Thai Govt May Have To Renege On Controversial Populist Schemes

[webfact]

WATCHDOG

Govt may have to renege on controversial populist schemes

By Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

The Yingluck government appears to be facing increased difficulties in implementing several of its key economic policies promised during the July election campaign.

These policies include the Bt20 fare for all Bangkok skytrain and subway journeys, the nationwide Bt300-per-day minimum wage, and the support programme first-time car buyers.

During the election campaign, Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party promised that it would reduce all skytrain and subway fares to Bt20 per trip from the current Bt15-45.

However, ACM Sukumphol Suwannatat, the transport minister, said this week that this policy would not be implemented until the construction of another 10 new routes is completed.

This will take several more years, so it is unlikely that the policy will be implemented during the term of this government.

Regarding the Bt300 daily minimum wage, it is now clear that the Yingluck government will not push for a nationwide increase as promised during the election, but will try to enforce the crucial policy only in Bangkok and six other provinces, including Phuket.

This policy has faced strong opposition from the private sector because it will suddenly increase their labour costs by more than 40 per cent.

At present, the highest minimum wage is in Bangkok, at about Bt220 per day, while the lowest is in the northern province of Payao, at about Bt150 per day.

It will be a formidable challenge to enforce the uniform rate of Bt300 nationwide as pledged by Prime Minister Yingluck during the campaign.

Even in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces, many employers have said that their overall labour cost is already in excess of Bt300 per day per head when some welfare items such as free food and living quarters are included.

The government has also faced difficulties in convincing the private sector to increase the starting salary for new college graduates to a minimum of Bt15,000 per month.

However, it has already announced that public-sector employees will get a minimum income of Bt15,000 when allowances are added to the current starting salary of Bt8,000-Bt9,000 for college graduates.

Regarding the first-car buyer campaign, this measure has also faced a setback because financial institutions providing auto loans say they are not happy with the government's plan to return tax credits directly to buyers.

According to lenders, such a policy will increase the loan default rate, especially if tax credits, amounting to a maximum of Bt100,000 per vehicle, are given directly to buyers who have yet to pay back the auto loans in instalments, usually over a period of up to 48-60 months.

Instead, the lenders suggested that the tax rebates should be sent to them and passed on to buyers later to ensure the auto loans are fully paid back.

The government will part with an estimated Bt30 billion in tax revenues in this first-car buyer campaign. In return, the government expects to boost vehicle sales by 500,000 units in the first year.

In addition, the Yingluck government is facing a big financial burden in implementing the rice subsidy scheme, which needs massive state borrowing of Bt400 billion this year to ensure that farmers get Bt15,000 per tonne for rice paddy compared to the market price of less than Bt10,000.

-- The Nation 2011-09-17

[Farang0tang]

what a suprise!

[Who, me ?]

Well, that will certainly be defended by all the voters and PTP = UDD lovers !

How could they believe all the lies that Yingluck and Co. have told during the campaign?

Serve them right!

[Thaddeus]

I don't know whether to be stunned first or shocked.

[givenall]

Will ever people learn you can never trust politicians andwhat they promise. It most likely will be changed after they get the job.

Always remember it is ti too good to be true IT IS

[DP25]

The poor shouldn't worry about this. Not ALL of the promises will be forgotten. Thaksin will have a pardon and his 76 billion baht returned, and the rich will get their coorporate income tax cut!

[MAJIC]

The harsh realities of empty Election promises.

[bhakta]

Let's see how Mr.Taksin explains this to the millions who voted for his people based on their pocket books. Of course they were idiots to believe these absurd promises in the first place.

[rixalex]

The harsh realities of empty Election promises.

Indeed.

And whilst it is one thing to renege on a general statement of intent, i think it is quite another to renege on specific black and white promises, such as these below:

Some will say, well if they don't deliver, the electorate can simply vote them out in four years time, but how much discouragement is this to political parties to not blatantly lie, when they still get themselves four years at the trough. Very little i would say.

[siampolee]

Reality bites. Note the political Dinosaur so beloved by the P.T.P.

[Siripon]

Car dealers are worried that those first time buyers who paid the minimum deposit may think it worthwhile to stop repayments after receiving back 100,000 baht after one year,more than they've paid off in repayments at that point in some cases.

This project has been poorly planned.

[tlansford]

Well, that will certainly be defended by all the voters and PTP = UDD lovers !

How could they believe all the lies that Yingluck and Co. have told during the campaign?

Serve them right!

This "news" is from The Drivel, what else could you expect them to write - "Yingluck Government Policies Move Ahead - Happy Days are Here Again" ???

I hope it was posted in the editorial section... there isn't hardly any news in the piece.

But they do give plenty of print space for business interests to repeat how bad the populist policies will be if implemented.

[Deez]

I wonder how the promise to make all thais" rich within 6 months" is coming along

[Jingthing]

This "news" is from The Drivel, what else could you expect them to write - "Yingluck Government Policies Move Ahead - Happy Days are Here Again" ???

That's all you've got? Attack the source? That's weak.

[Buchholz]

The harsh realities of empty Election promises.

Indeed.

And whilst it is one thing to renege on a general statement of intent, i think it is quite another to renege on specific black and white promises, such as these below:

Some will say, well if they don't deliver, the electorate can simply vote them out in four years time

Others might say to prosecute them for the lies.

From the precursor thread to this thread:

Poll Says Government Policies Are Unraveling

Nothing new here make a lot of promises and then say we didn't say that.

Interesting that in Thailand, breaking election promises is illegal, according to the Organic Act on Election of Members of House of Representatives and Installation of Senators.

It'll be intriguing to see how these revelations of further "unraveling" or as it is called in this thread "reneging" will affect newer polling.

.

[scorecard]

I wonder how the promise to make all thais" rich within 6 months" is coming along

My thought also.

[Buchholz]

quote='tlansford'

This "news" is from The Drivel, what else could you expect them to write - "Yingluck Government Policies Move Ahead - Happy Days are Here Again" ???

unquote

That's all you've got? Attack the source? That's weak.

It's a reoccuring issue. While excused earlier, now that the post count has nearly doubled, there's still no change in focusing on attacking the news source.

In this case, it is a relevant comment regarding the biases of the Nation and their strategy which is - rather clearly - to mention Thaskin at the drop of a hat.

In other cases, I have been known to make comments regarding the 'news' posted here as it is just opinion dressed up as reporting. I tend to do that when people seem to take that which the Nation has to 'report' too seriously.

And while it is true what you say, there is at least one other news source that cannot be mentioned, and certainly not quoted on TVF

PS, on TVF, that is news source - singular, not plural

You can mention Bangkok Post. It's spelled out in the forum rules. It and another paper are the only two unquotable news sources available.

31) Members are not allowed to quote news articles or material from Bangkokpost.com or Phuketwan inside topics on Thaivisa.com. Posts from members containing quotes will be deleted from the forum. Members posting links referring back to the sites is also not allowed and will be deleted.

So subtract those two and that leaves probably around 23,420 other possible news sources that I look forward to your quotes of, instead of the repeated whining.

If you don't like the The Nation's slant on the news, counter it then with the slant provided by other news sources, rather than this incessant droning where the news source is the topic instead of the topic being the topic.

as for repeated whining and incessant droning, give me a break - I've got 130 total posts

[rixalex]

This "news" is from The Drivel, what else could you expect them to write - "Yingluck Government Policies Move Ahead - Happy Days are Here Again" ???

That's all you've got? Attack the source? That's weak.

tlansford's answer to anything negative said about this government is bias, as if it is quite incomprehensible that this government could possibly ever do anything negative.

Reds are supposed to support democracy. Well, in a well functioning democracy, having the press on the back of the government, rather than up their behinds, should be celebrated, yet all tlansford does is moan.

[Thaddeus]

The harsh realities of empty Election promises.

Indeed.

And whilst it is one thing to renege on a general statement of intent, i think it is quite another to renege on specific black and white promises, such as these below:

Well, they are red and white promises, so a little fuzzier.

[ginjag]

what a suprise!

Where are all the SORRY'S from the pro government clan????

[otherstuff1957]

what a suprise!

Where are all the SORRY'S from the pro government clan????

No sorries needed... This was written in the Nation & is therefore not true!

[ballpoint]

what a suprise!

Where are all the SORRY'S from the pro government clan????

No sorries, just a lot of "it's unfair that The Nation is allowed to publish the truth about the lies told by this government, and I wish that they would be closed down so nobody has to hear about how poor this government has been and we can all carry on pretending all is rosy now that the evil Democrats are gone".

[tlansford]

This "news" is from The Drivel, what else could you expect them to write - "Yingluck Government Policies Move Ahead - Happy Days are Here Again" ???

That's all you've got? Attack the source? That's weak.

My reply is to the many people who comment as if this is a serious piece of journalism.

The "source" here is full of hot air, it's just popping the balloon.

The Nation is an actor on the scene, not a news source, and as such they are just as open to exposure regarding their actions (in their case, alleged "reporting") as any other player on the scene - political, activist, protester, businessman, corporation, etc.

In this case, this piece is one of many open strikes at the yet-to-be-implemented policies of the current gov't. The Nation is a tool, used like any other weapon, within the political sphere. There are other obvious examples of this in the media.

For those of us interested in reality, it is more interesting to understand the real issues related to these policies and the current facts regarding their implementation.

[ratcatcher]

Well, that will certainly be defended by all the voters and PTP = UDD lovers !

How could they believe all the lies that Yingluck and Co. have told during the campaign?

Serve them right!

This "news" is from The Drivel, what else could you expect them to write - "Yingluck Government Policies Move Ahead - Happy Days are Here Again" ???

I hope it was posted in the editorial section... there isn't hardly any news in the piece.

But they do give plenty of print space for business interests to repeat how bad the populist policies will be if implemented.

Well, the fact is that the Yingluck Government Policies cannot move ahead simply because they were either:

a) Poorly thought out in the first place, even though they had many months prior to elections and campaigning to think them out

OR

More likely they were deliberately promised knowing that they were basically impractical as has been seen from day one and they would guarantee more votes..

Madame Yingluck is good at smiling and obfuscating when confronted by people that need answers such as reporters, saying "Give us time"

Of course, as has been pointed by many members, the focus is on

a) Amnesty for Thaksin and return of his billions

Tax breaks for the rich

c) Positions for Shinawatra family members & cronies in all government departments.

d)Total control of Thailand until Thaksin becomes Taksin

IMHO.

[animatic]

This was all obvious headlines for September...

way back in JUNE....

Say anything at all that wins back control and then,

backpedal as hard as possible when you have control,

and hope the populace doesn't come out and protest....

while armed.

[nong38]

Where is my new car, tablet computer, 300 bhat a day and I want to be rich by Christmas, like you promised MRS?

You've gone very quiet, well can I have my vote back?

How about me telling a soldier I have been didled by some Thai crooks?

[Jingthing]

What's different about 2006? Thaksin in power. Thaksin consolidating power. Some "elites" fearful he is creating a long term dynasty of personality a la Chavez/Peron/Marcos, etc. that cannot be easily undone once the control becomes total. In any case, I am certain all of this has almost nothing to do with democracy.

[chaoyang]

My reply is to the many people who comment as if this is a serious piece of journalism.

The "source" here is full of hot air, it's just popping the balloon.

The Nation is an actor on the scene, not a news source, and as such they are just as open to exposure regarding their actions (in their case, alleged "reporting") as any other player on the scene - political, activist, protester, businessman, corporation, etc.

In this case, this piece is one of many open strikes at the yet-to-be-implemented policies of the current gov't. The Nation is a tool, used like any other weapon, within the political sphere. There are other obvious examples of this in the media.

For those of us interested in reality, it is more interesting to understand the real issues related to these policies and the current facts regarding their implementation.

I agree. The Nation has clearly given up any claim to actual objective reporting with its constant anti-Thaksin drumbeat. The Yoons (publishers) are very much a part of the BKK elite so threatened by the upstart Thaksin, though in their case they are more the wanna-be variety. I had the pleasure of working at the Nation and at that time it was simply a sweatshop for burned-out older Westerners, young guys on an adventure (like me) and perhaps a little better-qualified Indians who found the field too overcrowded in their home country. They work cheap, but Indian English has its quirks...

Down through the years, anyone with a real real publishing background scratched their head and wondered how the Nation stayed in business given its small print run, low advertising content and Tinglish stories. I would think they have some bigtime backers, and obviously they're not from the Thaksin clan.

The paper has repeatedly declared the new programs a failure, or doomed to failure, before they've even begun, I would think those kind of declarations will be about a year down the road if they are deserved.

At least there are some NEW ideas. Abhisit smiled and wai-ed -- oh, so civilized -- but it was just business as usual for the old feudal system.

[serenitynow]

My reply is to the many people who comment as if this is a serious piece of journalism.

The "source" here is full of hot air, it's just popping the balloon.

The Nation is an actor on the scene, not a news source, and as such they are just as open to exposure regarding their actions (in their case, alleged "reporting") as any other player on the scene - political, activist, protester, businessman, corporation, etc.

In this case, this piece is one of many open strikes at the yet-to-be-implemented policies of the current gov't. The Nation is a tool, used like any other weapon, within the political sphere. There are other obvious examples of this in the media.

For those of us interested in reality, it is more interesting to understand the real issues related to these policies and the current facts regarding their implementation.

I'd say the writer was overly kind to the government. He didn't call it a racket. He didn't call PTP politicians racketeers. And he really pulled his punches on the election promises. Promises made when it is known you have no intention in carrying them out is a conspiricy to defraud. It was a love letter.

[rubl]

I see it 'shoot the messenger' season. Lots of people who have suggested that openness, freedom of speech, etc., etc. will increase now that we have a duly elected government. What happens? Woe and damnation on them who dare to critizise. Time to lay another wreath in front of Government House