Leading Thai economist blames inequality for Thailand’s ills

[Emdog]

"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor." ~ Voltaire

[Morch]

 

Leading Thai economist blames inequality for Thailand’s ills

 

 

Needs more pointing fingers.

 

 

[Katipo]

Inequality born out of corruption.

[Brickbat]

Will not make any difference as the education and information is controlled. Masses are unable to “ Think” . They are taught what to think. Done in the west too. On a more conniving scale as western nations are a lot smarter. But the programming “ you are not good enough, enough is never enough and you don’t have time” mantras are dinned into dull, stagnant minds.

 

The rich and powerful , worldwide,  don’t care a hoot. Memories fade. They know. Advertising works. Spin works. Comparison works. The Subconcious is programmed. 

[Deerculler]

Wow! What a great Prime Minister she would make anywhere in the world.

 Go girl go.

[Capt Rob]

This is a classic example of belabouring the obvious - human behavior. Some will suggest socialism is the answer but this really changes the incharge 'crew' for the next troop of opportunists and results in population corrections of enormous proportions.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“Our politics have been in turmoil for over a decade. Behind that turmoil is our gaping inequality. But many people hesitate to recognise that,” she said, adding that new threats from AI and climate change will make things worse. “Automation will mean less work, less income and less dignity for many, while floods, droughts and food shortages resulting from climate change will hurt the poorest and most vulnerable.

With an inept government in house that has no idea how to plan for a future economy fair for all people.

[Fex Bluse]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Leading Thai economist blames inequality for Thailand’s ills

She ALMOST got it! So close...

 

It is Thai culture which encourages, actually demands, that Thais are all unequal. 

 

Thai culture demands that "good people" are better and have more rights than others. 

 

Anyway, I give her credit for trying. 

[canopy]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

She pointed out that one simple reason for this failure is the power wielded by large corporations and the rich

While I agree with much of the article, I disagree with this being the core problem. I live in the rural area. The people are lazy and don't care about work or education. That's why they are poor. That's why they know so little. You can offer them good jobs and good education, but if they'd rather be home drinking whiskey, smoking cigarettes, and sleeping and don't take anything seriously it's all for naught. It's no surprise the people working their asses off on a daily basis are widening the wealth gap and building larger, more successful companies. The core problem right now is the poor and jobless need to make a small step to do something better with their lives. I applaud the ones that already have, but there are so many that never, ever will. They always take the easiest path which leads to poverty.

 

[Rookiescot]

If this could be done on a global scale the world would be a far better place.

Unfortunately though the rich ones are also the powerful ones and they are perfectly happy with the current situation.

[Stoker58]

Leading economist tells rich people to change their habits.

Good luck with that.

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, Stoker58 said:

Leading economist tells rich people to change their habits.

Good luck with that.

Hmm, true. Do you think she'd be better off doing alternative comedy?

[Mises]

1 hour ago, canopy said:

While I agree with much of the article, I disagree with this being the core problem. I live in the rural area. The people are lazy and don't care about work or education. That's why they are poor. That's why they know so little. You can offer them good jobs and good education, but if they'd rather be home drinking whiskey, smoking cigarettes, and sleeping and don't take anything seriously it's all for naught. It's no surprise the people working their asses off on a daily basis are widening the wealth gap and building larger, more successful companies. The core problem right now is the poor and jobless need to make a small step to do something better with their lives. I applaud the ones that already have, but there are so many that never, ever will. They always take the easiest path which leads to poverty.

 

A rich industrialist was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. “Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked.

“Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman.

“Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?’ the rich man asked.

“What would I do with them?”

“You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.”

The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?”

“You could sit down and enjoy life,” said the industrialist.

“What do you think I’m doing now?” the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.

[StevieAus]

15 hours ago, quandow said:

It's like this around the world. During the Roaring Twenties, leading up to The Great Depression, income inequality was almost as bad as it could get. The U.S. wealth disparity today is even worse than back then. Funny coincidence, political division gets rabid and mean spirited in such times. It's almost as if the rich don't want us working together to call them on their "stuff" (since we can't use the "s" word any more).

I have recently been watching some programs from the UK where it was stated that during the school holidays in some areas children are being fed by volunteers and charities as their parents cannot afford to feed them.

[newatthis]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

With an inept government in house that has no idea how to plan for a future economy fair for all people.

And does a convicted ex-drug pusher with $US42million plus a Bentley etc really care  about what is happening in the lives of 108,000 baht per annum people?

[MartiniMan]

Look at the work force its hard to pay many as its totally unskilled labour which is still done very poorly

There are no trade schools despite it all being a private education. The issue is in the education system and that is why people are poor. They are feckless. They cannot barely build a wall or grow a plant. They dont understand what the stock market is or how to save money and 78% of the GDP is consumer debt its gotten so bad that the SCB wont even give out credit cards now

They will all default and even those who managed to do university and get a 'office job' are basically paper pushers who sit on social media all day without a clue in the world and have 3 or 4 credit cards all maxed out and never travel

They are remedial level students in the majority. If you actually know what to do you can easily command 100s if not thousands of people just because you know what you are doing. Its so rare to find someone who understands what they are doing

The very sad thing is soon we will have robotics that will take over the majority of jobs as its wiser for businesses to use a robotic workforce then unskilled labourers so that means everything from cashier to shelf stacking to inventory and warehouse will be minimized to one or two managers and everything else robotic or assisted workers meaning you press go on a app and the AI drives the forklift with a much lower room for human error

711 will replace cashiers with a self service within 5 years because if they dont their just being stupid - its business and its moving forward

Go into any store and notice how they have maybe 10x or more the amount of workers then in europe or america - all of them taking a salery and doing the job of essentially a app and calculator

Its sad but its really going to cut in deep when AI becomes more prevelent - mc donalds is now using AI for drive thru this will come to thailand because corporations want to drive their profit margin and AI is the way to do it

Next is driverless cars. Taxi industry will go under

Finally farming! Well we know how far behind thailand is. One or two men control a 100 acre in america with two case machines. In thailand its a labour force of 100 or more and they produce a tiny amount in comparison

When Case IH and John Deere bring their machines to thailand and agri investors begin to learn to use a combine harvester and tractor with GPS they will see they dont need to pay and feed all these people and just put diesel in the thing and make a handsome profit. Now whole villages and even towns will be without jobs. They dont know how to read and often cannot even do basic mathmatics. It will cause a huge poverty problem

But as we know the life expectancy isnt great here and that is not because of having poor health actually its driven by accidents

In songkran for example over 1000 die each year. The roads take around 60 lives on average per day. With a rising homosexual population there are less births. Just run the numbers yourself and see what happens in the long term with a declining birth rate

Now the russian FTA (Free trade agreement) that is coming will bring skilled labour to thailand but it wont mean the locals get jobs it just means expats will build offices and maybe employ a handful but overall its not going to mean more work 

So the solution is in education which is by far one of the worst in the world. In private and public they are terribly poor and that is why there is no thai unicorns and no succesful startups just imports. As soon as those foreign investors can utilise AI and robotics over unskilled labour and cut salaries you will have many begging on the street and many suicides. Its very obvious.

[Jean Marie]

« Thailand needs to have the continuity in the administrations run by the democratically elected governments to solve the inequality on a non-interrupted basis. » end of quote..

 

Am I missing something here ? She’s staying on the safe side for sure ..

[Grumpy John]

She has an opinion but The facts maybe a bit hazy!   Although Thailand is a heiracial society there are those at the bottom that do work hard and raise themselves up.   I live in a rice farmers village and many here are doing quite nicely thank you very much.  The woman from 2 houses down bought the son a new Isuzu pickup last year,  the husband a new Kubota 4018 earlier this year and wifey tells me they are buying another 20 rai of mango trees. Cash....  My B-in-L next door owns everything he has.  180 rai, 4 house blocks in the village,  the house he lives in a 2 year old Revo....everything!  So, there is  ample opportunity for those at the bottom to do well.  I think the secret is to keep em off the whisky and cigarettes.  All the drinkers and smokers around here are working the land with a lot e gon, driving 25 year old junk pick-ups and live in houses built by their great grand pappy out of packing crates and S/h roofing iron.  

[johnarth]

she not quite right when she talk climate change she should quote the real climate change not the political climate change they are two complete different things like chalk and cheese time the hordes woke up but then she is a Thai

[trainman34014]

15 hours ago, PatOngo said:

But they see it most nights in their favourite TV viewing.....the Thai soap opera!

And they all dream to be like those they are watching living the high life and they don't care what method of corruption is used to obtain it !

[MaxYakov]

“But we must not give up. I take inspiration from other societies which are much more equal than ours and often happier too. They show that inequality can be evened out by the public policies,” - Pasuk Phongpaichit

 

Well, why not? She is after all wearing red.

[findlay13]

18 hours ago, worgeordie said:

100 % true.....but nothing is going to change,anytime soon.

regards worgeordie

I read a little while ago Thailand was the most unequal country in the world.I don't know how they worked that out but that's what was said.

 

[sawadee1947]

18 hours ago, worgeordie said:

100 % true.....but nothing is going to change,anytime soon.

regards worgeordie

Your words are similar to "self fulfilling prophecy".

With this kind of thinking there will be no change indeed. 

You have to overcome those patterns. ????

 

[munchlet]

Obviously a socialist. I equality is something that is in your head and is an excuse for the less fortunate to blame the "rich" for all their misfortune. There is an element of truth in this, but not the obvious ones. The real enemies are

 

1) corruption which stifles equality of opportunity, and 

 

2) a totally disfunctioal education system which creates memes rather than thoughtful independent individuals. 

 

I could rabbit on for hours about this, but it's pretty clear already. 

[sawadee1947]

14 hours ago, Enzian said:

She makes it sound easy, as though it were only a matter of economics and will and public policy, the kind of public policy that "nudges" people in the right direction. But inequality is part of the fabric of Thai culture, it's expressed in the unspoken hierarchy in which everyone has a designated place on the ladder, it's the worldview which makes everyone feel they belong and are secure. How do you change that without removing some part of every person's identity? 

"How do you change that without removing some part of every person's identity?"

 

The only and best way for a change is education. You see the results of Future Forward among young people ????

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Soon to be shifted to an even more inactive post.

[spidermike007]

No doubt about it, she nailed it right on the head. So refreshing to hear something so eloquent and truthful being spoken by a Thai, on a world stage. If only the population, and especially the tone deaf and hapless army would listen, or be capable of understanding even a small fraction of what she is saying, Thailand would be a better nation overnight. Or course this is a worldwide scourge. But, some nations like the US, at least understand the concept of charity, benevolence, and the super wealthy giving something back to society. Here? 

[Krataiboy]

6 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

That is right !

Scientists should replace politicians . Politicians are controlled by big companies and the financial markets , that leads finally to destruction , Scientists know better than them what needs to be done now .

Be careful what you wish for. At least our politicians are elected and can be booted out for their misdeeds.  Scientists are not saints and as prone to abuse power as the rest of us.

 

The resurgence of Technocracy - now in full swing - could just as easily prove a curse as a blessing.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Krataiboy

[Saint Nick]

"That said, inequality cannot be stamped out overnight. Thailand needs to have the continuity in the administrations run by the democratically elected governments to solve the inequality on a non-interrupted basis.”

 

Sooooooo...what you are saying is: it will never ever happen!

[Lacessit]

Inequality in Thailand? Really? Guess I'll add that to my bleeding obvious cupboard.