Full-scale implementation of the 300-baht daily minimum wage will not fan inflation or worsen unemployment, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) insisted on Saturday.
RISING FORTUNES: Two high-rise window cleaners get to work at a department store in the Siam Square area. They are among the millions of workers nationwide who are benefiting from the 300-baht daily minimum wage, which the government has defended by pointing out how no businesses have closed as a result of its introduction.
Noting concerns over the possibility of higher inflation after the wage hike was implemented nationally last Tuesday, Arkhom Tempitayapaisit, secretary-general of the board, said the rise in labour costs was only one among several factors, including oil prices, contributing to higher inflation.
Conversely, the new wage rate that took effect on Tuesday would immediately bring about equity in the labour market and improve worker performance, he said.
What the government was doing was bringing labour strategies in the provinces in line with the country's main labour objectives, Mr Arkhom said. Hopefully that would encourage more workers to stay in their hometowns or return there after the wage rate was adjusted, he said.
Mr Arkhom insisted the 300-baht minimum wage was not the highest rate in the region, although it was significantly higher than the daily rate in China and Vietnam.
He said more attention should be paid to the fact that Thai labourers were more valued among foreign investors because they were more skilled and better disciplined, he said.
Japanese companies had maintained 70% of their investments in Thailand because they appreciated the skills and discipline of Thai workers, Mr Arkhom said.
Apart from helping to curb the movement of workers from rural areas to the city, the wage hike will also lead to improved living standards and purchasing power, Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap said.
Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong brushed aside concerns that more companies suffering from increased labour costs would end up going out of business, saying the government already had in place measures to help ease the impact of the wage hike on them.
Mr Kittiratt conceded that certain businesses, particularly those relying largely on blue-collar workers, were in a difficult situation. He said it was time for Thailand to shift these industries to other countries where labour costs were cheaper.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/01/06/nesdb-says-wage-hike-wont-drive-up-inflation/
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