Bt15,000 pay for graduates from January

The minimum pay, in line with the government's push for a higher wage, is guaranteed though the 2012 Budget Bill has not been passed yet. However, funds could be sourced from either the Comptroller-General's Department or treasury reserves in case the budget bill is delayed.

The minimum wage of Bt300 per day will be implemented in April.

Viroon made the announcement while visiting the Comptroller-General's Department.

New graduates who work for state agencies will not get a minimum salary of Bt15,000, but a monthly allowance that will bring their monthly pay up to that level, he said earlier.

He said the government was not able to offer full salaries to civil servants, state employees and soldiers with desk jobs, but could offer them monthly stipends.

Those who do not hold bachelor's degrees will get an additional stipend to take their total income to at least Bt9,000 per month, he said.

The pay hike is estimated to cost Bt24.53 billion annually and benefit 649,323 people, he said previously.

Labour groups had earlier decried the government's partial implementation of the Bt300 wage-hike policy, reminding the Pheu Thai-led administration of the party's election-campaign pledge to raise the minimum wage nationwide, and not just in seven provinces.

In a related development, a group of university students held a rally at Government House recently, calling on the government to guarantee a Bt15,000 entry-level salary for graduates with a bachelor's degree.

An increase in the daily minimum wage to Bt300 for labourers and a Bt15,000 salary for those with a bachelor's degree was one of the populist pledges by the Pheu Thai Party to win the general election of July 3.

Other policies pledged by the party that have been implemented or are in the works are the first-home scheme, first-car buyer scheme and fuel credit card for taxis. The fuel credit-card scheme kicked off yesterday. Paddy rice pledging began on October 7 and will end in February.