Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Singhadet Chu-umnart chaired the seminar on framework and guidelines to set minimum wages for 2018 and to set suitable wage rates for the present and future which took place at the Century Park Hotel in Bangkok. The seminar was organized as guidelines for subcommittees to consider Bangkok and provincial minimum wage rates, where another meeting will be organized to present minimum wage rates to the Wage Committee on 15 September 2017. He said that in amending the minimum wage rate, all sectors including the public and private sectors, employers and employees would need to cooperate on forming business strategies to align with current situations and to focus importance on increasing workforce productivity in contribution to the economy. He emphasized that in the future, both local and international investors would seek quality workforces to provide higher-value products whereby the Thai business sector would need be more competitive on the regional and global scale. Moving forward, he advised employees to view self-development as a channel of increasing productivity, with income increasing according to skills standards; therefore with increased skills will come better opportunity for employment and income.
The Deputy Prime Minister continued explaining that in the future, minimum wages would be an issue negotiated between employer and employee and that an increase in minimum wages would not necessarily be equal in each province resulting from differing workforce structures and consumer indexes. In addition to this, the national skill standard set wages will mean increased incomes which may deviate from the minimum wage. Mr. Singhadet concluded that overall, the wage trend for 2018 will depend on considerations taken for each area.
The objective of this seminar was to practice and ensure understanding of guidelines for setting provincial minimum wages among respective subcommittees and the secretariat, as well as share reports on current economic, social and employment conditions including future trends. The seminar future covered framework and guidelines in considering provincial minimum wages for 2018 to ensure legal compliance and aligned understanding throughout the nation. The session also allowed for exchange of ideas about the different forms of setting minimum wages such as a seasonally fluctuating wage and minimum wages based on provincial groups/industry/mixed, looking at which form would suit the nation in its current situation. A total of 375 participants joined the seminar.
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Bureau of Public Relations
