Showing 1 - 10 of 12
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.
Data paints economy as 'black hole'
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 12/12/2024
» I am known for being pessimistic about the Thai economy. Apart from encouraging official economic growth figures of 1.6% in Q1, 2.2% in Q2, and 3.0% in Q3, I do not think anyone can be optimistic about the economy. It is obvious that GDP data and the actual economic situation do not go hand in hand. It is beyond my comprehension that the non-performing loan (NPL) level rose 14.1% in Q3 while the economy expanded 3.0%. Shouldn't it be the opposite when debtor's income rises?
Making sense of performance figures
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 31/10/2024
» I have the duty of reviewing quarterly economic performances and making economic growth projections for a private research firm.
Thaksin's 'vision' might be outdated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.
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.
Structural flaws impede our economy
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 21/03/2024
» It took Japan 17 years to learn that a macroeconomic policy is for stabilising an economy, not stimulating growth. Due to low economic growth in the "lost decade" following the financial crisis in the autumn of 1997, the Bank of Japan adopted an unthinkable monetary policy of a negative interest rate in 2007 by pushing the short-term policy rate down to -0.1%.
Time to stop making empty promises
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 07/03/2024
» The Nikkei 225 Index just broke 40,000, surpassing the record high of 1989. The stellar stock market performance happened amid the fact that Japan's economy is officially in recession after two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
World faces prospect of financial tumult
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 23/03/2023
» Today, I was supposed to present the third article, Managing Household Debt, in the series "Changing Thailand". In fact, I have finished drafting a payment reduction model which could reduce monthly debt payments by 4.6 times without the hair-cutting debt principal or requiring government financial support. But I will delay that article for now.
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.
New lockdown bodes economic misery
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 07/01/2021
» My first article of the year cannot be about anything but the Covid-19 lockdown. Actually, I planned to write about the two-month disappearance of the world-famous Jack Ma -- founder of Alibaba and Alipay. He has an innovative idea to revolutionise the Chinese financial system but his revolutionary idea was not agreeable with Chinese authorities and caused him to "disappear". What interests me is not China's internal affairs. But his idea, once put into use, will revolutionise the global economy as well. Milton Friedman (a Nobel Prize laureate in Economics and the father of monetary policy) and his Optimum Quantity of Money theory will become useless. His idea, if taken far enough, might be able to pull the world economy out of the Covid slump. Sound interesting? Readers have to wait until my next article, which will come in two weeks' time.