Businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), may have to cope with a daily minimum salary increase in addition to high loan interest rates if the Thai government persists in its campaign for pay increases.
Regarding the pay committee, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), which is composed of workers, business owners, and government representatives, stated the following.
In late 2023, the committee decided that Thai pay should go up by 2.37 percent, or 2 to 16 baht a day (US$0.05 to $0.45). The new rates started at the start of this year.
But even so, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin did not like the wage rise. She said that workers in the southwestern provinces of Thailand would not be able to make a living from it. The Prime Minister wants to raise the minimum daily wage again, even though the last increase was only a few months ago. He said that changing the rates more than once a year was fine. FTI has disagreed on this and cristicised the decision.
CEO of the FTI, Apichit Prasoprat, said, “The business world would be shocked if wages went up by more than one percent a year.” “Many small businesses can’t pay a higher wage because they already have to pay more for loans because interest rates went up to 7.3%.”
After the 2.37 percent rise, workers in Phuket will make the most money, at 370 baht (US$10.36) per day. Workers in Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat, which are all in the far south, will make the least, at 330 baht (US$9.24) per day.
Prior to this, the main party in the Thai alliance government had proposed raising wages to 600 baht (US$16.79) per day by 2027. They intended to increase pay to 400 baht (US$11.20) per day by 2025. According to Prasoprat, prices would rise as a result of rising daily wages, which will raise operating expenses, as reported by The Bangkok Post. Particularly in the food and beverage (F&B) industries is this true.
