Thai Prime Minister says minimum wage increase a tough job

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha conceded on Sunday that it's hard to raise the minimum daily wage, but the government will try to offer better healthcare treatments for workers.

His message came as he chaired the Labor Day celebration of Thai workers at Sanam Luang this morning. In respond to significant complaints from the workers especially concerning the increase of the minimum wage, Prayut said he was ready to all the demands into consideration as to better their life quality.

A random survey conducted by the Suan Dusit Poll of Suan Dusit University shows a majority of Thai workers feel upset about the country's low labor wage, which is not enough to cope with the high cost of living while the economy in a slump.

According to the poll carried out on a total of 1,070 Thai workers, 84.5 percent of the respondents complained of low wages and low incomes; 78.5 percent complained of insufficient labor protection and welfare.

As the minimum daily wage of Thai workers has been frozen at 300 baht per day for a few years, a batch of labor organizations have been calling for an increase to 360 baht per day nationwide to ease the hardship of farmers and working people whose income cannot meet their expenses.