Today, the National Tripartite Wage Committee again meets to reconsider the latest daily minimum wage hike proposal.
It's a rare move -- that has been perceived as political interference -- that follows a rebuttal by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who criticised the proposed 2.37% hike as being too low.
Despite pressures from all sides, it is hoped that the committee will make morally responsible choices that uplift workers' lives while not impacting the overall economy. The committee must not be cowed by political pressure or be motivated to appease interest groups.
The committee's duty should not stop at finding a hike percentage that makes people stop complaining. However, the committee must review the formula for calculating the minimal daily wage.
The latest proposed rate shows one irrefutable truth: the calculation used will never lift low-income workers from poverty.
Approved on Dec 8, the committee raised the daily minimum wage for entry-level labourers between 2-16 baht, depending on the provinces where labourers work. The sum is not enough even to buy a simple snack. The current daily minimum wage in Bangkok is 353 baht, while workers in Chon Buri receive 354 baht a day. Workers in other provinces receive lower rates.
The hike caused many jaws to drop and eyebrows to be raised. Understandably, Mr Srettha has publicly said the rate is "unacceptable".
The Pheu Thai Party also stands to lose politically as it promised voters in the May election campaign that it would increase the daily minimum wage to 600 baht by 2027, starting with a hike to 400 baht or over a 10% rise.
The committee will face the massive challenge of pleasing all sides.
Yet the problem is beyond a downbeat economy or political intervention; the daily wage computation the committee has been using is fundamentally wrong.
For example, the committee did not use the International Labour Organization's (ILO) standard, which requires a daily minimum wage to cover a three-person family.
Thailand's computation is based on one person, allowing, in theory, for an entry-level labourer to earn enough to feed him or herself.
Academic experts have pointed out that some parameters in the formula do not favour employees.
As a result, the minimal daily wage rates in Thailand have constantly fallen below GDP, economic growth and business performance.
Indeed, the flawed calculation has given way to populism. Because the daily wage in Thailand has been so low, political parties have promised voters to raise it. A glaring example was the Yingluck Shinawatra government, which raised the daily wage from 159-221 baht daily to 222-300 baht in 2012.
Since then, all parties -- regardless of political ideologies -- have used daily wages to appease voters and make political interventions to get the daily wage they promised.
Such populist acts can go on as long as economic conditions permit. But daily wages should reflect the public policy on poverty reduction and economic conditions -- not populism.
So, instead of letting the daily wage be driven by populism if not business greed, the National Tripartite Wage Committee and policymakers have a professional and moral duty to update the calculation, make the formula fair, and improve people's lives.
The latest proposed hike is just inhumane.