Credit Bureau for All

Recently, the government launched a new programme to eradicate underground debt, at the same time encouraging borrowers with underground debt to refinance their obligations. Would-be participants were invited to register at the Government Savings Bank from December 1st until 30th, 2009, at which time the Chief Control Department will filter the debt types and distribute each debtor to a government bank determined to be responsible for them. Six government banks will participate in the programme; the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), the Government Saving Bank, the SME Bank, the Islamic Bank of Thailand, the Krung Thai Bank and the Government Housing Bank.

Maintaining the welfare of Thailand’s aged

Thailand’s senior citizenry will likely double in number by 2571 BE, as will the dependency rate of elders to working age citizens, so that society’s care burden for its elderly will fall on the nation’s working population sooner than before.

Thai - Brazilian cooperation can help Thailand’s economy

Brazil, a great South American nation is now known as a BRIC country, one of the four emerging economic super powers, and expected to become a powerful and influential country in the world. There is huge potential in Brazil for future prosperity as it is a large country having abundant resources and a large population of nearly 300 million in possession of advanced technology and a variety of available expertise. It is therefore time for Thailand to get to know and foster a strong relationship with Brazil.

Capital from China is coming to Thailand

In July 2009, after Thai and Chinese businessmen met for a large-scale meeting in Pattaya, the Minister of Industry estimated 53 business conclusions, with networking arrangements amounting to 211,000 million baht and 9 memorandums of understanding (MOU); most significantly between Saha Farms Co., Ltd and New Hope Group, with a 7,000 million baht chicken farming investment with Saha Farms Co., Ltd., increasing their production capacity in processed export chicken from 500,000 to 1,000,000 chickens per day.

Rice-pledging, price support or?

A rice farmers’ support programme has featured in Thai newspaper headlines for many days now, and has become a controversial issue. While the government plans shifting to a price support programme, farmer rice price demonstrators demand that the government maintain a rice-pledging programme, along with a quota increase.

Thai government bonds and their impact on the Thai economy

The Thai government has only recently issued its first lot of savings bonds worth Bt 80,000 million, aimed for sale to senior citizens, with a second lot aimed for sale to general savers. The bonds have a maturity period of five years with a yield rate of 3% in the first two years, 4% in the third year and 5% in the fourth and fifth years. The value of the third lot of bonds, destined for sale to institute buyers, has not yet been concluded, though Thailand’s finance minister has revealed its yield rate to be less than those of lots one and two.

The innovation of IPR protection

According to US Special Report 301, 2008, Thailand is still on the Priority Watch List (PWL). To justify this, the US government explains that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection by the Thai government is still weak. This situation pushed the Ministry of Commerce to show their “integrity and effort” by having nearly 100 officers rush to block the entrance and exit of Patphong Road to suppress piracy commerce. This action culminated in a fight between officers and pirated goods merchants in Patphong Road.

The Oil Tax Increase: An Analysis of "Untimeliness"

A recent government act amendment was immediately put into effect. The tax ceiling for oil excise was increased from Bt5/litre to Bt10/litre, with actual tax on oil excise increased Bt2/litre on average. This amendment, a counterweight to target-missing government revenue, will boost government revenue by Bt50,000 million per year, though in order to maintain the current oil price level, the government will also use Bt2 /litre from the oil fund in order to subsidize oil prices for one month – reflecting their highly prioritized drive for revenue, due to budget lack. However, I find this decision to be untimely for the following reasons:

Thailand’s Fiscal Sustainability Framework Appeases or Aggravates the Crisis?

The Thai cabinet resolution made on April 21st 2009, for government budget expenditure to be cut by 200 billion Baht in 2010, from a previous budget figure of 1.9 trillion Baht to a new sum of 1.7 trillion Baht, will reduce government expenditure by 1.835 trillion Baht in 2010 from its budget for 2009. The government explanation is that unless expenditure is cut, the more public debt must be borrowed, but that this will violate the Public Debt Management Act, BE 2548.

The Government’s Role to Promote Social Organizations

One major obstruction to social work in Thailand, especially when run by small, nascent and little known social welfare organizations, is their lack of access to funding, whether individually or organizationally sourced. This inaccessibility is partly caused by current regulations. For example, only foundations on the Ministry of Finance list are eligible for tax deductions; and only NGOs in operation for a minimum one year period are eligible for subsidization according to the Social Welfare Provision Act (BE 2546). Under such restrictive legislation, many social welfare organizations cannot access government support, and as a result, due to lagging efficiency and effectiveness, they shut down.

Sustaining mental health in times of crisis

It is interesting to note that economic growth can cause stress for people in that economy, as we see from increasing numbers of people in our day who suffer from mental disorders in spite of economic prosperity.

Should the government seek foreign loans?

According to a recent cabinet decision, the Thai government will seek foreign loans to the tune of 2,000 million USD, including 1,000 million USD on loan from the World Bank, 500 million USD from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and 500 million USD from JICA.

The Thai government’s handout of 2,000 Baht

The new government’s approval of a 115 billion baht stimulus package was recently the talk of the town. One measure in the limelight was a cash handout of 2,000 baht per salaried worker earning less than 14,999 baht per month, at a cost to the government of 19 billion baht overall.

We must think beyond “hospitality”

The upcoming ASEAN Summit will not only prove the Thai government’s capacity to impress our guests; but will also be proof of our government’s readiness to drive Thailand as the leader of ASEAN, and as a leader in the world arena.

PhD Production Crisis

PhD study is the foundation for creating and developing knowledge at individual, organizational, and national levels. Unfortunately, many universities worldwide have poor quality PhD production – even in the United Kingdom, which has a high quality education system. Due to high competition and the notion of the autonomous university, university executive boards are forced to create plans to entice a multitude of students, including PhD students. Consequently, the rigorousness of PhD admission decreases in order to accept as many students as possible, leading to much criticism as to their quality.

Thailand’s new policies for the next step forward

Thailand’s new cabinet, in the hands of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajeva, now has certain inescapable and important tasks to tackle. As each ministry formulates policies, and old problems remain to be solved, besides Thailand’s heavy economic burden, a plethora of chronic problems also queue for attention, whether issues of crime, poor-quality education or environmental degradation, for example.