Has the minimum wage outlived its usefulness?
The minimum wage was introduced to Thailand in the mid 1970’s as a way to protect against basic labour being taken advantage of and provide a guaranteed minimum wage for all workers. However, it was never applied to “all workers”. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that this was the “minimum sum payable to a worker for work performed or services rendered, within a given period, whether calculated on the basis of time or output, which may not be reduced either by individual or collective agreement, which is guaranteed by law and which may be fixed in such a way as to cater to the minimum needs of the worker and his/her family, in the light of national economic and social conditions”.
