Showing 81 - 90 of 107
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.
Claims of Finance Ministry graft jolt our faith
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 26/07/2013
» It's hard to make sense of the headlines last week about the authorities breaking up a gang responsible for defrauding the government out of more than 4.6 billion baht in illicit value-added tax refunds.
Rice, road and rail must all pass the logic test
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 04/07/2013
» It's easy to be cynical about politics and policy when decisions are seemingly made day-by-day, with hardly any rhyme or reason.
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.
Finance maestros face off over infrastructure
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 02/05/2013
» Betrayal and outdated are both terms that have been used in the growing war of words and ideas over the government's ambitious 2-trillion-baht infrastructure programme.
Govt seeks easy way out with spending plan
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 11/04/2013
» Who doesn't wish for a better future, for ourselves and our heirs? That's part of the human condition. I believe most acknowledge and agree with the aims and purposes of the government's 2-trillion-baht infrastructure programme. And why not? Thailand is a developing country, and so we must continue to develop our roads and railways for a better future.
Govt defence of rice Maginot Line can't last
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 21/03/2013
» In late 1996 and early 1997, in the face of a slowing economy, deficits in the budget, trade and current accounts, and weakness in the financial system, the Bank of Thailand insisted that it was ready to go to war.
For SME and Islamic banks, what went awry?
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 28/02/2013
» Plainly speaking, it's been a complete management failure, both inside and out. How else can one frame the fact that two state-controlled banks, the SME Bank and the Islamic Bank of Thailand, are now wrestling with bad loans in excess of 80 billion baht, or over one-quarter of their total outstanding loans? When we consider the fact that their peers in the private sector count their own non-performing loans in the low single digits, and that Thai bank profitability overall is at record highs, the performance of these two institutions looks even worse.
Are Yingluck's populist policies sustainable?
News, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 07/02/2013
» Thailand has certainly endured its share of crises over the past decade, from the 1997 economic crisis to political upheaval and the 2011 floods.