Govt predicts good economy based on EEC development

By THE NATION

 

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha

 

Prayut admits need to address farm prices; urges people to ‘set goals’

 

THE GOVERNMENT has expressed optimism about the economic outlook for 2018, with Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha saying his New Year’s resolution is to push the “Smart City” concept in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

 

Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday that the government expected that the economy would boom and extreme poverty “be eradicated” this year, despite signs of a deteriorating economy, including mass layoffs in several sectors.

 

Sansern said the government planned to allocate “an amount of money” to the grassroots economy, using the tourism and agricultural sectors as mechanisms to create sustainability.

 

“Many indexes – such as gross domestic product (GDP) growth and the inflation rate – are pointing out that the Thai economy has been strengthened,” he said. “Exports are also increasingly expanding. Mega-investment by the state, such as in transport and projects involving the Eastern Economic Corridor, too, will yield [good results].”

 

Investment would begin by the second quarter of this year after the tender process on several big projects is completed, Sansern said.

He said Prayut had acknowledged people’s demand for the government to improve the economy.

 

The premier was aware that as well as improving the macro-economy, it was also essential to strengthen the domestic economy by finding markets and adding value to agricultural products such as rice, rubber and palm oil, the government spokesman added.

 

However, Prayut was also encouraging low-income earners to try to set goals for their own lives, so they could improve themselves alongside the government’s efforts, Sansern added.

 

Meanwhile, the prime minister said his intention for this year was to advance the EEC project. He said he was looking into relevant laws to find ways to speed up the project, which involves investment in creating “smart cities” in Rayong, Chon Buri and Chachoengsao.

 

He also asked private companies to work with the government in the plan to boost regional economies along the eastern seaboard.

 

“Right now, investment has started to pour into the EEC, so I want the Smart City project to become a reality as soon as possible,” Prayut said. “But the government cannot work on this task alone, we need cooperation from the big private companies and to work together.”

 

“The people also need to understand that this project will not specifically benefit just some people. Everyone will get advantages from this project as a whole, and big businesses will profit as well because no one wants to invest in unprofitable projects.”

 

Prayut also asked people to support the tourism industry. He said that more than 35 million tourists visited Thailand in 2017 because of the country’s stability.

 

“Under my administration, the country is peaceful and stable, attracting larger numbers of tourists every year,” he said.

 

“All Thai people need to preserve peace in our society and take care of our guests, as they provide us huge income.”

 

Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva urged the junta government to revise its economic policies and plans in order to tackle a decline in people’s well-being.

 

He used a train metaphor to explain the current economic scene as he sees it.

 

“The government’s mindset seems to be that they focus on empowering people with rich resources to lead the economic system, like a train engine dragging along the rest of the carriages,” he said.

 

“In fact, however, the engine might not only be linked to the carriages, but also sucking power from those carriages,” the former prime minister went on. “So the engines alone are the fast runners, leaving the rest vulnerable.”

 

His metaphor also referred to several mega-projects invested in by the junta government. 

 

“It may be necessary to move them [mega-projects] forward. However, don’t expect that they can raise the well-being of people on a large scale,” he said.

 

For instance, development projects in the EEC, while requiring a great deal of investment, will bear fruit only in some areas of the provinces covered by the plans, he added.

 

Thailand’s GDP, which has increased yet ranks low at the regional level, does not reflect an improvement in people’s well-being, Abhisit stressed.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30335185

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-01-02

27 minutes ago, webfact said:

the government expected that the economy would boom and extreme poverty “be eradicated” this year,

That´s just not possible! No nation in modern or ancient history has been able to eradicate a powerty at an high level as this in only one year of time.

 

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

want the Smart City project to become a reality as soon as possible

A Smart City is a very good idea, but unfortunately there are other components in this recipe that also need to be smart.

This is nothing but new years of ' if they don't have bread, give them hope'

type of speech, cost nothing to ' predict' based on some obscured figures

that no one care about, this is what leaders do, talk and promise, and talk

some more, while busing clinging to their seats....

That shirt!
It looks as if he has worked through the curtains in Government House and is now having them made out of the tablecloths!

Sent from my KENNY using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

5 hours ago, webfact said:

push the “Smart City” concept in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

More like forcing the Smart City concept against any public concerns and economic justification.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

looking into relevant laws to find ways to speed up the project

Which explains why Prayut has already used Article 44 to shove aside any current city planning for EEC areas and disregard any citizen participation in Smart City planning.

Use Article 44 first to override existing laws and regulations, then new laws by the rubber stamp NLA to custom fit Prayut's agenda.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

big businesses will profit as well because no one wants to invest in unprofitable projects

That "no one" includes big businesses themselves! That's why Prayut uses government tax breaks, funds and soft loans for the EEC areas to attract business investments by minimizing the risk of economic loss. If profits aren't realized, the Thai taxpayer (who has no representation in such government investment) pays for the shortfall.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

however, the engine might not only be linked to the carriages, but also sucking power from those carriages,” the former prime minister went on.

If it's been one thing that Abhisit has been deft at, it's "sucking power."

7 hours ago, webfact said:

“All Thai people need to preserve peace in our society and take care of our guests, as they provide us huge income.”

Amen brother.

Now all he needs is to find a few smart people. 

Smart city is a complicated concept, unbelievably complex to create in 3D and stuffed full of hot words. So is there a simple way to understand it? Yes there is.

We know youre not in because wifi has lost contact with your phone and movement detectors blink blank. We know the temperature in the flat and outside, your preferred temperature and the weather forecast. Actually, we know from your calendar when you'll be back. So leave it to us to optimise heating and cooling in your condo.

That is IoT - the internet of things. Imagine now applying that to a whole city and its traffic management, controlling traffic lights and use of the hard shoulder to optimise traffic flow and public safety. That's a smart city. Though it takes a lot more to make a city really smart - start with waste management to make it clean. Can a city rhat is not green be smart? No it can't.

Next, consider Made in Thailand ... or Made in China ... consider, Made in Internet: planned, bought, made, stored, distributed and sold through the internet. That's smart supply chains, that's a smart Belt and Road. That's why Prayut in interested: because that's a smart economy.

And to think its all run from your PC, connected to all the other PCs on the 5G internet, where the data is all stored (in the cloud) and analysed by AI software built to  explore big data.

It's starting here in Chiang Mai, from nomad global world capital to Thailand's smartest.

Good luck everybody.

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday that the government expected that the economy would boom and extreme poverty “be eradicated” this year, despite signs of a deteriorating economy, including mass layoffs in several sectors.

Poverty or extreme poverty? What is the difference? How will it be eradicated?

 

A lot of the mega projects appear to involve the Chinese. They use their own people as labourers. So how will this trickle down to Thai workers?