Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Thailand must manage debt to progress
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 22/01/2026
» This article may be read as a continuation of my previous piece, Year of the Debt. That article focused mainly on household debt, which has already risen beyond the ability of Thai consumers to repay.
Trump's tariff trade war is no accident
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 01/05/2025
» President Donald Trump's tariff policy has received numerous criticisms from various parties, including several Nobel Prize laureates, for being against the economic principles of free trade.
Risk of financial crisis creeps ever closer
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 06/02/2025
» When I started writing this article last week, I said to myself: "This might be another article no one will believe." Financial crisis? You must be out of your mind. The situation seems to be under control and it is likely to improve in 2025. After all, the Ministry of Finance has projected GDP growth for this year to be 2.5% to 3.5%, with a base case of 3.0%. No crisis can happen under such healthy growth, surely.
Thaksin's 'vision' might be outdated
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 05/09/2024
» This article is not meant to diminish the brilliance of the spiritual leader of the Pheu Thai Party, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. It is to demonstrate that, despite his immense knowledge and vast experience, Thailand's current economic problems are caused by structural deficiencies and cannot be resolved by traditional stimulus measures. One needs a good understanding of economic principles to approach the problems correctly.
Digital wallet scheme poses credit risk
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 25/07/2024
» During the debate on the extra-fiscal budget for 2024 of 1.22 billion baht to fund the digital wallet (DW) scheme, the government presented the bright side of the figurative coin. This article will present the dark side of the scheme.
Stark reality behind economic figures
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 16/05/2024
» At the time of writing this, the official Q1 GDP has not been announced by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). I expect the growth figure will be around 1.2%. My own estimation, using the Output Approach and actual sectoral production index, gives a growth figure of 0.98%. Detailed data are in the below table.
2024 financial crisis may be a silent one
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 04/04/2024
» When an economy faces a financial crisis, it can create a big bang like the mass collapse of financial institutions such as during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Thai Tum Yum Kung crisis of 1997, the Japanese financial crisis in late 1997, and the US Hamburger crisis of 2008.
Dear Santa: Please send $14 billion
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 02/11/2023
» What Thailand needs is money, money -- and money. The government needs 560 billion baht to run its 10,000 baht cash handout programme next year, and the country needs (at least) 420 billion baht to prevent the 4th quarter economy from collapsing.
Pheu Thai's cash handouts a likely flop
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 24/08/2023
» The title of this article says it all. Pheu Thai Party's flagship economic stimulus policy of handing out 10,000 baht to all Thais aged above 16 years old, with an estimated cost of 560 billion baht, will most likely fail to stimulate (or jump-start) the economy from the recent economic slump.
Pheu Thai's giveaway might just work
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 20/04/2023
» If one plans to read only one economic analysis article for this year, this is it.