Thailand could lose jobs with minimum wage hike, business lobby says

BANGKOK -- A flagship policy of the Pheu Thai-led government that would raise the minimum daily wage by 14% could backfire and leave some Thais unemployed while their jobs instead go to cut-rate migrant workers, according to business sectors lobbying against the move.

Just days after Labor Minister Phipat Ratchakitprakarn on May 1 announced the government would raise Thailand's daily minimum wage to 400 baht ($10.88) by Oct. 1, key business organizations, including the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB), promptly issued a statement strongly opposing the policy.