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Eastern government workers join
Bangkok protest over wage bonuses
Patcharapol Panrak
Local-government workers from across the Eastern Seaboard joined a protest
by more than 300 bureaucrats in Bangkok to protest an Office of the Auditor
General order that would force them to repay eight years of salary bonuses.
Rayong local and sub-district administrative organization workers were among
20 government agencies that sent 15 representatives each to Royal Plaza
Sept. 26 to protest the salary revocation, arguing that paying back bonuses
that were spent long ago would cause serious financial hardships.
A Rayong administrator said the issue developed after the Office of Auditor
General found that no regulations existed to legitimize the payment of
bonuses to local-government workers. The Department of Local Administration
then drafted the required regulations, but Deputy Interior Minister Preecha
Prasobdee refused to sign the order because it applied them retroactively to
payments made since 2005.
Protesters demanded Preecha either sign the existing draft or author new
ones that would allow them to keep the money they’ve already been paid and
continue to receive bonuses.
The DLA estimates 500,000 local government workers are affected by the
issue. Unless the ministry acts, employees will not only have to pay back
prior bonuses, they will not receive any future payments.
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