Savittre Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 Well, I'm just curious, because as we all know a lot of the girls work in the bars because of the pay difference between the bar and the sweatshops, which for many of them is the only alternative. Does anyone know what the shifts and pay are in the sweatshops these days? And, no, I'm not looking for a job!! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 The official daily minimum wage in Bangkok is 165 Baht a day. So, a sweat shop wouldn't pay more than say 120-150 Baht/day, I reckon. And a working day probably implies at least 10 hours. Makes you reach for that dusty Karl Marx tome ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickman Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 Some places are a lot worse than others. I know girls who have worked all the hours thta God sends, 12+ per day, and have received a bright red 100 baht at the end of the day. I have spoken with others who have worked 8 hours a day, 6 days a week and earned closer to 6,000 baht per month. Funnily enugh, quite a lot of the girls say the seafood factories are the worst to work out because you can't get the stink out of your hair, and even as you wake up the next morning, ready to face another day, you STILL smell of seafood from the day before! Stick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 Originally posted by Stickman: "Funnily enugh, quite a lot of the girls say the seafood factories are the worst ..." ... which explains why some many Burmese work in the canneries and the fishing industry in general in Samut Prakarn. Whatever little they get, when exchanged for Kyat, it's quite good income by their standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 I am sure the anti-golobialization types will hate to hear this, but the average monthly wage for a factory worker in an IBM factory in Thailand is just shy of THB 40,000 per month. Yes, 40,000 baht. But we need an alien business law and other restrictions to keep farangs from taking advantage of of Thais and Thai companies. Can't have farangs taking advantage of Thai-Chinese businessmen by paying their workers decent wages, observing environmental standards and complying with the local labour laws. Forget about the New Social Order, the current government and anti-globalization demostrators in Luxembourg, this is the real problem that faces Thailand and the rest of the developing world these days: how to justify xenophobic economic policies that cannot be justified on any rational basis? [ October 06, 2001: Message edited by: William Ginzer ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 quote: Originally posted by William Ginzer: I am sure the anti-golobialization types will hate to hear this, but the average monthly wage for a factory worker in an IBM factory in Thailand is just shy of THB 40,000 per month. Yes, 40,000 baht. Working for IBM hardly qualifies as sweatshop labor. Would not be too suprized if some of factories suppliers could be classified as 'sweatshop' though. savittre: "Does anyone know what the shifts and pay are in the sweatshops these days?" I know an American who runs (well, hires officially, but does a lot of hands on) a few factories in Thailand producing various goods for export. He pays his workers, many from Cambodia and Laos, 100B a day. My ex-gf worked for a while about 7 years ago at a scrapmetal salvage company for 80B a day. Dunno about hours, but most are no nine to five. Don't single out factories though, wages for most occupations in Thailand are low. Often factories pay better than a lot of other jobs (i.e. farmers, waiters, maids, those hoards of department store girls, food stall people...), and are highly sought after. Saraburi (about 2 hrs outside BKK) is becoming a pretty prosperous provence, mostly due to factory jobs, many foreign. Little side note: I asked a waiter in a fairly upscale tourist restaurant in Siam Reap how much me made. About 50B a day. Price of a coke in that restaurant: 90B. One of lifes little absurdidties.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 All- Scary isn't it?! Makes me remember my first "paying" job.. $5.75/hr... IMHO, the sadest part is that many thais are quite content with such wages and do not aspire to greater levels. While some do, many do not. --UPSer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 quote: Originally posted by worldwalker: Little side note: I asked a waiter in a fairly upscale tourist restaurant in Siam Reap how much me made. About 50B a day. Price of a coke in that restaurant: 90B. One of lifes little absurdidties.... Hardly, next time ask how much them make from tips. If they get lots of farangs they pull in a very decent income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 Originally quopted by worldwalker: "Little side note: I asked a waiter in a fairly upscale tourist restaurant in Siam Reap how much me made. About 50B a day. Price of a coke in that restaurant: 90B. One of lifes little absurdidties...." The same disparity exists in all "developing" countries (I'm not sure if all so-called developing countries do develop in the right direction). When I go to Bombay, I stay in a hotel room which costs 2400 Rupees per day. The room boys get 1600 Rupees - per month! This kind of social injustice is just bound to turn some people into communists/Marxists, as you have in some areas in India, or particularly in Nepal. Judging by the above yardstick, Thai sweatshop workers are comparitively well-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2001 Report Share Posted October 6, 2001 quote: Working for IBM hardly qualifies as sweatshop labor. Would not be too suprized if some of factories suppliers could be classified as 'sweatshop' though. You are right that "working for IBM hardly qualifies as sweatshop labor", I was making a general point (perhaps a bit off subject now that I have re-read the thread) that multinationals and globalization in general gets an unfair rap. The fact is that multinationals are much better employers in Thailand than local employers (but again, that is probably off topic here.) I doubt that any of IBM's factory suppliers are sweatshops; executives and managers get fired for that sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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