The survey conducted on 535 businesses in 12 industries in July found that the auto-parts industry aimed to pay the highest average bonus of 7.9 months, followed by electrical appliances, construction materials, machinery and engineering, and rubber and rubber wood.
Large enterprises are expected to pay more generous bonuses and increase salaries more than small and medium-sized enterprises.
The lowest bonuses will be half a month.
Of the businesses surveyed, 88 per cent will pay bonuses this year. About 84 per cent said they had increased salaries for their employees.
Thavorn Chalassathien, vice chairman of the FTI, said most businesses would increase salaries by 2.5-4 per cent.
Respondents said the pay increases would not be high this year as inflation is quite low.
The survey also found that most businesses would maintain their headcounts, while 46 per cent will need to employ more labour. Targeted workers are mainly from lower Mathayom 6, accounting for 49 per cent, followed by vocational-school graduates (36.8 per cent) and university graduates (13.3 per cent).
According to the Industry Ministry, 6.18 million Thais are employed in the industrial sector, 1.1 million of whom are professional-level. Thailand will need about 277,085 new employees to replace retired workers next year.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry has instructed provincial officers to monitor prices stringently to prevent increases without fair reasons after the increase of minimum wages by Bt5-Bt10 in 69 provinces, which will go into force next year.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the minimum-wage increases should not drive up prices, as her ministry had found that the average cost of production will increase by only 0.01-1.02 per cent.
Food and beverage prices will increase by only 0.02-0.3 per cent, while other consumer goods will go up by only 0.05-0.44 per cent.

Predee Daochai, president of Kasikornbank and chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association, said the banks needed to prepare themselves to deal with the uncertain environment.
He said the fact that exports were no longer the key drivers of growth in Thailand’s gross domestic product, the prolonged low-interest-rate environment, and the rapid influx of technologies were among the disruptions to banking industry.
Bank liquidity in 2017 is not expected to change because of the low interest rates, but the market believes the United States will raise its rates.
Even though the Bank of Thailand is expected to sustain the current policy rate, the banking industry might have to adjust its rates to reflect actual costs, he said.
Financial technology has come to the banking industry, to which KBank has adjusted by support-|ing fintech start-ups, hoping to attract other start-ups to use KBank as their platforms, he said.
Last week, Beacon Interface, a start-up KBank had supported, won two prizes at the “Singapore FinTech Festival”. Predee said this was one of the ways KBank was attempting to deal with the new economic landscape.
Chanon Ruengkrittiya, chief executive officer and president |of Ananda Development, said |his company looked at disruption |as an opportunity to change the |company’s mindset.
Many industries are facing a sharing economy, where, for example, Airbnb has become the world’s largest provider of rooms, while Ford is changing from auto manufacturer to drive solution, following to a rising sharing economy. The sharing economy could happen in condominium development, and Ananda Development should adjust to this reality, he said.
Auttapol Rerkpiboon, senior executive vice president for the |Oil Business Unit at PTT, said the company was at a crossroads between internal-combustion and electric vehicles, but timing and technology would determine the speed of EV adoption in Thailand.
Energy demand continues to grow, with imports accounting for half of energy consumption. Thailand’s energy efficiency is still low despite its limited resources, so PTT has changed its mindset from supply side to demand side in response.
He said PTT believed that disruption would come with new platforms, and as a result its petrol stations had been changed into mini community malls to ride the new landscape of the economy and consumer behaviour.

The index increased from 84.8 points in September to 86.5 last month, largely due to higher orders to serve festive-season demand in both the overseas and domestic markets during the year-end period.
The future index for the next three months also improved, from 102.4 points in September to 102.9 last month – its highest level in 11 months.
FTI chairman Chen Namchaisiri attributed the TISI’s rise to higher demand for products for the upcoming festive season, especially from trading partners in China, Japan, Europe and the United States, which he said was driving growth of the manufacturing sector.
However, manufacturers were still concerned about the cost of production, price competitiveness, financial liquidity among SMEs, fluctuating exchange rates, and uncertainty over global economic growth.
Chen said industrial businesses were quite positive about domestic economic expansion, and saw better prospects for export growth after Thai shipments had returned to positive growth territory for two consecutive months.
“The industrial sector is expected to grow continuously late this year and throughout next year, due to expected stronger global and domestic economic expansion,” he added.
The FTI chief also said the government’s measure to provide a welfare subsidy to about 8 million low-income Thais later this year would help stimulate spending and create better sentiment toward domestic economic growth in the current quarter.
Moreover, president-elect Donald Trump’s declared intention to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, thus effectively scuppering the pact, should create a positive outcome for Thailand as some foreign investors may as a result reconsider their plans to invest in TPP member countries and opt for the Kingdom instead, he said.
However, in his view, Thailand still needs to develop its competitiveness and standards to meet the new era of global trading.
Meanwhile, the FTI also reported yesterday that demand for cement in Thailand would grow in the current quarter, after contracting 3.3 per cent year on year in September due to the particularly heavy seasonal rains this year.
As the country is now entering the dry season and the government has commenced work on a number of mega-investment projects, demand for cement and other construction materials should increase significantly during the final quarter, the federation predicted.
In addition, the FTI’s Automotive Industry Club reported that Thai vehicle production in the first 10 months was 2.55 per cent higher than in the same period last year, at 1.63 million units.
Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman of the club, said rising production was due to increased output of new pickup models and passenger cars, especially eco-cars for export.
Last month, however, overall auto production decreased 2.59 per cent year on year to 161,105 units, due to lower production of pickups for export.
October production for exports decreased 7.23 per cent year on year to 103,192 units, mainly due to lower shipments to the Middle East, Africa, Central America and Latin America, as some auto-makers have now established a manufacturing presence in those markets, he explained.
Exports in the first 10 months of the year rose 7.37 per cent in value terms to Bt751.52 billion, but fell 1.25 per cent in volume to 1 million units.
SURAPONG ADDED THAT THE UPCOMING “MOTOR EXPO” SHOULD STIMULATE PRODUCTION BY ANOTHER 20,000 UNITS BY THE YEAR’S END.

People who earn Bt30,000 per year or less will get a one-time subsidy of Bt3,000 per person, while those earning Bt30,000 to Bt100,000 per year will get a one-time subsidy of Bt1,500 per person.
Colonel Taksada Sangkhachan, assistant government spokesperson, said about 3.1 million low-income people with annual incomes of Bt30,000 or less had already registered for state welfare as had another 2.3 million people with incomes between Bt30,000 to Bt100,000 per year.
Payments are expected to be made from December 1 to December 30 through the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, the Government Savings Bank and Krungthai Bank accounts.
Low-income people covered by the subsidy programme include 3 million farmers who have not received government aid, according to the Cabinet.

‘Boost to economy’

The money spent by low-income people will also help to stimulate the economy as the third-quarter growth rate of 3.2 per cent was lower than the previous quarter’s 3.5 per cent, the Finance Ministry said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the move aimed to help low-income earners who had registered with the government.
In addition, New Year’s gifts including tax allowances for travel expenses and free passage on public buses and trains would be offered, he said.
Prayut also said the financial assistance would prompt spending by consumers, which would affect the overall economy.
The Cabinet also approved the Ministry of Labour’s proposed increase in the minimum daily wage in 69 provinces by a range of Bt5 to Bt10, Prayut said, adding that all ministerial units had been asked to hold seminars in the country during New Year.

The programme also accentuates Digital Ventures’ vision to make Thailand one of the best start-up ecosystems in Southeast Asia.
The first 10 teams chosen from more than 140 applicants are now attending an intensive workshop designed to help them put together actionable plans for expansion in Thailand as well as overseas.
Support comes from veteran industrial specialists and global business partners like Baker & McKenzie, PrimeStreet Advisory, Google, Microsoft and Ananda Development.
Thana Thienachariya, executive chairman of Digital Ventures, said yesterday that the support from SCB and business partners from various industries comprised essential knowledge for doing business, especially in financial, legal and technological aspects, and Bt300,000 for each team for product development.
The teams can have an opportunity to work with SCB in bringing their ideas to fruition by developing products for the bank’s customers in the future.
Teams with viable projects will also have the chance to receive a minimum Bt1 million in seed money from SCB after finishing the programme.
Charle Charoenphan, accelerator head at Digital Ventures, said the company had seen some Thai start-ups with good potential, but they cannot grow their business as well and as fast as they should because of the lack of funds, necessary business knowledge, and most important, a strong customer base.
DVA is claimed to be the best accelerator programme for Thailand and Southeast Asia, with the ambition to help start-ups achieve at least 20-per-cent growth.
The first three months of the course provide fundamental knowledge for business preparedness, with the Start-up Essential Programme led by Surawat Promyothin, legal knowledge from Baker & McKenzie and financial knowledge from PrimeStreet Advisory.
The next three months will be spent on accelerating growth with a hacking technique from Chris Tweten.
Each team will be matched with a business specialist who is also their dedicated mentor for experience sharing and advice, as well as a core mentor who steps in to set the key performance indicators for each team and conduct weekly follow-ups.
Another key strength of the programme is that each team will have the opportunity to seek professional advice on investment and technology from the management team of Digital Ventures.
The first batch of 10 teams comprises both financial and non-financial businesses.
Fintech businesses are, for example, KYC Chain, or Know Your Customer service on Blockchain, for enhanced financial transaction experience in the future; Refinn, a low-interest refinance service platform; and PeerPower, a personal-loan service.
Some non-financial businesses are PetInsure, the first online pet-insurance service in Thailand, and Seekster, a job-hunting app for people in general and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand reported a net profit of Bt208.99 billion in the third quarter of this year, a 251.68-per-cent rise from the same period last year, supported by falling costs and no losses from foreign-exchange rates and impairment.
Meanwhile, companies listed on Market for Alternative Investment reported a 34.51-per-cent year-on-year increase in net profit to Bt1.96 billion in the quarter. As for the first nine months of 2016, it reported a combined net profit of Bt6.14 billion, a 2.05-per-cent rise from a year earlier, said Santi Karanand, |SET senior executive vice president.
He added that the improved overall performance of Thai listed companies in the first nine months corresponded to the macroeconomic factors that have recovered mainly from services and consumer business.
There were nine sectors that reported growth in total sales, net profits and gross profit margin in the January-September |period compared with the same period last year. They were banking, property development, food and beverage, steel, fashion, |packaging, home and office products, professional services, and paper and printing materials.

RINGGIT SLIDES AGAINST SINGDOLLAR
The battered Malaysian ringgit has fallen to its weakest level in more than a year against the Singapore dollar.
One Singdollar could buy 3.11 ringgit  yesterday, the weakest the Malaysian currency has been since last September.
The ringgit also slid to 4.433 against the US dollar – its weakest since January.
The ringgit has been Asia’s worst-performing currency since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on November 8, which sparked a global sell-off in emerging markets.
Malaysia’s central bank has ordered foreign banks to stop offshore speculation in |the ringgit, warning of “prompt supervisory intervention” against those trading the |ringgit in the offshore market. – The Straits Times

Vithan Charoenphon, EIC head analyst for the service sector, said yesterday that over the past five to seven years, tourism had grown by 13 per cent annually, compared with 7-8 per cent in the years before 2010.
Chinese tourists are the key to the nation’s tourism growth.

Chinese are the No 1 travellers to Thailand, contributing 30 per cent of the total.

The EIC forecasts the number of tourists next year at 37.3 million against the 33.8 million expected this year.
However, tourism is likely to depend on Chinese tourists too heavily, and those people have strong bargaining power with merchants in Thailand, especially hotels. That means hotels will not be able to raise their room rates.
In case of a slowdown in the flow of Chinese tourists to Thailand, the tourism industry will be in big trouble, and this will drag on the growth of gross domestic product, as tourism’s share of GDP is 11 per cent.
Thailand needs to adjust to stay competitive, the EIC says.
India and Indonesia are two potential markets for Thai tourism because of their large populations and growing middle classes.
Both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund predict healthy GDP growth for India and Indonesia, particularly the former, which is expected to boast the world’s largest population in 15 years.
The concentration of tourists in the same attractions for many years might impede the growth of the tourism industry in the long term.
Medical and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) tourism are good prospects if Thailand can target countries with high healthcare costs like Australia, Germany and France or countries with low-quality services like Myanmar.
However, development of new segments will support long-term growth.
The country should attract new visitors by encouraging film shoots here, building more attractions like amusement parks and hosting major sport events.
For instance, new government incentives can help bring in more film productions and the government can help incentivise construction of more tourist attractions such as theme parks.

Gross written premium (GWP) from all distribution channels was Bt22 billion for the period, up 9 per cent year on year, while first year premium (FYP) grew 11 per cent to Bt4.3 billion.
President and chief executive officer Bryan Smith said that in the current low-interest-rate environment, and with customers’ demand for health coverage and the high inflation in medical costs likely to continue, Allianz Ayudhya had a clear vision to become the market leader in life and health protection.
“This year, the company has continuously developed and enhanced many protection offerings to our customers.
“Our largest success has been with our popular ‘My Health Plus Extra’ product, which, to date, has generated around Bt100 million FYP.
“With the strong focus on protection offerings for our customers, the proportion of protection premium for Allianz Ayudhya has reached 37 per cent of total premiums for the first time in our 65-year history. This reflects the successful implementation of our protection strategy that we began to implement three years ago.
“During the last few months of 2016, with our strong customer focus and multi-channel distribution, we are confident that we can achieve our target of Bt6.1 billion in FYP and total gross written premium of Bt31 billion by the end of the year,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Allianz Group, the major shareholder of Allianz Ayudhya Assurance, has reported that the group’s performance in the first nine months will keep Allianz on track for its full-year profit target.
Total revenues decreased by 3.2 per cent to 92.4 billion euros (about Bt3.5 trillion) for the first nine months of 2016.
Operating profit increased 1.7 per cent to 8.0 billion euros, driven by the property and casualty segment and, to a lesser extent, asset management. The life and health segment posted an increase in operating profit. The non-operating result was affected by a lower investment result and the classification of the South Korean business as “held for sale”.
Overall, net income attributable to shareholders was 5.1 billion euros, down 1.1 per cent from the first nine months of 2015.
“Efforts to develop our business in a very difficult environment are paying off,” said Dieter Wemmer, chief financial officer of Allianz SE. “We’re seeing sustainable profitable growth in many businesses.
“Improvements from our renewal agenda are bearing fruit and keeping us on track to reach our operating-profit target for the full year of 10.5 billion euros, give or take 500 million euros.”