Small firms face 'shock' of wage rise

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Small firms face 'shock' of wage rise

CENTRAL BANK OFFICIAL ISSUES WARNING

Published: 9 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Business operators must adjust or go out of business following the full-scale increase of the minimum wage to 300 baht per day, a central bank senior official has warned.

The Labour Ministry conceded Saturday that the nationwide wage hike from Jan 1 would place more than 2,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in hardship.

Somsajee Siksamat, director of the Bank of Thailand's Statistics Office, described the coming wage increase as a "shock" to the economic system.

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DickFarang
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Discussion 25 : 09 Dec 2012 at 16.2425
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I doubt (foreign) car manufacturers face a “shock”, as they already pay higher wages.
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DickFarang
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Discussion 24 : 09 Dec 2012 at 16.1824
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Last week I had an exhaust pipe of my car replaced, which was done by not less than 5 (five) people.

Efficiency seems to be a nasty word in Thailand.
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DickFarang
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Discussion 23 : 09 Dec 2012 at 16.1023
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@ Discussion 8 (pointofview):

I think that in most Thai owned businesses people work more than 8 hours a day.
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Silkpit
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Discussion 22 : 09 Dec 2012 at 16.0922
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300 THB would be fine with me running a SME Business, however, the labor market on offer doesn't provide us with better educated potential employees, working and living with a sense of logic, responsibility and self esteem, and abiding by the labor law rules of Thailand.
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rva
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Discussion 21 : 09 Dec 2012 at 15.4821
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D9: I hate to say it but you're right. I do think there needs to be a wage hike, and many companies can make up for it by cutting their staff. It will result in a higher unemployment rate, but that's the price you pay for workplace efficiency. How many times have we seen shops full of idle employees, or construction "villages" populated by "workers" sitting around drinking beer all day?
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bluebkk
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Discussion 20 : 09 Dec 2012 at 15.3920
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How much ignorance for the "noble" red cause...I know many, many small enterprises who will fire the exact amount of staff corresponding to the wage hike...wage hike who is a vote buyer for PT/UDD....let those who lose their job go and claim a salary from the government...The giveaways of taxpayers money will not stop while they ruin this country at an unprecedented scale...Thailand is very near of becoming the Greece of Asia! With thanks to Dubai and his gullible cronies...
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pointoffew
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Discussion 19 : 09 Dec 2012 at 14.5919
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Shock? What shock?! This has been announced well in advance. The implementation of the law in most provinces has been delayed. SMEs have had a year to adjust their models, train their staff, invest in productivity increasing measures - and yes: lay off redundancies. Because fact is that many Thai SMEs employ people who hardly do anything. Change that, pay those who do work, and respect them. That means: don't pay them less than subsistence level, because - including lunch and travel time - they spend some 6 * 8 + 1 + 1 = 60 hours a week SERVING you. Anyone who believes those 60 hours (48 net) are worth less than 1,800 baht should be ashamed.
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thailife69
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Discussion 18 : 09 Dec 2012 at 13.1618
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Protect 2,000 under-performing businesses or improve the lives of 10,000,000 Thais!
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pointoffew
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Discussion 17 : 09 Dec 2012 at 12.5717
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There will always be false excuses for the super-rich to keep enriching themselves. I have explained it before: if the 2% richest would accept a 20% pay cut, that would be enough to allow the 20% poorest an income at or just above the subsistence level. Of course that will never happen, as long as those who have been in power over the past hundred years remain in power.

The advantage of a redistribution of ill-gotten income is obvious: the poorest spend most of their income on consumption, stimulating economic growth, whereas the richest spend most of their top income on imported goods and foreign investments, at the expense of GDP.
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dao
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Discussion 16 : 09 Dec 2012 at 12.1116
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I dont think Thaksin cares about small business as much as the votes he gets from their workers .
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