Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin revealed that the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense General Prayuth Chan-ocha and Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who supervises the Ministry of Labour, have continually monitored the impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, including the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has not stayed still and is concerned about the people and workforce. The situation is considered a double crisis, with both the pandemic and war occurring. Therefore, measures have been issued to help heal and reduce the impact. The Ministry of Labour has taken steps to reduce the expenses of the people and the cost of production for employers. It has taken actions to reduce the contributions for both employers and insured persons in all sections, including Sections 33,39, and 40, for three months, from May to July 2022. Approximately 24.2 million workers will receive assistance from the Ministry of Labour, valued at approximately 34,540 million Baht, resulting in over 100 billion Baht circulating in the economy.
Mr. Suchart continued that the measure to reduce the contributions covers 11.2 million insured persons under Section 33, reducing their contributions from 5 to 1 percent. For example, if the calculation is on the base salary of 15,000 Baht, their initial contribution of 750 Baht will be reduced to 150 Baht. This reduces the burden of living expenses by about 600 Baht per person per month. The initiative covers 1.9 million Section 39 insured persons, reducing their contributions from 9 to 1.9 percent. Therefore, their initial contributions of 432 Baht would be reduced to 91 Baht, reducing their cost of living by around 341 Baht per person per month. It will also support 10.6 million insured persons under Section 40, reducing their contributions by 40 percent for each option. That is, for option 1, reducing contributions from 70 Baht to 42 Baht. For option 2, contributions will be reduced from 100 Baht to 60 Baht, and for option 3, contributions will be reduced from 300 Baht to 180 Baht. This will reduce the burden of living expenses by about 84-360 Baht per person per month. As for the 500,000 employers, contributions will be reduced from 5 to 1 percent, reducing the employer’s production cost. For example, if the employer pays wages on a base salary of 15,000 Baht for one employee, and if the employer has 1,000 employees, it can reduce the employer’s production cost per month by 600,000 Baht, which would total 1,800,000 Baht for three months.
“I therefore implore and seek cooperation from business operators, especially in the food and related industries, to help and lighten the burden of daily expenses for the people and workforce, not just raise the prices of consumer products. This will also help employers reduce costs amid a crisis like this so that we can all overcome this situation together,” concluded Mr. Suchart.
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Division of Public Relations
25 April 2022
