The private sector is keeping up the pressure on the state to revise proposed measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cope with the rising minimum wage next year.
Taweekit Chaturacharoenkhun, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said the 27 measures proposed by the Labour Ministry will provide little help for affected companies.
The 27 measures include lending money to help improve production, seeking new marketing channels, lowering corporate income tax and expanding the time frame for loan repayment.
"The private sector has studied the proposals and we found they will help cover less than 10% of the wage hike, but the government thinks it should help 100%," Mr Taweekit said after a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking.
Last week, the committee submitted a letter to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asking to delay the increase in the daily minimum wage to 300 baht nationwide, which is set to occur next year.
The private sector wants the government to accelerate setting up a committee to study the wage hike's potential effects.
Thailand has 2.9 million SMEs generating 3.7 trillion baht, or 37% of the country's 10-trillion-baht gross domestic product. The figure rises 1.9% a year on average, said Sophon Ponprasit, director of the Industrial Economics Office.
Porametee Vimolsiri, deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said unemployment will not be an issue next year, as it will be absorbed by businesses that can afford to pay higher wages.
But Chulalongkorn University economist Kitti Limskul said wages should be raised to 300 baht, reckoning that if wages are stalled, labour in sectors like agriculture will not be encouraged to switch to the industrial sector.
"Companies will have to choose between lack of workforce or paying higher wages," Mr Kitti said.
SMEs should be able to enjoy another 10 years before countries such as Laos and Myanmar start to catch up.
The wage hike is also seen as a government bid to keep foreign labour working in the country. Thailand has about 2 million workers from Myanmar, where some are expected to return.