LABOUR Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the minimum daily wage is rising to 400 baht nationwide from Oct. 1 despite employers’ representatives not showing up for the tripartite wage committee meeting yesterday (Sep. 16), Naewna newspaper said.
He warned employers that if they still remain silent and not show up for the next meeting scheduled for Friday (Sep. 20) he would still proceed with the wage hike.
Phiphat mentioned that he had received letters from chambers of commerce in almost every province including provincial industrial councils and the Federation of Thai Industries stating that they were not ready to increase wages at this time.
Even so they were asked to consider a different dimension and that is prices of daily necessities had already increased in advance of the wage hike and workers would not be able to accept it if it is not implemented.
While admitting that the Thai economy is currently not that rosy, he pointed out that with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra having taken the helm there should be economic stimulus particularly the distribution of much-heralded, yet-delayed 10,000 baht digital wallet to the “fragile group” first.
This group includes approximately 12 million people holding state welfare cards and around 2 million disabled people, totaling 14.5 million, with a budget of 145 billion baht to be distributed among them.
Once this large sum of money is injected into the system the economy will gradually start improving, he pointed out.
The Social Security Office (SSO) is preparing measures to support larger businesses impacted by the wage rise, including a 1% discount on their contributions to the Social Security Fund. The discount will be available from October to September next year. SMEs, which comprise over 90% of Thailand’s workforce, will receive continued support until the economy recovers, NNT said.
The Labour Ministry is also working with the Finance Ministry to explore other compensatory measures, including low-interest credit for companies to help maintain liquidity. Additionally, tax discounts will be offered to businesses that invest in employee career training to help mitigate the impact of the wage increase.
CAPTION:
Top and Front Page: Representative image of minimum wage hike. Photo: Thai Rath
Insert: Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn. Photo: Naewna
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