Thai Bankruptcies Rise as Minimum Wage Rolls Out: Southeast Asia
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Confederate International Co., a Thai family-owned maker of nightwear, lost a German customer of 22 years after last month’s minimum-wage increase in the Southeast Asian nation raised costs.
“They stopped talking to us, even though we have done business together for a long time,” said Veerayuth Sookhattako, 57, owner of the Chiang Mai-based company that ships about 80 million baht ($2.7 million) of apparel to Germany and France each year. “I established this company 28 years ago. I don’t want to let it go, but I may need to close down our business by the end of the year if we can’t get new orders.”