The Thai Restaurant Association is concerned the planned hike of the daily minimum wage to 400 baht will affect small and medium-sized enterprises, as it calls on the government to provide support measures.
"Members do not support the government's plans to increase the daily minimum wage," said Thaniwan Kulmongkol, president of the association.
The government plans to increase the daily minimum wage to 400 baht nationwide starting from Oct 1, according to government spokesman Chai Wacharonke.
Ms Thaniwan said the wage hike will affect businesses that employ many workers, such as large factories.
This would increase their production costs and could force some companies to consider relocating their production facilities to other countries, she said.
Thai restaurants regularly face labour shortages and some owners are willing to exceed the daily minimum wage for waiters and cleaners in an effort to attract applicants, said Ms Thaniwan.
For skilled workers, their daily wage is already higher than the minimum, she said.
Once the new minimum wage becomes effective, restaurateurs will have to increase their daily rate above 400 baht in order to attract unskilled workers, said Ms Thaniwan.
"When the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers is reduced, restaurant owners will be forced to raise the wage of skilled workers as well," she said.
Ms Thaniwan said the combination of a stagnant economy and the wage hike pose a threat to small and medium-sized restaurants, which make up the majority of the nation's eateries.
Moreover, the minimum wage hike will likely have a more significant impact on restaurants in the provinces because the customers there have lower purchasing power, she said.
Big restaurants may be able to use automation, such as food delivery robots, to reduce costs and increase efficiency, said Ms Thaniwan.
To tackle rising costs, some restaurant operators may opt to increase their prices or revise their promotional campaigns, she said.
The government should assess the economic circumstances and potential in each province, including the consequences from a minimum wage hike, said Ms Thaniwan.
"If restaurant owners cannot operate their business, the people who will suffer will be the employees," she said.
If the government goes ahead with the wage hike, it should also introduce measures to help restaurant owners, such as tax reductions, said Ms Thaniwan.