Pending approval from the cabinet who are meeting this week, the daily minimum wage in Thailand will be increased by an average of 5.02 per cent beginning 1 October 2022. Boonchob Suthamanaswong, the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Labor said that the increase will help workers deal with the lingering impact of the pandemic, including inflation that is near a 14-year high. The minimum wage in the country has been frozen since January 2020.
The rates will be different according to the nine different provinces within the country. Under the proposal which is set by the national wage committee, the provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong, and Phuket will end up with the largest rate of 354 baht.
Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, Nan, and Udon Thani is receiving the lowest: 328 baht. The latter two is also receiving the lowest bump compared to other areas with 8 baht.
Workers in Bangkok and surrounding provinces will earn a daily minimum wage of 353 baht, which is also the biggest hike among all at 22 baht. This reportedly was after a tense discussion as Bangkok and Chon Buri had wanted a minimum wage of 360 baht.
Employers had, in fact, proposed a hike of 3 per cent enforced only in January 2023, while workers’ representatives asked for an increase of 5 per cent to 8 per to start in October 2022.
Chairman of the Employers Federation of Consumer Goods and Services, Atthayuth Leeyawanich, commented that the average increase of 5 per cent is considered high and will affect small-scale business owners who are still trying to recover from the pandemic’s economic impact.
A spokesperson for employees, on the other hand, said that the 5 per cent increase is very small but is the best outcome that could come from the discussions.
