Tourism, rise in govt spending set to drive economic growth
PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- IN SPITE of global economic sluggishness dampening overseas shipments this year, the Thai economy should grow more strongly during the current quarter, driven by tourism growth, rising government spending and recovering exports, ministers said yesterday.

At the annual meeting of the Thai National Shippers Council, Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula said during a discussion on the topic "Driving the Thai economy under current global economic circumstances" that the government would try to promote the economy by focusing on budget-disbursement stimulation, helping promote farmers' incomes and driving exports over the remainder of the year.

He acknowledged that amid a global economic slowdown, Thai shipments would be also affected, expanding this year at a lower rate than had previously been projected.

"Thai exports are expected to grow by only 1 per cent this year, while they faced negative growth of 4 per cent in the first quarter due to the serious impact from the global economic slowdown. However, exports should recover from the bottom in the months to come," said Pridiyathorn.

The deputy PM pointed to the high unemployment rate of 20 per cent in the European Union, and 5.7 per cent in the United States, as one of the major causes of lower import demand in major markets.

The slowdown of economic growth in China to about 6-7 per cent this year has also influenced Thai shipments, he said.

Pridiyathorn also blamed the rise in the minimum wage to Bt300 per day and less development in the manufacturing sector for having decimated Thai export competitiveness in the global market.

Small and medium-sized enterprises have been seriously hit by the dramatic increase in wages, while large enterprises have shifted to expanding their businesses in other countries due to higher production costs at home, he said.

Exports hit by wage hike

As a result, exports have shrunk in the past couple of years since the minimum daily wage was hiked to Bt300, he added. To promote more export growth, he urged enterprises to focus on quality development, and to create differentiation for their products and services.

Meanwhile, the government has facilitated businesses that invest overseas by waiving double taxation on their income from foreign operations, so that all the maximum amount returns to Thailand and helps promote the national gross domestic product, he added.

Pridiyathorn also said Thai GDP should expand as expected this year, as revenue from VAT collection had risen by 9.75 per cent in the first quarter of the fiscal year, while the government's budget disbursement in the first half of the fiscal year had exceeded 51 per cent of the full-year budget.

To help farmers suffering from falling crop prices, he said the government would give Bt1 million to each rice-farming village, while also providing soft loans to encourage rubber farmers to grow other economic crops.

During the same seminar, Finance Minister Sommai Phasee said that due to lower overall tax collection as a result of previous populist policies, the government now only had a relatively small budget to promote development in various sectors, as well as for infrastructure development.

Populist policies also resulted in only short-term development for the country, which meant Thailand now needed to promote infrastructure development, as well as development in the manufacturing sector by increasing value-added production, so that the Kingdom could become a fully fledged trading nation.

Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee told the seminar that to drive Thailand as a trading nation, it was crucial for the country to create integrated transportation linkage involving its road, rail, water and air systems. Laws should also be amended to facilitate more investment in the country, he said.

Meanwhile, enforcement of Article 44 of the provisional charter, which has replaced martial law, should enable faster law amendment and benefit the country in terms of stable growth, he added.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Tourism-rise-in-govt-spending-set-to-drive-economi-30257686.html

-- The Nation 2015-04-09

Thai made products are just too expensive right now, a devaluation of the THB could get the exports going again, Japan did it and their exports figures are up.

Thai made products are just too expensive right now, a devaluation of the THB could get the exports going again, Japan did it and their exports figures are up.

Agree entirely, yet they are blaming the drop in exports on the 300 baht minimum wage.

Headline appears to bear only a passing connection to the article - which mainly lists reasons why GDP growth is going to be low.

There is no 20% unemployment in the EU dear DPM. It stands at about 11 % highly skewered by countries like Spain and Greece and youth unemployment. Another white lie to hide the fact that the Baht is too expensive compared against almost all other currencies except Dollar and Yuan.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper.

Edited April 9, 201511 yr by SoilSpoil

Once the Baht is adjusted You will get more tourists dollars as exports will increase investments will increase.

There is no 20% unemployment in the EU dear DPM. It stands at about 11 % highly skewered by countries like Spain and Greece and youth unemployment. Another white lie to hide the fact that the Baht is too expensive compared against almost all other currencies except Dollar and Yuan.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper.

I only buy items in T/Lotus with a yellow label on. Oh last night I bought a bustier for the ladyboy down my pub in the weds. market for 10B . Bargain much cheapness.

If 300 baht is too much to pay, I suggest they start planning to make higher value, better quality products for export. Of course this transition needs a higher quality workforce and about 20 years. How is education reform going?

There is no 20% unemployment in the EU dear DPM. It stands at about 11 % highly skewered by countries like Spain and Greece and youth unemployment. Another white lie to hide the fact that the Baht is too expensive compared against almost all other currencies except Dollar and Yuan.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper.

I only buy items in T/Lotus with a yellow label on. Oh last night I bought a bustier for the ladyboy down my pub in the weds. market for 10B . Bargain much cheapness.

Great reply if I would understand it.

If 300 baht is too much to pay, I suggest they start planning to make higher value, better quality products for export. Of course this transition needs a higher quality workforce and about 20 years. How is education reform going?

Problem is that Thailand's economic growth over the last decades was all about cheap labor and cheap raw materials. Foreign factories setting up shop here to produce their products at the lowest prices possible. A lot of factories are moving or closing down. Production costs have risen too much the last decade.

Making higher value innovative products, like for example in Korea, is strongly related to education. Well we all know the state of the Thai education system. You say 20 years? Make it 50. In order to florish, the Thai economy need its cheap wage slaves. Sad but true.

There is no 20% unemployment in the EU dear DPM. It stands at about 11 % highly skewered by countries like Spain and Greece and youth unemployment. Another white lie to hide the fact that the Baht is too expensive compared against almost all other currencies except Dollar and Yuan.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper. I envy you I wish I could afford to. From what I have purchased here the quality is surely a lot better to abroad. Again I envy you I wish I could afford luxury items. Yes the baht is to expensive and I keep scratching my head and wondering why? Maybe its just a lag factor. Only time will tell I guess. Time hmm seems to be a thing I am running out of.

This guys posture kind of reminds me of the guy dressed in white that gave the Easter blessing in Rome.

There is no 20% unemployment in the EU dear DPM. It stands at about 11 % highly skewered by countries like Spain and Greece and youth unemployment. Another white lie to hide the fact that the Baht is too expensive compared against almost all other currencies except Dollar and Yuan.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper.

Same applies for domestic spending. I buy almost all my clothes and luxury items abroad. Much cheaper. I envy you I wish I could afford to. From what I have purchased here the quality is surely a lot better to abroad. Again I envy you I wish I could afford luxury items. Yes the baht is to expensive and I keep scratching my head and wondering why? Maybe its just a lag factor. Only time will tell I guess. Time hmm seems to be a thing I am running out of.

The moment you tell the average Thai you're going abroad you're gonna get shopping lists. They all want items from overseas, from perfumes, vitamins, electronic items, computers, phones, you name it. Bit risky to carry a lot of new purchased items these days though with Swampies customs. Thailand is expensive!

I asked a friend to buy me an electronic shaver in the UK (that's a luxury item to me) that was half the price you would pay here at Central. Same applies for Lego for my kids, sport equipment, (proper) shoes, clothes etc... International products are very expensive here! Only the crappy made in China/Thailand or counterfeit products are cheaper.

If 300 baht is too much to pay, I suggest they start planning to make higher value, better quality products for export. Of course this transition needs a higher quality workforce and about 20 years. How is education reform going?

Problem is that Thailand's economic growth over the last decades was all about cheap labor and cheap raw materials. Foreign factories setting up shop here to produce their products at the lowest prices possible. A lot of factories are moving or closing down. Production costs have risen too much the last decade.

Making higher value innovative products, like for example in Korea, is strongly related to education. Well we all know the state of the Thai education system. You say 20 years? Make it 50. In order to florish, the Thai economy need its cheap wage slaves. Sad but true.

Precisely. All the protection for industry has ended up keeping the status quo for too long. They should have been moving out of agriculture and textiles for the last 10 years. But CP and Saha must be fed....

Maybe if they could reduce their dependence on imports (like electricity?), then they could afford to devalue the baht.

Investing in one sector could bring benefits to multiple sectors.

Thai made products are just too expensive right now, a devaluation of the THB could get the exports going again, Japan did it and their exports figures are up.

Thats too complicated for thais - have to keep it simple here ... like soaps on channel 3

Well it cant really get any worse than what it is now.