Abolition of the old minimum wage in Thailand
In the course of next year, the current minimum daily wage of 300 baht will probably be abolished. It will then be replaced by the old system based on basic living income by province.
However, the question remains whether this minimum daily wage system will result in a higher daily wage than 300 Baht per day. A feasibility study is required for this. The aim is to improve the living conditions of workers through the new remuneration system. The new scheme will enable them to link their knowledge and productivity to income. Committees in the province must come up with a proposal on the minimum wage and submit it to the government.
The Thai Labor Solidarity Committee had already proposed at the end of March 2015 to raise the minimum wage to 360 baht per day because the cost of living has almost doubled between 2013 and 2015.
The minimum wage of 300 baht for each employee was once an election promise of the then Yingluck Shinawatra government. At the time, employers called this an undermining of the competitive position in relation to neighboring countries. This minimum wage was also cited as the cause of the decline in exports from Thailand.
Compared to other countries in Asia, the minimum wage of 300 baht is still reasonable. In Indonesia this is converted to 230 baht per day. At the bottom are Laos and Cambodia with 80 and 75 baht per day respectively. That is why many migrant workers from neighboring countries come to Thailand to work here.
Source: Wochenblitz
You can calculate annual inflation in many different ways, but for 2013 and 2014, according to various sources, it was around 2%.
A doubling of the cost of living between 2013 and 2015 is therefore completely out of the blue.
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http://www.statista.com/statistics/332274/inflation-rate-in-thailand
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Precisely by raising the minimum wage to 300 Bht, many market vendors thought they could raise prices because the inhabitants now have/had more to spend.
Doubling is exaggerated, but so is the 2%.
On closer inspection, it turns out that this scheme (medical costs) is not abolished.
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http://www.wochenblitz.com/nachrichten/bangkok/71049-30-baht-versicherung-bleibt-erhalten.html
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After reading about the minimum wage, my experience.
We are currently once again building a two-storey house for the umpteenth time.
This time we have outsourced everything to a contractor without tools.
He knows the construction market , and knows where to hire construction teams .
We started with the ground and rough construction work , say the chassis of the house .
With a team of about 10 Burmese , men and women .
Do a good job, make steel construction and concrete longitudinal and cross beams.
Now their salary.
The women were paid 200 baht per day, the men 300 baht.
And that for very heavy work in the blazing sun during 7 working days a week, with a more than acceptable working pace.
On the other side of the street where I still live now , we are refurbishing our current home .
Mostly painting , the two Thai painters get 400 and the other 450 baht a day .
Do their job reasonably well, but work pace is slow.
Sometimes I wonder , when I see the prices here in my area .
How can one get by with 300 bath , even if one assumes a family income .
Everything has become more expensive lately.
For a farang like me with something up his sleeve , can save me very well here in Thailand .
And if you work at the Tesco Lotus as a young person, you can be happy with a monthly salary of around 6000 baths.
And for that you also work in shifts and on Saturday and Sunday.
And then we complain as Dutch people, how bad it is in our own Holland.
Jan Beute.
Jan,
“Everything has become more expensive lately”.
A statement that counts.
“And that for very heavy work in the blazing sun during 7 working days a week, with a more than acceptable working pace ..”
Nobody forbids you not to pay those people according to value and circumstances.
And then you dare to ask the question, after “once again building a two-storey house for the umpteenth time”
– How can one get by with 300 baht, even if one assumes a family income…..
Well done Jan…. good luck with your umpteenth home.
I just think Thailand has become expensive.
I am shocked what we have spent during our stay in the past 2 months.
That is more than we spend in NL.
And then I don't visit cafes and other places that can drive up expenses considerably.
No, not even a beach or island has been visited this time.
It's that my wife is Thai.
Otherwise it could very well be that I did not go to Thailand on my "old" day
But let's have a look in the surrounding countries.
Burma apparently has more kilometers of beaches than Thailand.
Cambodia and Vietnam and Laos are also formidable competitors for Thailand for the favor of tourists and pensioners.