BANGKOK, 29 August 2011 – Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap has pledged that the government will proceed with the policies to increase the daily minimum wage to 500 baht and the salary for fresh graduates to 15,000 baht as promised.
Mr Phadermchai confirmed that the government will press on the two policies according to the legal framework while other measures will also be made to help entrepreneurs, including the reduction of corporate income tax from 30% to 23%.
According to him, at present the government is working on the 2012 budget bill draft, which has yet to pass the consideration of the lower house and is expected to be effective in February 2012, after which the two policies will be implemented.
Mr Phadermchai’s remark came in response to a recent survey by Assumption University Research Centre regarding the recent policy statement elucidation of the government which indicated that more than 50% of the respondents were worried about the clarity of the minimum wage increase and salary hike policies.
As for the salary increase policy, Mr Phadermchai believed that it would be applied to government officials and employees first while the minimum wage hike for labourers would be launched as promised. He assured that the 300 baht per eight-hour work day will exclude overtime payment and other benefits.
