The Labour Minister, Mr. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, spoke about the case where the Prime Minister gave a direction at the Cabinet meeting on June 4 that the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Finance should discuss the case of establishments reducing employees. He said that yesterday (June 6, 2024), he met with the Finance Minister, Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, for discussions. The Ministry of Labour will invite businesses, especially SMEs, the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Thai Industries, and entrepreneurs in various businesses to discuss the 400 Baht minimum wage coming into effect on October 1 nationwide and how businesses would like the government to alleviate suffering, so that it can consider appropriate measures to take care of workers and entrepreneurs.
Mr. Phiphat continued that he had discussions with the Ministry of Finance to solve issues in the areas where entrepreneurs experience challenges or if there is anything that entrepreneurs would like the government to help with. He had further discussions with the Permanent Secretary of Labour and the Director-General of the Department of Employment. The Ministry of Labour has prepared over 500,000 positions to accommodate people who have been laid off or from establishments that have reduced their workforce. Currently, the wage increase to 400 Baht has not impacted this matter in any way. However, when there is a reduction in the workforce in establishments, it is the Ministry of Labour’s duty to source replacement positions within the country. The Ministry of Labour’s Department of Employment has prepared to match job positions immediately if it is found that workers in any province have been laid off. They will take workers from that province to fill in each province. At the same time, it is being considered whether it is necessary to match job positions for workers to work in other provinces and whether it will affect the cost of living. On this part, the Ministry of Labour will have further discussions with the Ministry of Commerce to ask for cooperation in helping to stabilize product prices as another solution.
“As for preparing positions overseas, myself, the Permanent Secretary of the Labour, and the Department of Employment’s Director-General have traveled to many countries to find additional workers, especially skilled workers, who earn a higher income compared to working in Thailand. At the same time, the workers must have the skills to work in countries such as South Korea, Japan, Israel, and Europe. Each country has given feedback that there is a demand for skilled workers, especially in the agricultural and construction sectors. These things, I believe, are the goals that we have set, for at least 100,000 workers to be sent to work abroad. I am confident that we will be able to reach our export target. Meanwhile, on June 11, I will join the International Labour Organization (ILO) meeting in Switzerland. This meeting will have bilateral discussions with countries in Europe to request job positions to send Thai workers to work in Europe as well,” said Mr. Phiphat.
