Ceramic factories break under added wage, LPG costs

Lampang ceramic plants close doors

Published: 25 Jan 2013 at 16.25
Online news: News

Three ceramics plants in Lampang province, renowned for its pottery, have closed and others are for sale because the owners can't afford expensive fuel and higher wages, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

More plants will close or be sold, says the FTI, as the operators struggle with liquefied petroleum gas prices about 60% higher than they were a year aago, and the new 300-baht daily minimum wage.

At this ceramics factory in Lampang, the workforce was cut from 100 to 45 after the 300-baht daily minimum wage took effect on Jan 1. (Photo by Aswin Wongnorkaew)

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DonAleman
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Discussion 17 : 27 Jan 2013 at 10.0617
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D13 really says it all. If, indeed the factories produced a product of "reknown" then why not raise selling prices ? Every, originally "small" company - McDonald's,Toyota,Dominos,Mrs Field's Cookies, in their respective fields,are premium priced but continue to grow, not whine,as they do produce,very efficiently,high quality products. Toyota came into the U.S, in a very questionable, (foreign predjudiced) market,presently sell at very, very high prices and are number 1 in the U.S. and elsewhere. That being said I believe the world has enough "pottery" to last 100 years !
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boons
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Discussion 16 : 26 Jan 2013 at 16.5816
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D13: Your heart is in the right place, but you're obviously not an economist. There's no shortage of cheap labor in Asia. Business move in search of cheap labor, and they are doing so in vast numbers which are not being reported by the government. Remember that ASEAN enables and facilitates movement of products across national lines. While you make a sound moral argument for raising wages, you make the same financially disastrous mistake this administration is making: The result of which will be a spike in unemployment. The question isn't about wages, it's about employment vs. unemployment. Should Cambodians also make 300 baht per day?
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banmebkk
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Discussion 15 : 26 Jan 2013 at 13.3315
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Why does so many people think just because people run a factory it means they are rich and making a lot of money? Many business owners borrow money to start businesses and don't make much. If you look at ceramic and textile industry, it is all labor intensive and the margins are very low. Big factories are more likely to borrow money compare to small or medium size ones. So once they go they lay off couple hundred workers. Of course there are also profitable factories, those are the ones that are not closing!
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bluebottle
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Discussion 14 : 26 Jan 2013 at 12.0814
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Why don't they admit it they were probably going bust any way but need to blame someone for there lack of investment and poor marketing.
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banned
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Discussion 13 : 26 Jan 2013 at 05.1913
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I'm curious about these business owners blaming the 300baht wage increase.....How much do they earn, how do they live, what kind of homes, cars etc compared to their employees do they have. Employers have for years enjoyed bargain wage rates and used them to build themselves little empires whilst their employees jumped when told and scraped by. Factories that have enjoyed profit did so at the expense of their grossly underpaid and under appreciated labour forces. Closing factories because you have to pay your employees an almost but not really liveable wage shows who these owners really are.
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qualtrough
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Discussion 12 : 26 Jan 2013 at 00.3712
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"Other ceramics manufacturers who were still operating were also offering to sell their factories to anyone who wants to buy them, said Mr Atiphum."

What, as opposed to offering to sell them to anyone who doesn't want to buy them? Who does that?
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bubpa
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Discussion 11 : 25 Jan 2013 at 23.0911
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Is this one of the government’s ploys to bankrupt small businesses so that one of your rich connections can buy valuable properties at low costs? Do you have any pity for your fellow Thai citizens? If you consider yourself Thai?
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wakeup
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Discussion 10 : 25 Jan 2013 at 22.4310
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Cheap gimmicky populist policies are all but guaranteed to create a disaster and a subsequent enduring nightmare for everyone down the road. It is not often that the disaster visits upon the people before the ink on the cheap, gimmicky populist policy even dries. PTP is truly "gifted" at failure.
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boons
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Discussion 9 : 25 Jan 2013 at 22.199
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Just wait until ASEAN takes off. Thailand is in a troubling situation. Last week Bangkok Bank executives were in Ho Chi Minh city advising Thai conference attendees to "get their business out of Thailand because the labor is becoming too expensive". Think about that: Thai banks advising clients to leave Thailand!

Is it perfectly clear who will win and who will lose in ASEAN yet?

Thailand's unemployment is going to soar. But don't worry. The banks have a plan for that too. Because when unemployment soars, they'll be there with government sponsored credit initiatives to help Thai people buy homes. Greece, Spain, who's next?
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genii
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Discussion 8 : 25 Jan 2013 at 22.078
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Disc 7.

Agreed however how many people do you know that will not work for 300 BPD. How many people do you know that work for less than 300 BPD and what are their living conditions. I'm not a ceramics person but my guess is their must be many other reasons for the financial burdens other than wages especially if these are small businesses.
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