Thai government urged to review new wage hike

BANGKOK, January 23 (TNA) - The private sector has called for the Thai government to review its recent decision on further raising daily minimum wages by 5-22 baht in different areas across the country, effective as of April 1, 2018, as the new wage hike is likely to affect local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular. Kalin Sarasin, Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB), made the call in Bangkok on Tuesday, saying that the new wage hike is considered too high and not in accordance with the real economic situation in each Thai province. Kalin, who is also chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Board and the Board of Trade of Thailand, told journalists 92 per cent of business operators who are members of the Thai Chamber of Commerce across the country agreed at a latest survey that the new wage hike is too high and wanted the Thai government, through the Ministry of Labour's Central Wage Committee, to review the new wage hike to be within proposals earlier raised by sub-committees on wages in each province instead. Kalin revealed that JSCCIB is scheduled to formally submit a letter to Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha on January 23, demanding for the review of the new wage hike to ease negative impacts on business operators from rising costs of labour and others, especially SMEs in the local farm and service sectors. The JSCCIB chair cautioned that the new wage hike, if not reviewed, could cause the problem of rising unemployment in the Thai economy, as business firms could turn to be more capital-intensive ones instead, and could pose more burden to consumers in terms of their rising costs of living and affect the national economic recovery. The JSCCIB chairman also urged the Thai government to expedite the implementation of its new mega-infrastructure development projects to stimulate the local economy in which the projects will be constructed, mentioning that JSCCIB would conduct a new survey on negative impacts from the new wage hike if it was not reviewed as demanded, prior to a new decision by the private sector. Meanwhile, new Labour Minister Police General Adul Saengsingkaew called on those opposing the new wage hike to respect the Central Wage Committee's decision and not to organize any protesting movement for the sake of the smooth national economic recovery, insisting that the Central Wage Committee's resolution on January 17 was the outcome of discussions and careful consideration of all relevant parties, including representatives of employers, employees and concerned government agencies. (TNA)