The cabinet on Tuesday approved an increase in state officials' minimum base salaries at an estimated budget cost of 5.6 billion baht.
The salary rise applies only to those who have been serving in governmental agencies for up to a maximum of 10 years, not beyond, said Nonthikorn Kanchanachittra, the secretary-general of the Civil Service Commission.
The salary adjustment would proceed over three years, starting this year with retrospective effect to Jan 1.
The cabinet approval covered only the first year. The cabinet would deliberate the second and the third year increase later, Mr Nonthikorn said.
In the first year, 2012, the new salary structure will provide a minimum monthly income of 7,620 baht per month for government officials with a lower vocational certificate, known as Por Wor Chor in Thai, and a 9,300-baht minimum monthly income for those acquiring an upper vocational certificate, or Por Wor Sor.
Those holding a bachelor's degree will get a minimum 11,680 baht a month, a master's 15,300 baht and a doctoral degree 19,000 baht.
The government would wait to see how the policy affects the business sector, Mr Nonthikorn said.
Meanwhile, 68 senators led by Kamnoon Sithisamarn today submitted a request to Senate Speaker Teeradej Meepien asking him to seek the Constitution Court's ruling on the legality of an executive decree shifting 1.14 trillion baht in debt from the 1997 economic crisis to the Financial Institutions Development Fund.
Mr Kamnoon said the executive decree might be in violation of Section 184 of the constitution because the debt transfer was not urgent.
Gen Teeradej said the Senate would spend three days verifying the petition before forwarding it to the Constitution Court.
The government, in issuing the decree, wants to shift the full responsibility for repaying the bailout debt from the Finance Ministry to the FIDF, operated by the central bank, to free up to 65 billion baht a year from the government's budget and paving the way for hundreds of billions of baht in new borrowings for future investments.
Yesterday, the Democrat Party, led by former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij, petitioned House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont to seek a ruling from the Constitution Court on the legality of two government financial executive decrees.
The opposition is asking that the court to rule whether the issuing of the two financial executive decrees was in violation of Article 184 of the constitution, as there is no emergency which requires that they be issued.
The first decree allows the government to transfer full responsibility for repayment of the 1.14 trillion baht in debt from the 1997 crisis to the Bank of Thailand. The other allows the government to seek loans amounting to 350 billion baht for water management programmes and flood restoration and rehabilitation.