PHUKET HOTELS HIT Minimum Wage Increase Approved for January

Phuket will have Thailands second largest escalation for the new minimum wage which has been approved by the Interior Ministry for implementation on January 1st. The island will see an increase of THB 204, while Bangkok is pegging at THB 206. In comparison another leading tourist destination Chiang Mai will only be increased by THB 171.
Minimum wage increases have a wide scale impact on the service industry including hotels, restaurants and even residential estates with lower level employees such as gardeners and security staff move up in cost. Talking to many construction quantity surveyors there looks to be continued movement upward in building cost as hyper inflation and continued wage increases hit the industry.