Gradual wage hike would work better

We would like to thank Khun Yingwai Suchaovanich for his opinion regarding the article “Minimum wage should be Bt500, Dhanin says”.

In the past three years, Mr Dhanin Chearavanont has expressed his concern for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), declaring that SMEs are an essential driver of the Thai economy. He has suggested to the government in the past that it needs to implement policies that will realistically support SMEs, and he has also proposed that financial institutions should alleviate monetary regulations that restrict growth.

As regards the view that Thailand needs to raise its minimum wage, the “Two-High” philosophy is about “raising income in accordance with the rise in price of products”.

Presently, the price of oil, gold and other products has increased considerably when compared to the minimum wage. For example, 47 years ago civil servants received approximately Bt800-900 per month. If it was to increase to Bt15,000 per month it would represent a 15-fold increase. When compared to a 25-fold increase in the price of oil from Bt1.70 per litre to Bt40 per litre, the difference is immense.

Mr Dhanin’s opinion did not mean that every business should adjust its employee’s wages at the same time; however, it should be applied once businesses are prepared and their productivity has increased in parallel. Most importantly, businesses will have to put emphasis on increasing productivity if wages are to rise.

Office of Corporate Communications Affairs

Charoen Pokphand Group