PUBLISHED : 13 Dec 2023 at 04:00
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has insisted that any increase in daily minimum wages must be decided by the tripartite wage committee.
This comes as the cabinet yesterday did not consider the new wage rates approved by the wage committee as the Labour Ministry delayed the matter for a review.
Kriengkrai Thiennukul, FTI chairman, said yesterday the new minimum wage rates were approved by the committee, which comprises employees, employers and state officials.
The rates were in line with the law and acceptable to all sides, Mr Kriengkrai said.
“The tripartite committee decided to raise the daily wages by 2-16 baht or about 2.37%. Overall, this will lead to an increase in production costs. Of the 46 industries, half are labour-intensive, such as the seafood processing and textile industries,” he said.
“If the government seeks to raise the minimum wages to 400 baht per day, this will only put more pressure on operators, and Thailand’s competitiveness will decline as a result,” he said.
“The wage increases will also lead to less employment as business operators will cut costs to survive and replace workers with robots and automation systems.
“Thailand’s higher production costs will be a disadvantage as investors will head to neighbouring countries with lower costs,” Mr Kriengkrai said.
After yesterday’s cabinet meeting, Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said he informed the cabinet about the new wage rates. However, he said he told the meeting that he disagreed with the criteria for calculating the rates and that he would send the matter back to the committee for review, which is expected to be finished by the end of this month.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin last Saturday said he would seek a revision of the committee’s decision to raise the daily minimum wage rates by between 2 and 16 baht across the country, saying he couldn’t agree with such low hikes.
The daily minimum wage for Thai workers nationwide is set to rise from Jan 1, 2024, and the new rates will vary from province to province, ranging from 330 to 370 baht, according to the committee. The current rates are between 328 and 354 baht. The increases in the daily minimum, as put forward by the committee, fall short of the 400 baht per day minimum wage that the Pheu Thai Party promised during its election campaign earlier this year.