The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking has agreed to a small increase in the minimum daily wage this year, but said it should not be the same in all provinces.
Chairman Kalin Sarasin, also head of the Board of Trade, told the media on Tuesday the committee agreed with an increase but increments should vary among the provinces, depending on economic circumstances.
Local wages should be determined by provincial wage committees of representatives of three groups - employers, employees and the Bank of Thailand; provincial governors; and provincial labour, commercial, industrial and statistics chiefs, he said.
All concerned should consider the likely impact of an increase, especially on local small- and medium-sized businesses. There were about 3 million SMEs employing 11.7 million people, he said.
The 12.5 million people in the agricultural sector might also suffer from the rising cost.
The Thai economy had started to recover, but still faced fluctuations caused by factors such as the value of the baht and global oil prices. If the minimum wage rose too much, it could affect the economy and Thailand's attractiveness to foreign investors, Mr Kalin said.
