Criticism of minimum wage level unjustified

Egon 's harsh criticism of Mr Burapa's letter on wages paid by foreign companies is as patronising as it is unjustified. I know of a Thai lady who not so long ago worked for a Japanese industrial manufacturer in Bangkok in the position of a supervisor of a group of 25 workers and earned no more than Bt231 per day plus an occasional weekly bonus of Bt200. Even if that may have reached by now the proposed minimum wage of Bt300, for that sort of money you can't afford any sort of accommodation on your own and have to share a room with five others to have a small sum left for living.

If Thai firms pay even less it is nothing else but slave labour. An increase in minimum wage won't change much for workers in industry, especially not in Bangkok with its higher cost of living than the rest of the country.

No wonder that women (and men) flock into the massage business where with a bit of luck they can earn their previous weekly wages in a day or two. If they succumb to extended services their income will of course be even much higher.