SMEs with low-interest loans to help ease financial liquidity after the wage hike.

JFCCT chairman Nandor von der Luehe said he is more worried about the domino effect of a wage increase.

"The [increase to] 300 baht is minimal, but others who are now getting 500 baht will also ask for more, and everything will become more expensive," he said, adding that the wage increase should come from higher productivity.

Mr von der Luehe said the government's tax rebate will not really benefit SMEs that will be affected the most by the wage hike.

The cabinet also agreed yesterday to set up a committee to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong to create measures aimed at helping business entrepreneurs affected by the minimum wage increase.


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Kittiratt insistent hike is necessary | Bangkok Post: business

Kittiratt insistent hike is necessary

• Published: 21/11/2012 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: Business

The government shrugged off "whines" from companies about its minimum wage hikes, saying they are a part of its plan to get labourers out of the cheap labour trap that has dragged down the country's economic development in the past, says Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong.

Speaking at a seminar on strategies for Thai businesses to survive the global slowdown yesterday, he said this government intends to alter the concept of economic policy.

"Those people who have said productivity is not improved with the wage hike need to consider when the wage was lower, productivity was also low as they had no incentive to improve. I think this is sort of the chicken or the egg," said Mr Kittiratt.

Also, increasing low-wage workers' income helps stimulate domestic purchasing power, he added, which is the right way to cope with the global economic crisis.

"Actually we didn't expect the impact of the euro crisis would occur so quickly, but fortunately our policy has helped maintain domestic consumption," said Mr Kittiratt.

He added that good policy should not directly affect economic expansion but rather affect stability and income distribution.

"For example, in the past we enjoyed export growth of 15-20% that pushed our GDP to rise by 4-5%, but the fact is we only had cheap labour. We were trapped in a cheap wage economy, and that's why we needed subsidies to ease living costs such as transportation and utilities, which may have distorted the market," said Mr Kittiratt.

"We should use subsidies in the short term, not keep them for a long time as past governments did."

He added the 2 trillion baht borrowing decree for investment in infrastructure, which is separate from the normal fiscal budget, helps shorten the time and approval process needed for public investment projects.

"We don't need to follow the disbursement procedure, which really slowed down government investment in the past," he said.

He added there was no need for concern about appropriate budget usage, as the details of each project have progressed.

"There is no need to worry, this borrowing decree is not a blank cheque, as we have really good projects that require capital," said Mr Kittiratt.

The government policy to push state agencies to work faster in parallel with the cabinet's budget considerations means once a bill gains approval, projects will be ready to construct immediately, he added.

Few will be laid off due to wage increase: govt - The Nation

Few will be laid off due to wage increase: govt

THE NATION November 22, 2012 1:00 am


The authorities believe that the imminent hike in the minimum daily wage will likely cost some people their jobs but the number will be relatively low.

"Many industries are facing a shortage of labour," Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said yesterday, adding that there were more than 300,000 vacancies across the country.

The minister was speaking after Chalee Loysoong, president of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, voiced concern that some employers might lay off their workers before January 1 in a bid to avoid paying higher severance pay. The Bt300 minimum daily wage goes into effect in 70 provinces from January 1.

However, Labour Welfare and Protection Department director-general Pakorn Amorncheewin said that as of Tuesday, only 1,072 workers at five factories had been laid off due to the initial wage increase in seven provinces in April.

"This number is relatively low," Pakorn said, adding that the upcoming wage hike would go into effect in a much wider area, but explained that the employers had about a year to adapt.

"Some entrepreneurs are already paying up to Bt320 per day," he said, adding that people should also work harder to justify their higher pay.

Though relevant authorities expect a relatively low number of workers to lose their jobs, Pakorn said they were monitoring the situation closely.

"We have planned several measures such as suspending employers' contributions to the social security fund and finding new jobs for those who have been laid off," he added.

He went on to say that several industries, such as the automotive sector, were facing labour shortage, though he added some workers might need to migrate to new areas to find jobs.

"If huge job losses take place in certain provinces, we will have to prepare for migration, because apart from jobs, workers will also need a place to stay," he said.

According to Phadermchai, 29 provinces, particularly in the North and Northeast, will see a huge jump in wages, such as Phayao, where minimum wages will increase from just Bt159 to Bt300.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

300 baht minimum wage doesn’t trigger economy : National News Bureau of Thailand

300 baht minimum wage doesn’t trigger economy

BANGKOK, 14 June 2012 (NNT) – The Thai Chamber of Commerce has declared that the 300 baht minimum wage policy isn’t helping Thailand’s economy as the government has expected.

Mr. Phumin Harinsut, Executive Vice President of the TCC said that the 300 baht minimum wage adjustment already enforced in seven provinces is not triggering the economy as has been predicted. The policy aims to encourage more spending. However, people have not much confidence in the stability of the companies they are working in. So they choose to save for the future. Mr. Phumin believed that the new wage policy would continue to hurt both small and large businesses next year. He thus called for government measures to cushion the impact.

Furthermore, a TCC survey found that 92 percent of the business operators in the 7 pilot provinces have already adjusted themselves to the new minimum wage, while the rest of 7.8% could not.

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Originally Posted by BobR

The real joke is the 15000 minimum monthly salary for anyone with a 4 year college degree, I know of 2 sisters with such degrees and both had to lie (say they did not have them) to get any job at all.

When you major in logistics and cannot speak virtually any English or Chinese your chances of success are about zero. Which of course leads to the question why any college would let someone study a subject like that for 4 years without mandatory classes in the languages of commerce?

Thats what happens when government gets involved in the free market.

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Originally Posted by Jools

Oh my!!! What a surprise!!! Minimum wage???? In Thailand???? This is a country ruled by wealthy aristocrats, totally for their benefit. The idea that the working class have any sort of rights, never took root here. How could any Thai lawmaker keep a straight face whilst voting for such a law?

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Originally Posted by petercallen

How many posters on this forum have worked or would work for 300 baht a day
None in my opinion, thats why all western businesses have or are shifting to Asia

I worked for $3 an hour when I was a kid for my cheap fucking prick of an uncle.

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Well can't tell about down south in the bright lights of BKK or Pattaya, but out here in the back blocks of Issan try and find someone to work for 500 Baht a day is near on impossible. They won't get out of the hammock to scratch themselves for 300 Baht. Jim

But in Issan they will get into the hammock for 1,500 baht short time.

My, aren't they exemplary Buddhists here in LoS.

Originally Posted by socal

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Bollocks, Germany has union controlled minimum wages, the unions run the place. Sweden is an oil/gas rich socialists dream subsidised this, subsidised that, get real.

Singapore, a facist state with millions of sheep, kept quiet with draconian laws.

Originally Posted by socal

I worked for $3 an hour when I was a kid for my cheap fucking prick of an uncle.

When you wake up, grooming may come to mind

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by socal

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Bollocks, Germany has union controlled minimum wages, the unions run the place. Sweden is an oil/gas rich socialists dream subsidised this, subsidised that, get real.

Singapore, a facist state with millions of sheep, kept quiet with draconian laws.

Show me the law that states that Germany has a minimum wage.

show me evidence that Singapore has "quit draconian laws"

It seems to me that you don't believe the free market can properly price labor

Originally Posted by socal

the free market

Which "free" market to you allude to?

Originally Posted by socal

Show me the law that states that Germany has a minimum wage.

Google eu minimum wage and read.

Originally Posted by Jools

Oh my!!! What a surprise!!! Minimum wage???? In Thailand???? This is a country ruled by wealthy aristocrats, totally for their benefit. The idea that the working class have any sort of rights, never took root here. How could any Thai lawmaker keep a straight face whilst voting for such a law?

Don't be confusing folks with truth and reality, Jools.
Doesn't go over well with the warm & fuzzy save the world want to mirror "us" crowd.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by socal

the free market

Which "free" market to you allude to?

Originally Posted by socal

Show me the law that states that Germany has a minimum wage.

Google eu minimum wage and read.

Do you think it is necessary for the government to price fix wages ?


Wikipedia


Germany No statutory minimum wage.

Originally Posted by piwanoi

Originally Posted by socal

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by socal

Norway, Germany and Singapore have no minimum wage laws.

Bollocks, Germany has union controlled minimum wages, the unions run the place. Sweden is an oil/gas rich socialists dream subsidised this, subsidised that, get real.

Singapore, a facist state with millions of sheep, kept quiet with draconian laws.

Show me the law that states that Germany has a minimum wage.

show me evidence that Singapore has "quit draconian laws"

It seems to me that you don't believe the free market can properly price labor

Socal I suggest you go on to You tube were there is video's of men being caned in Singapore that are quite brutal and very graphic which personally I would say are quite draconian .

Yeah yeah... Youtube videos now...

Wikipedia

Singapore No laws or regulations[11]