Small firms face 'shock' of wage rise

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Small firms face 'shock' of wage rise

CENTRAL BANK OFFICIAL ISSUES WARNING

Published: 9 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Business operators must adjust or go out of business following the full-scale increase of the minimum wage to 300 baht per day, a central bank senior official has warned.

The Labour Ministry conceded Saturday that the nationwide wage hike from Jan 1 would place more than 2,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in hardship.

Somsajee Siksamat, director of the Bank of Thailand's Statistics Office, described the coming wage increase as a "shock" to the economic system.

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banmebkk
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Discussion 35 : 10 Dec 2012 at 16.5135
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@Disc 32 - Wages were increase 30-40% in Bangkok and neighboring provinces this year. You are correct it will be 35% increase at most next year for all provinces. I did not expect Phaoyao to increase by almost 45% this year! But there you go, that is still align with my argument that the increase is too much at once. A small increment of 25% will silence the business owners into saying increase is too much when in fact its not since Thai wages barely budged the past decade.
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pointoffew
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Discussion 34 : 10 Dec 2012 at 11.1334
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@ ricefield, discussion 33, fortunately I think that's not correct.
he Cabinet has approved the Wage Council’s minimum wage rate (No. 6) announcement on 22 November 2011. The new minimum wage for Phayao, effective from 1 April 2012, is 222 baht.
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ricefield
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Discussion 33 : 10 Dec 2012 at 10.4933
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Disc 32 - He's unfortunatly correct. In Phayao the minimum wage is 151 bt.
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pointoffew
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Discussion 32 : 10 Dec 2012 at 09.5932
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banmebkk, discussion 30, you obviously have no idea what you are writing about. The increase to 300 baht is less than 36% anywhere. In 25 of the 71 provinces where 300 baht does not yet apply, it's less than 25%.
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pointoffew
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Discussion 31 : 10 Dec 2012 at 09.4631
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DickFarang, discussion 23, you are of course right, but under Thai law, the normal week is limited to max. 48 hours, usually 6 *8 hours - although at banks and government agencies, bodies etc., many work 5 * 8 hours.
Any time worked in excess of the normal work week should be paid extra. Due to low wages, and because many companies want as little staff working as many hours (which I consider bizarre and inhumane), many employees - not only in private companies, but for example also in state hospitals - must work overtime, in order to make a living and keep their jobs. I call it modern slavery.
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banmebkk
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Discussion 30 : 10 Dec 2012 at 09.2730
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They should increase it by 25-30% each 6 month so business won't feel the hard impact and can adjust to it better. A 50% to 100% increase overnight in some areas is too shocking for businesses. Its just the mentality for business owners.
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ricefield
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Discussion 29 : 10 Dec 2012 at 00.0229
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Disc 14 - If a families have to send their kid out to school before finishing school to help with the family income that doesn't help your labor pool. If the wage increase just allows even a small amount of those kids to remain in school or go to tech or Uni that would help the situation immensely.
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canuck
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Discussion 28 : 09 Dec 2012 at 21.2528
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Anybody who thinks living on 200 baht a day is realistic should try living on 200 baht a day before posting negative comments.
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kasper
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Discussion 27 : 09 Dec 2012 at 16.5227
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While I do not care if wages are raised or not, I think an important issue is forgotten. The wage rise is not only going to affect those who currently earn less than 300 baht/day. Everyone else will want a similar raise as well. In other words. If some staff in a company currently make 6,000 baht/month and are suddenly raised to 9,000 baht, then those who currently make 9,000 baht will want at least 12,000 baht etc.
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domdunnn
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Discussion 26 : 09 Dec 2012 at 16.2426
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What the bank official actually said was that the rise was "necessary" (para 4) and suggested that it should probably be increased further (para 5).
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Small firms face 'shock' of wage rise | Bangkok Post: news