Minimum wage should be Bt500, Dhanin says

The Yingluck government is planning to boost the minimum wage to Bt300 per day nationwide to implement the ruling Pheu Thai Party's election pledge.

In the first stage, the Bt300-per-day minimum wage will be enforced in Bangkok and six other provinces from April this year.

In support of the government's policy, Dhanin said he believed the minimum daily wage should be even higher - at Bt500, not Bt300 - because of price rises and higher cost of living.

Judging by the current cost of living, Dhanin said Bt300 was still relatively low as a minimum daily wage.

However, some businessmen have complained that Bt300 is too high as Bangkok's current minimum wage is only about Bt240 per day, while other provinces have lower wages.

They want the government to raise wages gradually so employers have time to adjust.

But Dhanin, who also champions high farm prices, said at a seminar entitled '35 years of Nongwa and sustainable development': "A higher minimum wage policy should be supported because it will help farmers enjoy higher income. Labourers are not slaves.''

The CP boss - a billionaire who is one of the richest men in Thailand - said Thai farmers were poor because bureaucrats and politicians did not understand farmers and their circumstances; they created and implemented policies that did not support them.

"You can see that whenever prices for agricultural goods rise, the Commerce Ministry will issue a policy to push down the price, fearing city people will suffer from the price rise,'' he said.

"Whenever the egg price rises, the government imports eggs to help consumers, but farmers who have little capital aren't able to survive [for this reason],'' he said.