Thai junta says no immediate plan to scrap $9-a-day minimum wage
Thai laborers and factory workers gather during a 2012 rally in Bangkok to demand that the government deliver on its minimum wage promise. Pic: AP.
Thailand’s ruling junta said Monday that it has no immediate plans to scrap Thailand’s 300-baht-a-day (approx. US$9) minimum wage.
Reports emerged a the weekend that the Ministry of Labor had agreed to introduce a “floating” minimum wage.
The Bangkok Post reported that the minimum wage was to be “replaced by the old system where wages vary by each province based on the cost of living”.
However, the junta insisted Monday that no consensus had been reached.
“There has been news that the committee on labor wage has reached a consensus to abolish the national 300 baht minimum wage, and will introduce a ‘floating’ system of wage,” Arak Prommanee, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Labor, said today. “That news is not true.”
The introduction of a minimum wage was a key part of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s 2011 election campaign. It was introduced in 2013 and meant a significant increase in wages for many poorer rural Thais, though it was strongly criticised by employers.
Khaosod English reported Monday: “Arak clarified today that there has been no formal decision to revoke the former government’s policy. The Ministry’s committee on labor wages will decide on the matter this October, he said. He also said the daily rate will not drop below 300 baht.”
Yingluck Shinawatra was removed from power ahead of a military coup just over a year ago. The junta has been strongly critical the Yingluck government’s policies and has taken significant steps towards removing the popular Shinawatra family from politics.
