Thailand’s main opposition party leading in pre-election surveys unveiled fresh promises to spur an economic rebound and woo voters to end nearly a decade of military-backed rule in the May polls.
(Bloomberg) — Thailand’s main opposition party leading in pre-election surveys unveiled fresh promises to spur an economic rebound and woo voters to end nearly a decade of military-backed rule in the May polls.
Pheu Thai Party, linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was toppled in a 2006 coup, pledged on Friday a minimum household income guarantee and digital cash handouts. At the same time, the party said it will seek to collect 300 billion baht ($8.8 billion) from businesses currently outside of the tax system to help plug the budget deficit.
The party also vowed to turn the country into Southeast Asia’s block-chain and fin-tech hub, make Thai passports more powerful as well as double tourism sector growth, and revoke a mandatory military conscription.
Pheu Thai is seeking to capitalize on Thailand’s uneven post-pandemic recovery, high costs of living and a swollen fiscal gap under the nine-year administration of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, a former army chief. During Prayuth’s term, annual gross domestic product growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy languished below 4.5% while most neighbors expanded at a faster pace.
The guaranteed 20,000 baht monthly income per household announced by Thaksin’s youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra follows a pledge by Pheu Thai to raise the country’s minimum daily wage by about 70%, create 20 million jobs earning at least 200,000 baht in annual income, triple farmers’ earnings and expand agricultural land by 40%.
“This may seem like populism but it will lift the country’s GDP,” said Paetongtarn, who is widely touted to be one of Pheu Thai’s candidates for premiership. “The money that will be spent for this will come from taxes that the government will be able to collect.”
She blamed the high public and household debt on the government of Prayuth, who seized power from her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra in a 2014 coup and retained the top post after a 2019 general election held under a military-backed constitution. “The government has been managing the country one day at a time, not truly understanding the struggles that people face,” she said.
At the same briefing, Srettha Thavisin, Paetongtarn’s chief adviser who is also seen as a potential prime minister candidate, said that if the party wins, all Thais from age 16 will be getting cash in the form of digital coins to cover daily expenses.
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