Thai Economy Review from a Thai perspective

[Hardy641]

The increasing private household debts are definitely of major concern. BTW lately I had several employees (all middle or upper class) asking me for private company loans. This never happened a few years ago. The huge private are a result of Thaksin's easy credit policy to kick start the economy 5 years ago. A smart move as this way he could also create long-term dependencies - many loans became due just before the 2005 election and Thaksin promised to extend the loans,if reelected. Nice way of bribing elections....

 

However, with Thaksin gone people don't get new credits that easily. The slow economy putting additional pressure on the households. All this is very well known. and nothing new.

All the more I am surprised, or better shocked, that nothing is done to attract much needed FDI. On the contrary the news laws and rules actually have the opposite effect. With neighboring countries putting real efforts into attracting foreign capital and Thailand doing the opposite and once more blaming the 'bad' foreigners, I see worrying times ahead. If Thailand does not perform an immediate and radical u-turn in its policies, the country will follow the path of the Philippines - once Asia's 2nd richest economy - into economic insignificance.