New minimum wage equals more layoffs
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If I were a business owner paying 100 workers at Bt250/day (Bt25,000 total), I would simply fire 17 of them to keep my labour costs the same as before April 1 (Bt300 x 83).
If the overall productivity decreased, I would replace some full-time workers with part-timers, paying them Bt35/hour for a maximum of 7 hours a day to avoid having to pay them at the full-time rate.
As far as Pheu Thai is concerned, the 83 retained would be pleased with the raise and would most likely vote for Pheu Thai again. As for the 17 unfortunate laid-off workers, they would blame their employer for having fired them instead of blaming Pheu Thai for the Bt300/day strategy, while their red loyalty remained intact. Meanwhile, as an employer, my view of Pheu Thai would remain unchanged since my business would be unaffected.
A little suggestion for the Democrat Party: When the next election comes, they should beat PT’s Bt300 with a higher wage proposal, say Bt400/day. If PT fights back with Bt500/day, the Democrats should just propose 10 per cent on top of whatever the other party is offering to avoid fighting back and forth.
Sopida S
Hat Yai
