Spreaders of Conspiracy Theories: Unmasking the Motivations Behind the Lies

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TCC: Thai export will improve under new Cabinet

BANGKOK, 21 August 2015 (NNT) - Several private sector executives and representatives have issued statements in support of the new Cabinet.

Vice President of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) Poj Aramwattananont expressed confidence in the Cabinet reshuffle. He singled out the promotion of former Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn as Commerce Minister.

Ms. Apiradi has been a long-time civil servant in the ministry. Mr. Poj praised her expertise in developing effective macroeconomic policy, and believed the export sector will improve following her appointment.

The TCC Vice President said he would like to see the new Cabinet take swift action on monetary issues, human trafficking and illegal fishing. Mr. Poj suggested that a working team be set up to respond to international media and governments on these issues.

Another TCC Vice President, Sanan Angubolkul, said the new Cabinet will have to grapple with challenges related to currency fluctuations and the sluggish global economy.

Meanwhile, Former ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the new Cabinet will help bring the country towards the right direction and solve its problems.


-- NNT 2015-08-21

[clockman]

Good luck with that!

[Thai at Heart]

Why? They going to sell stuff?

[phoenixdoglover]

Not in the short term. Maybe over the course of a year or so.

I think the number 1 suggestion from outside economists is for the Thai government to speed up spending on projects. The spending is way below target.

The PM has said a few things about this. But I suspect the ministries are taking a low risk approach and purposefully dragging their feet. Who wants to stick out under this government?

[Prbkk]

The economy needs stimulus. The last guy seemed proud of the fact , or at least not unhappy, that 8 Billion Baht went unspent out of the last budget allocation ( said to be because of slow approvals by nervous officials fearing that someone will point the finger at them for lack of oversight or 'negligence'). Let's hope the new lot are a bit more savvy.

[Srikcir]

BS must be a new Thai export.

The Junta has apparently provided more than enough for domestic consumption and the market price for export (free) is at an all time high.

[Srikcir]

Five "wills" and counting.

Next to follow will be the traditional "hope."

The new cabinet is beginning already to sound like the old cabinet. Maybe because we still have the old PM.

[rubl]

The impatience of some. The new cabinet not instated yet and already there are those who wonder why we see no progress in the economy.

A more continuous disbursement of the National Budget could help a bit, but extra budgets may be needed. Now where to get those from ? The moment the government borrows 100 billion Baht a few here will be enraged the government spends borrowed money. Raise wages to help the economy and reduce pressure on SME's ? Wouldn't help much with the Thai public so highly in debt. Export? Global economic woes don't help.

I guess the best shot would be to put more effort in corruption prevention and regaining money lost through corruption by holding responsible people accountable.

[phoenixdoglover]

The impatience of some. The new cabinet not instated yet and already there are those who wonder why we see no progress in the economy.

A more continuous disbursement of the National Budget could help a bit, but extra budgets may be needed. Now where to get those from ? The moment the government borrows 100 billion Baht a few here will be enraged the government spends borrowed money. Raise wages to help the economy and reduce pressure on SME's ? Wouldn't help much with the Thai public so highly in debt. Export? Global economic woes don't help.

I guess the best shot would be to put more effort in corruption prevention and regaining money lost through corruption by holding responsible people accountable.

Dear rubl,

More research might be in order, as the problem seems to be slow spending, rather than lack of budget.

Reuters, May 19, 2015 - By April 24, nearly seven months into the fiscal year, the government had spent just 35.3 percent of its 450 billion baht ($13.49 billion) investment budget, Budget Bureau data shows.

Asian Briefing, June 26, 2015 - Thailand will continue to struggle to improve its economy unless it can ramp up its infrastructure spending and find a way to jumpstart exports. The government has promised an increase in spending, but this has yet to appear, and, with a slowing China, increasing exports will be an uphill battle.

CNBC, Aug 18, 2015 - Citi economists believe the damage to domestic demand from Monday's blast will likely show in August and September economic indicators, but they don't expect the negative impact to last beyond three months assuming authorities move quickly to restore security. "Accelerating fiscal spending, particularly public investments would be crucial in mitigating a demand shock," Citi warned.

[rubl]

The impatience of some. The new cabinet not instated yet and already there are those who wonder why we see no progress in the economy.

A more continuous disbursement of the National Budget could help a bit, but extra budgets may be needed. Now where to get those from ? The moment the government borrows 100 billion Baht a few here will be enraged the government spends borrowed money. Raise wages to help the economy and reduce pressure on SME's ? Wouldn't help much with the Thai public so highly in debt. Export? Global economic woes don't help.

I guess the best shot would be to put more effort in corruption prevention and regaining money lost through corruption by holding responsible people accountable.

Dear rubl,

More research might be in order, as the problem seems to be slow spending, rather than lack of budget.

Reuters, May 19, 2015 - By April 24, nearly seven months into the fiscal year, the government had spent just 35.3 percent of its 450 billion baht ($13.49 billion) investment budget, Budget Bureau data shows.

Asian Briefing, June 26, 2015 - Thailand will continue to struggle to improve its economy unless it can ramp up its infrastructure spending and find a way to jumpstart exports. The government has promised an increase in spending, but this has yet to appear, and, with a slowing China, increasing exports will be an uphill battle.

CNBC, Aug 18, 2015 - Citi economists believe the damage to domestic demand from Monday's blast will likely show in August and September economic indicators, but they don't expect the negative impact to last beyond three months assuming authorities move quickly to restore security. "Accelerating fiscal spending, particularly public investments would be crucial in mitigating a demand shock," Citi warned.

Maybe my "A more continuous disbursement of the National Budget could help a bit," was too much understated or simply unclear. What I meant was that the NB should be disbursed continuously to aim at 100% at the end of the fiscal year. Speed up or slow down should be possible depending on the situation and sudden events.

No idea how much of the NB has been disbursed, but to spent more than 1-1/2 month of NB in the remaining 1-1/2 month will surely need proper safeguards to prevent it from being wasted. Of course that may slow down things as well. This seems a general problem for Thai governments and needs a proper approach to modernise without losing insight in how money is spent.

Edited August 21, 2015 by rubl

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Why ? The yuan has been depreciated which makes Thai exports more expensive, world trade in slowing down and the world is entering a deflation phase. Please explain in economic/business terms why exports will improve.

[slapout]

The uncovering of such massive corruption by investigators over the past few months most certainly would make new spending come under scurnity by those tasked with ensuring money spent goes for what it was intended. Everyone will want to stay clear of any association with those in the private sector who have been connected to past skams and those they have associated with.

I think we are only just being made aware of a small percentage of the graft that has taken place and the will be much more made pubic. I would want to be sweaky cean if I were tasked with bidding documents, determining history financial status of those submitting bids, ensuring materials used meet specs, etc. Lots of people are either going to operate in a honest manner or try to slow things up hoping for a retun to the good old days of pure graft and corruption.

Then the world economy is not exactly booming at thisw time either, so it might be a while for things to turn around and slowly rebound