Dhanin's suggestion ignores the small businessman

How shall we interpret Dhanin’s Bt500 minimum wage comment? If Dhanin means that his group of companies is already hiring workers at Bt500 per day, we should admire his shrewdness as an employer, as he can put more money in his employees’ pockets while being able to make a profit at the same time. However, if Dhanin means that Bt500 is a more realistic amount than the government’s proposed Bt300 rate then he must have forgotten the thousands of small-time business owners and entrepreneurs out there who are struggling for survival. Dhanin must also have forgotten that he was, once upon a time, a humble entrepreneur like many of them before establishing his business empire.

Perhaps the logic behind Dhanin’s comment is that putting more money in the consumer’s pocket could in turn increase their buying power and boost the sales of his group’s vast domestic retail outlets.

A prominent businessman like Dhanin should make a more prudent and constructive comment instead of a ludicrous and egotistical one like this, whether it is for his own benefit or just to echo the government’s wage policy.

Yingwai Suchaovanich