Thai PM promises to improve workers' lives

BANGKOK, May 1 (TNA) - In her speech on the occasion of the National Labour Day and the International Workers’ Day, also known as "May Day", Tuesday, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to improve local workers' lives and to prepare them for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. Via nationwide television and radio, Yingluck thanked the workers for having supported the national economic and social development so far, acknowledging that her government is implementing measures to protect both formal and informal workers from negative impacts of internal and external factors. Yingluck promised to improve the life and workplace standards of local workers so that they have honourable and secured jobs and the quality of life, saying that the measures include a daily minimum wage rise to 300 baht which took effect in first seven provinces, including Bangkok, on April 1, 2012; while other provinces will follow suit next year. The prime minister also mentioned anti-narcotic campaigns at workplaces and her administration's support for standard working environment, labour welfare and labour relations, insisting that her government has also taken good care of Thai workers overseas. (TNA)