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15% pay increase for Thai government
Source: Agencies |
December 16, 2010, Thursday
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THAILAND'S government officials and lawmakers will receive pay raises of up to 15 percent next year - a figure opponents said yesterday was too high and undeserved.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will make 125,600 baht (US$4,200) a month starting in April, a five percent increase. Raises of up to 15 percent for lawmakers take effect after a general election which is due in 2011.
The Cabinet's approval of the increases on Tuesday shined a light on the wages of high-ranking officials, which are not common knowledge in Thailand, where the minimum wage averages 180 baht a day.
The government defended the raises as the first for lawmakers since 2005 and necessary to attract competent people into public service from higher paying private-sector jobs.
A group of 40 senators which led opposition to the raises, however, said they are too high and the 13 billion baht package comes at the wrong time amid economic troubles and political divisions in Thailand.
Lawmakers' raises of up to 15 percent will give the house speaker a salary equivalent to the prime minister and the average member of parliament a monthly wage of 114,000 baht.
The Cabinet approved a minimum wage increase of between eight baht and 17 baht a day, depending on the type of business and location - a contrast that critics say illustrate Thailand's vast income divide.
A Suan Dusit poll found that 86.4 percent of Thais disapproved of the pay raises. The nationwide poll surveyed 1,854 people this week.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will make 125,600 baht (US$4,200) a month starting in April, a five percent increase. Raises of up to 15 percent for lawmakers take effect after a general election which is due in 2011.
The Cabinet's approval of the increases on Tuesday shined a light on the wages of high-ranking officials, which are not common knowledge in Thailand, where the minimum wage averages 180 baht a day.
The government defended the raises as the first for lawmakers since 2005 and necessary to attract competent people into public service from higher paying private-sector jobs.
A group of 40 senators which led opposition to the raises, however, said they are too high and the 13 billion baht package comes at the wrong time amid economic troubles and political divisions in Thailand.
Lawmakers' raises of up to 15 percent will give the house speaker a salary equivalent to the prime minister and the average member of parliament a monthly wage of 114,000 baht.
The Cabinet approved a minimum wage increase of between eight baht and 17 baht a day, depending on the type of business and location - a contrast that critics say illustrate Thailand's vast income divide.
A Suan Dusit poll found that 86.4 percent of Thais disapproved of the pay raises. The nationwide poll surveyed 1,854 people this week.
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