Bangkok Post : Govt advised, delay wage rise
Govt advised, delay wage rise
- Published: 21/12/2011 at 03:32 PM
- Online news:
The government’s plan to raise the daily minimum wage of workers in Bangkok and six other provinces to 300 baht in April 2012 should be delayed because manufacturers were severely affected by the great flood, Somchai Chitsuchon of Thailand Development Research Institute, said on Wednesday.
At a seminar on “Reinvent Thailand”, Mr Somchai said the government must consider implementing the wage hike policy at a more appropriate time.
“The increase in the daily minimum wage must be suited to the market mechanism and the skills of workers must also be impoved,” he said.
He suggested that the daily minimum wage should be gradually raised, step-by-step, at an average of 20 per cent each time.
Pattamawadee Suzuki of Thammasat University’s faculty of economics took the same tone.
She said the daily minimum wage in Bangkok and nearby provinces should not be raised at this time because these provinces are in need of rehabilitation.