Accountants Chaporn
Saeng-ngam and Jintana Yordngam said they don’t make enough salary to
support a family.
Urasin Khantaraphan
The last Labor Day before the opening of the ASEAN Economic Community
has many Thais anxious about their futures.
Even a year after seeing the minimum wage rise 53 percent, many continue
to grumble about low pay. With member countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations relaxing immigration and foreign-labor rules in
2015, Thais are wondering how their future income will be affected.
Malai
Sanath, 32, has been working as a receptionist for 10 years.
At Muang Pattana Co. Ltd., employees said their pay falls below the 300
baht per day minimum wage the government has set. Accountants Chaporn
Saeng-ngam, 23, and Jintana Yordngam, 27, added that they still don’t
make enough to support a family.
For now, Chaiporn said, he’s doing fine, but only because he lives with
his parents and is single. If he had a family, he said he wasn’t sure
he’d make enough.
Jintana is sure, though: She said she has to help support her family and
that the increase in food, utilities and transportation since the
January 2013 minimum-wage hike is not enough for her.
Both Chaiporn and Jintana, however, said they are willing to accept
below the minimum wage as they are happy to have a job, and one that
enables them to work at different places on some days.
Malai Sanath, 32, has been working as a receptionist for 10 years. She,
too, said her income falls below government standards. She also said she
is getting by, happy to have a job, and is free to work at different
places to earn some extra money. But she wants the government to adjust
the minimum wage in tourist destinations like Pattaya, as living costs
are higher here.
Construction worker Ngao
Song-nga said she is eager for the AEC to open.
Muang Pattana Co. Ltd.’s chief accountant Runghirun
Kangvansawan said employees who complain about insufficient incomes
should be more diligent with their budgeting. Everyone must show the
discipline to stay within their budget, he said.
He noted that the company provides opportunities for both local and
international travel to employees with productive work histories. And,
he said, the company doesn’t expect any ill effects from the AEC, as it
employs no foreigners.
He said the people who will be most affected by the opening of the labor
market to foreigners are those Thais who are “picky” about employment,
noting that many jobs now would go unfilled if not for foreign labor.
Construction worker Ngao Song-nga from Cambodia has one of those jobs.
The 42-year-old said she actually is eager for the AEC to open, as she
has many cousins wanting to come work in Thailand, but currently can’t.
Her job pays 250 baht a day, and two sons with her earn 200 baht a day.
That totals a much-greater amount than she can earn back home in
Cambodia, so she is happy with her pay and said she actually has cash
left over to send home.
Chaiwat Sainuk, the 24-year-old owner of the Panplew liquor store, said
the government could do more to help him by allowing him to remain open
later, which would increase his sales from tourists out at night. He
said the current economic slowdown, inspired by continuing political
turmoil, has forced nearly every working person to fight tooth-and-nail
to survive.
