Junta To Consider Bureaucrats' Salaries Boost

NCPO chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha (right) attends the ceremony marking the 127th anniversary of Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, 5 August 2014

BANGKOK – The Ministry of Finance has submitted a proposal to the military junta requesting an eight percent increase in bureaucrats' salaries.

If approved, the salary increase will cost the state at least 20 billion baht, said Rangsan Sriworasart, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance. 

"I believe we will use around 20 billion – 30 billion baht to readjust the salary base of the bureaucrats," Mr. Rangsan said. 

The salary boost is a part of the Ministry's plan to improve the welfare of bureaucrats nationwide, Mr. Rangsan explained. Other measures include an increase in retirement money and daily allowances, he said. 

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The permanent secretary argued that the measure are is necessary because many state officials are suffering from the economic slowdown and a spike in the cost of living.

"When the salary can be adjusted depends on the decision of the NCPO," Mr. Rangsan said, using the acronym of the military junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

Since staging the coup against the elected government on 22 May, the NCPO has delegated many powers to bureaucrats. State officials dominate the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA). Local elections in many regions have also been indefinitely suspended by the NCPO, which said it will appoint high-ranking bureaucrats to take the vacant seats.

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