Showing 1 - 10 of 11
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.
Is a return to gold standard possible?
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 11/12/2025
» We are now in the middle of the holiday season. Therefore, I will refrain from writing about heavy and depressing issues like the Thai economy and the outlook for 2026 and beyond. In this moment of joy, I will write about the possibility of returning to the gold standard, which some supporters say can be seen in central banks aggressively buying gold bullion to replace the dubious US dollar. The last article of the year will be about the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
The two ways to satisfy Trump on trade
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 10/07/2025
» I am terribly sorry for miscalculating the US's reciprocal tariff for Thailand at 35% in my previous article, when the actual rate imposed by Mr Trump on Monday was 36%.
Household debt plan has many flaws
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 28/11/2024
» It is unanimously agreed that household debt is one of the major economic problems of Thailand. Non-performing loans (NPL) from household debt amount to 1.2 trillion baht according to the National Credit Bureau (NCB). If it includes Special Mentioned (SM) debt (31-90 days of default), the bad debt level would rise to 1.7 trillion baht, or about 12.3% of total household debt outstanding.
Better options to govt's cash handout
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 19/10/2023
» The 10,000-baht cash handout scheme has been under heavy criticism. More than 100 economists, led by two ex-Bank of Thailand governors, oppose the scheme that would bring more harm than good.
Expect inflation to worsen, not lessen
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 21/04/2022
» The economic theory is clear. Inflation always precedes a recession. Investors also think similarly. A recent Market Live Poll conducted by Bloomberg shows that 15% of investors are expecting a US recession to begin in 2022, 48% in 2023, 21% in 2024 and 16% looking at 2025 or later. Deutsch Bank also believes the US economy could face a recession in 2023.
Oil price volatility demands tax rethink
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 24/03/2022
» We are living in a time of unprecedented oil price volatility. On Feb 8, the world oil price (WTI Crude) was a little less than US$90 (3,030 baht) per barrel (dpb), but a month later the price jumped violently to 124 dpb.
Thai economy unlikely to rebound soon
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 30/09/2021
» As 44.5% of the world population has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, most economies are looking forward to a return to pre-pandemic economic levels by 2022. Thailand is certainly one of them. We beat the global average with 45.7% of our population receiving the first dose and 26.4% receiving both doses. The government set a target that by year-end, more than 70% of the population will be fully vaccinated, including third booster doses. Will we see a return to the normal economic activities of 2019 by next year? The answer is not yet, and, worse, maybe never.
This could get worse before it improves
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 16/07/2020
» This is not the first time the world has faced economic dangers but the Covid-19 outbreak is by far the most devastating. I have a feeling that it could beat the legendary 1930s Great Depression. There are many questions to ask, particularly about the future of the world and the Thai economy. I'd like to raise three questions as follows:
'Debt Jubilee' a stop-gap for demand ills
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 06/06/2019
» Today's article is about a type of "Helicopter Money" policy to boost domestic demand which could be suitable for the Thai economy, at least for the time being.