There are fears on the part of some employers that increased labor costs (the new minimum wage applies to every employee in Thailand, regardless of age, sex, industry, or nationality) will affect already struggling SMEs and could lead to employee layoffs or even force some SMEs out of business.
Many employers fear that Thailand’s international and regional competitiveness will be negatively affected by increased labor costs, which could trigger Thai businesses to employ greater numbers of informal labor.
Indeed, some factories in Cambodia now do not have enough employees, because the workers in Cambodia and Burma, where the daily minimum wages are lower than Thailand migrate to work for better wages at Thailand (Parker, 2013).