• OPINION

  Tesco buyout gives CP undue power

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 13/03/2020

  » The recent announcement by Charoen Pokphand (CP) group to buy Tesco's operations in Thailand and Malaysia for US$10.6 billion (335 billion baht) marks the retreat of Western retailers' presence in much of Southeast Asia. For Thailand in particular, CP's Tesco buyout comes with added business significance and consumer risks because the giant agribusiness conglomerate will now have undue dominance directly over local supply chains and indirectly over consumer choice and benefit. In this case, it is imperative that Thailand's regulator, the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC), take a hard and close look to make sure CP's good deal does not become a raw deal for local suppliers and Thais.

• OPINION

  Finding a place for Thailand's SMEs

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 23/08/2019

  » Thailand's economy appears both odd and contradictory. On one hand, it continues to expand in the 3% range, an appealing growth trend by international standards. On the other hand, cursory and anecdotal evidence suggests the Thai economy is mired in a prolonged malaise.

• OPINION

  Managing global adversity after poll

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 01/02/2019

  » Discounting its disrupted precursor in 2014, the imminent first poll in nearly eight years has put the country's political future on the line.

• OPINION

  How US-China trade impacts Thailand

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 14/09/2018

  » Perhaps the most apt saying to apply to the so-called "trade war" between the United States and China is "when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers".

• OPINION

  What a trade war means for Southeast Asia

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 17/08/2018

  » Although it's still early days in the so-called "trade war" between the United States and China, its knock-on effects are already palpable. Both sides have accused each other of unfair trade practices, and both have imposed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs and other protectionist measures that could lead to a runaway retaliatory logic and spiral beyond anyone's control.

• OPINION

  Global investment risk levels on rise

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 18/01/2018

  » Amid growing confidence of a global economic rebound and better domestic growth prospects, the 2018 investment outlook should not ignore downside factors that could hinder the long-run growth momentum. Structural challenges from policy uncertainties among the world's economic superpowers and saturating trade and investment flows through global value chains may cast more shadows over the local and global economy than the recovering numbers reveal.

• OPINION

  Role flip sees Thailand buy, invest in US

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 05/10/2017

  » In the new era of international commerce and diplomacy, role reversals are coming up everywhere.

• OPINION

  Beyond lofty 'Thailand 4.0' rhetoric

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 20/01/2017

  » In the aftermath of last year's Brexit and Donald Trump's surprising election victory, the global economy this year will face risks and uncertainties. Stagnant world trade growth will be further dampened by increasing protectionism and populism in the US, the EU and Asia.

• OPINION

  The imperative of export-led growth 2.0

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 19/05/2016

  » Thailand is no stranger to military seizures of power. The Thai system has developed built-in resilience to absorb and overcome political uncertainty and economic shocks from putsches. However, its 13th coup two years ago, spearheaded by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, coincides with a new pattern of economic challenges, requiring a more holistic and integrative policy framework that hinges on an open and stable political environment.

• OPINION

  Owning up to Panama Papers in Thailand

  News, Pavida Pananond, Published on 19/04/2016

  » While the so-called Panama Papers have sent shockwaves through the corridors of power and wealth the world over, their ramifications for Thailand have yet to be laid bare. It has been revealed that 16 or so Thai individuals are implicated but scant details have been put forward. It is almost as if Thailand's high and mighty wishes that this explosive global scandal would just blow over without local consequences.

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