Showing 21 - 30 of 44
Politicians lack long-term vision, so we all suffer
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 03/04/2014
» Like most issues in Thailand today, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Time to chart new course over rice fiasco
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 13/03/2014
» After three years under Yingluck Shinawatra and her government's rice-pledging policy, where do we stand today? As if the problems of corruption, gargantuan costs and delays in paying rice farmers their due are not bad enough, consider this headline in the Bangkok Post on Feb 26: "Rice farmers poorest in Asean".
Fighting corruption while ignoring the rice scheme
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 30/01/2014
» Rice farmers are waiting anxiously for money from the government for their pledged crops. And taxpayers are also feeling that they are being robbed in broad daylight by the government which has defiantly dismissed all the warnings about the flaws of the rice-pledging scheme.
Rice scheme tests limits of fiscal prudence
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 09/01/2014
» Imagine this scenario. You want to remodel your kitchen with some new cabinets, floor tiles and appliances, which your contractor will do for 50,000 baht and two days' work.
Changing the political system begins with the citizens
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 19/12/2013
» Incremental progress perhaps, but progress nevertheless. No longer is the public debate about the necessity of political reform, but rather when and in what form. People no longer doubt that political change is a prerequisite before tackling other problems, whether it be economic competitiveness, income inequality or educational reform. No, I believe that we have reached a tipping point, one in which all sides of the social, political and economic spectrum agree that change is necessary and overdue if Thailand is to ever move forward.
How our political landscape became stuck in an ice age
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 28/11/2013
» For much of the past decade, our political agenda has seemingly been frozen in the past. Rather than debate where we are and where we want to go, the focus of the country's main political parties can be simplified into two diametrically opposing positions: How to bring Thaksin Shinawatra home on one hand, and how to erase his influence from policymaking once and for all on the other.
For higher returns, invest in human capital
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 17/10/2013
» The government has clamoured for months about the necessity of its 2-trillion-baht borrowing programme to help modernise our road and rail infrastructure. While many question the approach and methodology of how the programme will be financed, vetted and structured, few doubt that more public investment is sorely needed to support the country's growth over the next several decades.
Cure for ailing farmers worse than the disease
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 15/08/2013
» Since the first Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2001, and all the way to the current Yingluck Shinawatra government, one clear priority for Thailand's political leaders has been the importance of poverty alleviation policies.
The awful truth about rice pledging will out
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 13/06/2013
» The controversial rice-pledging scheme has caused a bad stink. While there is escalating pressure for the government to clarify the scale of the losses suffered by the programme, following warnings by Moody's Investors Service that they might threaten the country's credit rating, the ministers involved have remained tight-lipped.
Day of reckoning nears for flawed rice scheme
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 23/05/2013
» It seems like the line drawn in the sand is fading with each day. Policymakers had previously insisted that the 500-billion-baht allocation to the rice pledging scheme was enough to ensure financial self-sufficiency for the programme.