• OPINION

  A tale of liquidity and (too much) debt

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 05/10/2023

  » Before starting the article, I want to convey a message to the government. The message is "Nothing is free; everything has to be paid for". Acting like Santa Claus is nice, but the government should be aware that every handout gift comes with a price tag.

• OPINION

  Will foreign investors still be wooed?

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 28/12/2023

  » This is my last article for 2023. Appropriately, I should write about the 2024 economic outlook but I have decided to postpone that to be the first article of 2024 as the analysis might be too unpleasant to digest right now. However, I will leave a "teaser" for readers to ponder over during the long holidays. As such, I am left with two choices: an article about informal debt -- I estimate outstanding debt to be over 400 billion baht and that it could have strong ties with grey money -- or an article about Thailand's ability to attract foreign investors, as our Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin travels all over the world to attract them. In the end, I opted for the latter.

• OPINION

  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.

• OPINION

  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.

• OPINION

  Deflation might be here, that's not good

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 20/07/2023

  » Read this article well. It will explain the risk of economic recession that Thailand is facing.

• OPINION

  Getting ready for a new economic era

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 01/06/2023

  » Admittedly, I did not vote for Move Forward Party (MFP). I did like the idea of pro-democracy, equality for all, people-centric policies, and de-monopolisation, all of which they espouse.

• OPINION

  Changing Thailand: a series (prologue)

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 23/02/2023

  » Before I start talking economic jargon filled with figures, let me explain Thailand's economic situation in plain language.

• OPINION

  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.

• OPINION

  Economic risks to watch out for in 2023

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 29/12/2022

  » The world will end 2022 with big celebrations. Yet not because of robust economic growth, as growth this year is projected to be only 3.2% -- following the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) recent projections -- compared to 6.0% growth in 2021.

• OPINION

  B600 minimum wage is quite doable

  Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 15/12/2022

  » The most debated economic topic of the month must be Pheu Thai Party's campaign promise to raise the minimum wage to 600 baht per day by 2027, from the current minimum wage of 354 baht.

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