About 1,000 members of a labor network on Tuesday rallied in front of the Government House demanding for a 300 baht (9.7 U.S. dollars) daily minimum wage across the country.

The workers said the cabinet meeting's resolution on Nov. 22, 2011, to raise daily minimum wage of workers in only seven provinces from April 1, 2012 onwards was unfair. They asked the government to review its wage hike policy.

Those seven provinces include the capital city of Bangkok, and five other provinces in central part Samut Prakarn, Samutsakorn, Pathumthani, Nakorn Pathom and Nonthaburi, and the resort island of Phuket.

The protesters called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to heed their demands by herself or they would prolong the rally.

Two traffic lanes around the Government Compound were blocked, causing traffic congestion. Police were deployed inside the compound and nearby areas to maintain law and order.

After the new round of wage hike, daily wage in the country will vary from the highest 300 baht in those seven provinces to the lowest 222.6 baht (7.2 U.S. dollars) in northern Payao province.

The minimum wage rise is one of the Pheu Thai-led government's populist policies promised with the people during the election campaign ahead of July 3-poll.