Laotians told to register in Thailand
The increase in the daily minimum wage for Thai workers could encourage an influx of illegal Laotian workers as demand for unregistered black market workers increases, a senior Laotian economist said.
Thailand’s nationwide daily minimum wage of Bt300 is more than three times the equivalent Laotian minimum wage.
Head of the National Economic Research Institute, Dr Liber Libuapao, said the increase means employers will look for means to cut their workforce through the introduction of new technology to replace staff or lay off unskilled or semi-skilled staff, allowing them to reduce costs.
Because of the wage hike, employers will explore every means to cut workers such as by introducing technologies to replace manpower or laying off less-skilled staff when necessary in order to cut spending, Dr Liber said.
On the other hand, some employers could turn to illegal workers to increase their profits as unregistered wages will be unaffected by the new policy. There are two opposite trends. Demand for legal workers could decrease, while the opposite could occur on the illegal labour market.
Dr Liber warned those planning to migrate to work in Thailand should do so legally to ensure positions are available.
Officials have warned those planning to seek employment in Thailand illegally to be aware of the dangers of human trafficking and lack of legal recourses.
The head of the Worker Protection Department under the Federation of Trade Unions, Ounkham Bounyaseng, said a number of illegal Laotian workers in Thailand have had bad experiences. “Some have returned home with empty hands because unscrupulous employers took advantage of them and they were fined by the authorities because of their illegal status.”
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