• OPINION

  Sizing up the Kra Canal opportunity

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 02/12/2015

  » Thailand and South Korea started implementing accelerated development programmes about the same time as the United States started its urgent quest to land men on the moon. In that quest, the Saturn V rocket was the game changer, for its ability to take a heavy payload, including a moon lander and three astronauts, out of the Earth's gravity to the moon's orbit. It enabled Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land on the moon's surface and return to Earth safely more than four decades ago.

• OPINION

  More effort needed on sufficiency economy

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 07/10/2015

  » Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's trip to New York to attend the United Nations summit generated a great deal of attention among Thais, including those in the United States. Some organised a protest near the United Nations headquarters while many more showed up to express their support. A large number who could not go to New York gathered in Los Angeles to air their views.

• OPINION

  Cabinet shuffle unlikely to kickstart growth

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/08/2015

  » As the economy continues to stagnate, speculation is getting more intense as to when the prime minister will replace some - or perhaps all - ministers in charge of the economy. Changing personnel may pacify the critics, but it is unlikely to change anything for the better. Both external and internal factors are working against any possibility of achieving robust growth in the near future.

• OPINION

  Somkid's stimulus plan an invitation to more debt

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 02/09/2015

  » The cabinet on Tuesday endorsed the emergency economic stimulus package proposed by the new team under the leadership of economic czar Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

• OPINION

  Don't play roulette with Thai society

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 01/07/2015

  » Since the National Council for Peace and Order took the reins of government 13 months ago, Thailand was supposed to be on a path of reform — to make major changes for the better. The National Reform Assembly (NRA), with members chosen from various groups of presumably wise Thais, was set up to put together what needs to be changed.

• OPINION

  Brazil's energy industry woes offer cautionary tales

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 04/03/2015

  » Compared to other leading developing countries, including the big four often grouped together and labeled Bric — Brazil, Russia, India and China — Brazil is much better off and should be doing far better.

• OPINION

  Debt-inequality trap risks being sprung any moment

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/11/2014

  » Last month, the International Monetary Fund issued its latest assessment of the global economy for 2014, lowering the growth rate from 3.7% projected in its previous assessment to 3.3%. The picture is less rosy despite better outlook for the United States - the largest engine of the world economy – that leads the Federal Reserve System to stop pumping massive amounts of money into the economy via quantitative easing, which totaled some $4.5 trillion over the past six years. Gloomier prospects for other economies have been attributed to continued feeble demand.

• OPINION

  Sufficiency economy doesn't mean self-sufficiency

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 03/12/2014

  » Since the head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) announced some six months ago that he would use the sufficiency economy (SE) as the guiding light for governing the country, I again have seen discussions equating SE with self-sufficiency. It's not.

• OPINION

  Pursuit of self-interest will doom the reform effort

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/02/2014

  » Thailand needs urgent reform, according to both the government and the protesters occupying the streets of Bangkok.

• OPINION

  Economy trapped in mire of corruption

  News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 04/09/2013

  » With growth stalling everywhere, including in the middle-income countries and especially the once high-flying Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping, discussions about the nature of the middle-income trap and how to get out of it have again come to the fore.

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