Members of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) are scheduled to meet with key members of the Move Forward party, to express their concern over the party’s policy to increase the minimum wage to 450 baht/day, according to FTI chairman Kriengkrai Thiennukul.

He said that there are several economic items in the MoU, which the coalition parties have agreed to implement, including increasing the minimum wage to 450 baht in one step, which is the primary concern of the private sector.

He said that businesses have, in the past few years, been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, high interest rates, increased energy costs and the increased cost of raw materials.

As a matter of fact, he said, a number of major businesses already pay their skilled employees more than the minimum wage, adding that the operators want the minimum wage to be increased step by step, instead of in one go, so they will have time to make adjustments, for which the Pheu Thai policy allows four years for implementation.

A similar concern was also raised by Boonchoo Saisakpong, CEO of the Trang Seafood Company, who suggested that the new government should increase the minimum wage step-by-step, to ease the financial burden on businesses.

The items in the MoU that concern the economy include abolition of all monopolies, promotion of fair competition in all industries, land reform, improvement of the electricity production structure and pricing calculation, appropriate production capacity to reduce the cost of living and ensure energy security, introduction of zero-based budgeting and creation of a comprehensive welfare system from birth to old age, among others.