Showing 1 - 10 of 16
2026 will be a year of debt struggles
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 08/01/2026
» Forget GDP growth. Forget tourist arrivals. Forget export figures. In 2026, Thailand's overriding economic challenge will not be growth but debt repayment.
Ability to pay key to debt restructuring
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 03/04/2025
» Last week's earthquake has provided Thais with two valuable lessons. First, Thailand has no national disaster management plan. No government agency seems to have had carefully thought-out plans and procedures to manage the situation. All measures were carried out on an ad-hoc basis. Worse, there appears to be no coordination among various agencies. Thais were left to rely on their own two feet as thousands of Bangkokians had no choice but to walk for hours to their homes when the mass transit railways were shutdown.
Will Thailand's economy cheat death?
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 23/01/2025
» 'He and the other survivors have briefly cheated death, but will not be able to evade their fate for very long." A movie buff will know this comes from Final Destination and the "he" in the quote refers to Alex Browing, the movie's main character.
Trump tariffs spell trouble for Thailand
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 14/11/2024
» Readers must have read a few articles or listened to numerous analyses of US President-elect Donald Trump's trade protectionism policy and its impact on the world economy, particularly China. But this could be the first genuinely economic-oriented analysis of Mr Trump's policy, emphasising issues relevant to Thailand. Readers could find that an economic approach would give new insights into this much talked about topic.
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.
2024 GDP forecast is wishful thinking
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 14/12/2023
» If one thinks 2023 was a not-so-good year for the Thai economy because GDP growth is likely below 2%, 2024 could be worse owing to three major economic risks: liquidity inadequacy, high gasoline price, and high electricity cost.
Signs of economic slowdown alarming
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 12/01/2023
» The Thai government, businesses, and citizens are cherishing the news of returning Chinese tourists with the first group of 286 passengers who arrived on Monday. The Tourism Authority of Thailand estimates that 5 million Chinese tourists will visit our country this year, bringing with them 250 billion baht in spending money. I have two comments on this joyful news. Firstly, the ban on the sale of outbound group and package travel imposed by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Jan 27, 2020, is still in effect. There is no telling when this ban will be relaxed or lifted. Second, the mass arrival of Chinese tourists was already factored into the World Bank's GDP growth projections. The Bank projected that the Thai economy would grow by 3.6% in 2023. To achieve such growth, the arrival of 22.4 million foreign tourists, with 6.2 million from China, was assumed.
Demand destruction the new buzzword
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 11/08/2022
» On Feb 23, a day before Russia invaded Ukraine, the world crude oil price was US$90.60 (3,221 baht) per barrel. Russian oil supply disruption and demand recovery from Covid-19 dragged the crude oil price to almost $120 at the end of May, after the US and European central banks sent strong signals that they would rapidly increase interest rates to contain inflation, despite the cost of a further economic slowdown.
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.
When an economist meets a psychic
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 04/02/2021
» I enjoy reading prophecies. There is one thing fortune tellers and economists have in common: they make predictions. As an economist, I use my knowledge, theories and actual data, to check whether these prophecies make economic sense.