No decision yet on minimum wages

The Central Wage Committee on Monday failed again to reach agreement on a new minimum wage for labourers in various provinces due to a conflict over the wage for Bangkok, a Labour Department source said.

The committee, chaired by Chanthawan Thongsomboon, spent more than four hours discussing the mininum wage for Bangkok and adjacent provinces but could not agree on it.

The committee agreed to hold the next meeting on Dec 24.

A technical subcommittee had proposed that the minimum wage for Bangkok and five adjacent provinces go up by 2 baht per day except Samut Prakan which it said should get a 4-baht increase. However, employee representatives in the committee said all of the six provinces should get the same increase of 4 baht.

The minimum wage for Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, and Samut Sakhon is currently 203 baht per day, the highest in the country. The lowest wage of 150 baht per day applies in Phayao, Phichit, Phrae and Si Sa Ket provinces.