New minimum wage to lead to hotel layoffs

Wage set to rise to 400 baht next week

- NARUMON KASEMSUK

Large-scale layoffs in the hotel sector could be seen during this low season if the government agrees to raise the minimum wage to 400 baht from next week as planned, while the Thai Hotels Association (THA) has submitted a petition to the prime minister, asking for the policy to be cancelled.

La-iad Bungsrithong, an advisor to the THA board, said that as five-star hotels in Chiang Mai had earlier been mandated with the 400-baht daily minimum wage, they had already felt an impact from the soaring wage costs, which are up 14% from last year.

Since the beginning of this year, five-star hotels in most tourism provinces, including Chiang Mai and Phuket, Hin, and Phangnga would be burdened with a 13.6% increase, according to the THA.