An influx of Chinese workers is competing with Thai workers in the "hotspot" areas of Chonburi and Rayong. The President of the Labor Council reveals that Chinese investors set up factories bringing workers at all levels, while Thai workers face unemployment and lack bargaining power. He urges government agencies to crack down.
May 1, 2026, Labor Day, passed without any signs of a wage increase. Last year, the minimum wage was raised several times, but current economic pressures are severely impacting business owners, especially small businesses, who are likely to be hit hardest. Workers also need to adapt, but notably, the arrival of migrant workers—especially Chinese laborers—has led to competition with Thai workers, for which no solution has yet been found.
Thairath Online's special news team interviewed Mr. Manat Kosol, President of the Labor Development Workers' Organization of Thailand, who analyzed that this year's minimum wage adjustment raises several serious concerns. Notably, minimum wage is no longer the main issue; instead, the problem has shifted to foreign workers competing for jobs, especially Chinese workers backed by Chinese capital.
Mr. Manat believes that in most industrial factories, the base wage for Thai workers has long surpassed 400 baht. Therefore, raising the minimum wage now has little direct impact on this group.
The new demands focus on "fair wages" and "skill-based pay" rather than just minimum wage increases.
The only group still affected are small SMEs with fewer than 300 employees that do not have annual salary increases. These businesses still rely on government minimum wage announcements to survive.
This is the hottest issue. Mr. Manat said the red zones with the highest influx of Chinese workers are Chonburi and Rayong, where Chinese workers have taken on major roles in key industries in a worrying way.
Cross-border contract bidding has impacted grassroots workers, such as a recent case where a Chinese company won a bid for an oil drilling platform worth over 50 billion baht by offering a lower price than competitors.
The impact is that jobs that should go to Thai workers are being taken by Chinese workers backed by Chinese capital, while highly skilled Thai craftsmen are facing significant unemployment.
The flood of unskilled Chinese workers is evident in Chonburi and Rayong, where many Chinese laborers work in lower-level roles—not as engineers—such as construction and large electronics factories.
For example, recently, there was a fight between Chinese workers wearing white helmets and Thai workers, highlighting that these individuals are unskilled laborers who have come to compete for jobs in the area.
Legal loopholes: The Thai government officially allows only four nationalities of foreign workers (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam), but Chinese workers are everywhere. This raises questions about their status—possibly entering on tourist visas—and the government must enforce strict checks.
Chinese workers are strong, well-organized in groups, unafraid of unemployment because they have networks to find new jobs immediately, and possess high bargaining power.
Vietnamese workers mainly focus on service jobs, which are popular among Thai employers.
Myanmar workers remain the main workforce in garment and footwear factories, with some factories having a higher proportion of Myanmar workers than Thai workers.
In the automotive and energy industries, Section 75 has been used to pay 80% of wages to employees who have been on leave for 3-4 months due to economic conditions and war impacting shipping costs and raw materials.
Employer strategies include voluntary resignation programs offering lump-sum payments to Thai workers to leave, then replacing them with lower-cost foreign labor.
The government and stakeholders must urgently act before Thailand's labor system faces a deeper crisis, including:
1. Redefine "worker" clearly, specifying which jobs are reserved occupations—such as servers, housekeepers, or mall staff—to upgrade these roles for Thai workers by offering attractive benefits and wages.
2. Upskill workers during work stoppages: Propose using the 600 million baht Skill Development Fund to subsidize an additional 25% of wages jointly with employers during Section 75 periods, enabling employees to train in new skills (AI or new technologies) rather than staying idle at home.
3. Reform labor education: The Ministry of Education should connect directly with industry to prepare students finishing grade 9 or 12 with job-ready skills, starting wages based on skill rather than minimum wage, to incentivize employers to hire skilled Thai workers over unskilled foreign labor.
