Local leaders welcome first rise in salary for 10 years
The government has dismissed allegations that it approved a pay raise for local leaders in exchange for ballot-box gains in the upcoming election.
The move was approved because tambon administrative organisation (TAO) employees hadn’t had a raise in over a decade and their salaries need to keep up with the inflation rate, said deputy government spokeswoman Tipanan Sirichana.
She said TAOs had petitioned Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda, seeking the raise in 2019. At the time, the minister agreed in principle to increase their pay amid rising consumer prices, she said.
The TAOs’ call came after kamnans and village heads nationwide were earlier granted a pay raise, she said, adding it was only fair to give TAO employees a similar hike.
After Covid-19 hit, the pay raise plan was put on hold, she said. But after the pandemic eased, the plan was brought back for consideration during the annual TAO executives meeting in Chiang Mai on Nov 24.
After the meeting, Gen Anupong asked TAO executives to provide reasons to justify the pay raise as well as a new pay scale, which were submitted to the ministry, she said. On Tuesday, the TAO Council of Thailand met prime minister’s secretary-general Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, who chairs the panel on accelerating state policies. Mr Pirapan then sent a pay raise request to the Interior Ministry’s legal screening committee, which endorsed the petition on Wednesday, she said.
Ms Tipanan dismissed claims the TAO pay rise was politically motivated to win the support of local leaders and hand the government an advantage in the next election. The pay hike was long overdue and it will boost the morale of officials working close to grassroots people, she said.
Wirasak Hadda, president of the TAO Council of Thailand, said the pay rise has nothing to do with politics. He said the issue was brought to the Interior Ministry’s attention long before campaigning started.
He took a swipe at what he called “an ill attempt to twist the facts and politicise the issue to mislead people”. He slammed those who think Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a member of the United Thai Nation Party, was using the pay raise as a political ploy.
“Three parties were opposed to the pay raise: Pheu Thai, Move Forward and Palang Pracharath,” he said. “Almost 400,000 of us TAO members around the country should remember that these parties are against us.”
Noppadon Pattama, Pheu Thai’s deputy chief strategist, yesterday said the party did not oppose the TAO pay rise. In fact, if the party had been in power, the request would have been approved earlier, he said.