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  • OPINION

    Misguided myopia of asking the rich

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/04/2020

    » Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's initiative to seek more cooperation and assistance from Thailand's 20 wealthiest billionaires is understandable. Thailand needs all the help it can get to handle and manage the social and economic ravages of the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. But making an appeal in writing from the top to the country's richest is short-sighted and misguided on many levels. It displays a government at the end of its tether and a leader who is being forced to own up to mismanaging the country for the past six years.

  • OPINION

    Thailand's central bank dependence

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/02/2024

    » To proponents of central bank independence, the ongoing friction between Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin and Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput appears straightforward. The prime minister is putting unwarranted and unfair pressure on the central bank governor to spur the economy by loosening monetary policy and cutting interest rates. Yet, on closer scrutiny, the entrenched politicisation of central banking in Thailand may suggest otherwise. There is more than meets the eye in the politics of interest rate cuts.

  • OPINION

    The global politics of virus vaccines

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/09/2020

    » It is clear now that Thailand's de facto strategy for handling the coronavirus pandemic is to minimise local infections and wait for a safe and effective vaccine. The recent discovery of just one Thai in a Bangkok suburb who tested positive sent the country into near-panic mode after 100 days of zero local transmissions, similar to the case of an Egyptian military official who visited Rayong province in July and tested positive thereafter.

  • OPINION

    Central bank autonomy must be upheld

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/08/2019

    » When elected governments make noises about economic growth in countries where macroeconomic management is sound and prudent, central bankers tend to quietly bristle and brush off such interference and infringement of monetary space at their own risk. In so doing, central bankers tend to enjoy the support of domestic and international market participants who value central bank independence more than politicians' vested interests, even if it sometimes undercuts their bottom lines. Accordingly, when central bankers go along with the preferences of elected politicians, the conduct of monetary policy comes into question.

  • OPINION

    The anatomy of a very tricky election

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 29/03/2019

    » Thailand's first election in nearly eight years was supposed to bring some closure to a self-appointed military government and clarity to the country's democratic future. Instead, it has generated much controversy and probable continuity for the incumbent military regime with murky political directions ahead. Central to the questions and outcomes surrounding the poll on Sunday is the Election Commission (EC). Its actions and interpretations of events will have much to say about what happens next.

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