Thaksin wins plaudits for his model to cut poverty

14/11/2009
Anucha Charoenpo
Bangkok Post

PHNOM PENH : Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra won plaudits from local businesspeople and high-ranking state officials responsible for the economy for his model to reduce poverty in Cambodia.

Thaksin on Thursday gave a presentation about how the country could go about tackling its economic woes to some 300 businessmen, government officials and civil servants.

''After hearing his presentation, I hope he can help Cambodia a lot,'' said Nang Sothy, president of Thy Holding Group.

Thaksin's presentation was impressive. It drew on his skills and experiences as both a corporate chief and a former prime minister who helped Thailand recover from the 1997 financial crisis, Nang Sothy said.

The recent appointment of Thaksin as an adviser to the Cambodian government has caused relations with Thailand to deteriorate sharply.

''As a businessman, I don't care so much about political or diplomatic problems,'' said Nang Sothy.

''Our economy is recovering. We don't care about the problems that are happening. I hope he (Thaksin) will come back again to help us.''

In Channy, president of Acleda Bank, said Thaksin's advice was knowledgeable and practical.

Thaksin talked about how the capitalist economy would survive and encouraged the Cambodian government to focus on priority sectors, such as the promotion of tourism, In Channy said.

Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia should work together more closely to promote tourism, but each country must have its own plan to develop the industry's infrastructure, Thaksin was quoted as saying.

Thaksin was a very practical man, said Chea Garoda, editor of the Koh Santepheap Daily.

''If we can do just half as much as what he was saying in there, Cambodia and Thailand would benefit quite a lot,'' said Chea Garoda.

Chea Garoda said Thaksin pledged he would return to Cambodia again at some point in the future to talk to a small group of executives from each business sector, especially about the tourism and agriculture industries.

''What he (Thaksin) said is quite genuine and we hope that we can achieve whatever he was saying,'' he said. ''And both countries (Thailand and Cambodia) can benefit from each other.''

Hang Lina, deputy director-general of the Planning Ministry's National Institute of Statistics, said Thaksin would be able to solve Cambodia's economic problems.

''I like the way he used to do in Thailand,'' she said.

Thaksin to give lecture

Nov 12, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - THAKSIN Shinawatra was set to deliver a lecture in his new role as Cambodia's economic adviser on Thursday, amid tensions over Phnom Penh's refusal to extradite the fugitive former Thai premier.

The billionaire, ousted in a 2006 coup and living abroad to avoid jail for graft, planned also to visit the famed Angkor Wat temple and may play golf with Cambodian premier Hun Sen in the afternoon, said cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan.

Cambodia outraged Thailand by refusing its request to extradite Thaksin on Wednesday, saying the charges on which the ousted Thai leader had been sentenced in absentia to two years in prison were politically motivated.

Thaksin, slated to give a lecture to over 300 experts at the country's finance ministry Thursday morning, has pledged to help Cambodians understand finance, reduce poverty and lure more foreign investment.

He has been warmly received by close ally Hun Sen, although Cambodian officials have said he will only stay in the country for two or three days and is not intending to live there. When Thai diplomats handed over papers for Thaksin's extradition on Wednesday, Cambodian officials promptly handed them back a formal refusal letter.

In Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva condemned Cambodia's refusal to send Thaksin back, and said that he had halted aid programmes for the neighbouring country, which is still impoverished after decades of war.

Thaksin hopes to make use of sufficiency plan [-Didn't Sihanouk use that plan in the 60s?]

Ex-PM sees Thai scheme benefitting Cambodians

12/11/2009
Bangkok Post

PHNOM PENH : Thaksin Shinawatra plans to introduce His Majesty the King's sufficiency economy to Cambodia in a bid to eradicate poverty, the former prime minister says.

"We will discuss poverty eradication [and] how the poor can use sufficiency economy, the philosophy of His Majesty the King of Thailand, to make the poor in Cambodia understand the concept," Thaksin said on Cambodian television yesterday.

The former prime minister and now economic adviser to the Cambodian government has come in for heavy criticism following an interview with The Times of London's online section in which he made mention of the future of the monarchy.

Thaksin sent a letter of protest to The Times on Tuesday saying he was disappointed with the "misleading article" and insisted he was very loyal to the monarchy.

He appeared on Cambodia's TVK television channel for an hour yesterday from a private residence of Prime Minister Hun Sen in Takhmua district, Kandal province, 15 kilometres from Phnom Penh.

Thaksin said he would help businessmen, senior officials and ministers to understand a capitalist economy, especially the financial sector, which had to be strengthened.

He said he would also try to generate more foreign investment in Cambodia and make amendments to obsolete laws.

Thaksin assured that both Cambodia and Thailand would benefit greatly from his advisory model.

He said every country, especially those in this region, should hold economic dialogues and help each other improve each other's economies.

"Whatever I said was opposed by the [Abhisit Vejjajiva] government," Thaksin said.

"Now I gather my experience. I really would like to help my neighbour [Cambodia].

"This is like helping my people indirectly because my neighbour here can have more purchasing power to buy Thai products."

Thaksin promised to create more jobs in Cambodia so its people did not resort to illegal labour in Thailand. "In this modern world you have to understand [economic cooperation]," he said. "No one can live in isolation; we have to connect with one another regardless of who they are."

Thaksin said he accepted the position of Cambodia's economic adviser because one of the Asean agreements states that Asean must help new members - namely Laos, Burma and Cambodia.

"Cambodia has gross domestic product of only 3.1%, so the country needs help."

Thaksin also expressed concern that he could not help Thailand solve its economic problems even though he had the ability.

Since his administration was toppled in a coup on Sept 19, 2006, he had been travelling and giving advice to countries in Africa, Central America and the Pacific islands, he said.

"Now they [the Abhisit government] revoked my passport, took away my police rank and royal decorations, and tried to pressure me every way," he said.

The Council of State ruled last month Thaksin should be stripped of his police rank and royal decorations after his conviction last year on corruption charges, but no further action has been taken.

Former Thai PM lands in Cambodia

Tuesday, 10 November 2009
BBC News

Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has landed in the Cambodian capital to take up a job as economic adviser to the government.

He was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail in neighbouring Thailand in a conflict of interest case.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen offered Mr Thaksin the advisory post on the eve of a regional summit hosted by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The Thai government has expressed anger and embarrassment about the deal.

Ties between Cambodia and Thailand have been tense in recent months as disputes around a cross-border temple complex have flared.

Cross-border cross-ness

Mr Thaksin exited a small private airplane at Phnom Penh International Airport and was then escorted into the Cambodian capital by a convoy of cars under tight security, said an AFP photographer at the scene.

"Thaksin is now in Cambodia. He flew in on a special flight and just landed at the military airport," said Khieu Kanharith, Cambodian information minister and the top government spokesman.

"We are looking forward to learning from Thaksin's great economic experience and we are convinced that his experience will contribute to our country's economic development," he said.

Mr Thaksin, a former telecoms billionaire, is in self-imposed exile and spends much of his time in Dubai.

He is scheduled to give a lecture on Thursday to 300 economists at the ministry of finance.

Thailand's government is outraged at the Cambodian move, and at Cambodia's apparent rejection of Thailand's judicial imperative to send Mr Thaksin to jail.

The Thai government and its supporters also fear that Mr Thaksin could use his new home just across the border as a campaign base.

Mr Abhisit's government was appointed after defections in parliament followed a period of military rule since the coup in 2006 which deposed Mr Thaksin.

It recalled its ambassador from Cambodia over its appointment of Mr Thaksin after Cambodia would refuse to extradite the tycoon because it considered him a victim of political persecution.

A government spokesman told the BBC that Cambodia valued Mr Thaksin's leadership qualities and business experience and that he would be an asset to the country.

Thaksinomics, Redux

February 22, 2008
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA

Thailand's new Prime Minister this week gave some indication of his government's planned economic policies and it's back to the future. By promising to revive Keynesian economics, Samak Sundaravej is hearkening back to "Thaksinomics," the populist agenda that endeared former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to rural voters. While politically that might seem a savvy move, economically speaking it's a big mistake.

Mr. Samak has yet to lay out all the details of his plan, but here's what we know so far: On Monday, he delivered a policy statement to Parliament outlining his government's priorities. Citing the subprime crisis and rising inflationary pressures, Mr. Samak wants to lay the "groundwork for stable and sustainable growth," shift Thailand's manufacturing sector to higher-end products and attract foreign investment.

By using words such as "growth" and "foreign investment," Mr. Samak is distinguishing himself from the former military junta, which had a distinct disdain for both. But Mr. Samak's first order of business isn't serious structural economic reform. Like Mr. Thaksin's administration, the Samak government would prime the fiscal pump by expanding state health-care coverage, giving money to "village funds," building public housing, backing megainfrastructure projects, providing soft loans to small and medium-sized businesses, and imposing a debt moratorium for farmers. And that's just a partial list of his spending plans.

It's hard to estimate how much Mr. Thaksin spent on his Keynesian adventure, given that some of those projects weren't included on the federal government's balance sheet but, rather, funded through state banks. Rough estimates put Thaksinomics outlays around 100 billion baht ($3 billion) a year. Mr. Samak has mentioned "mega-projects" of 500 billion baht. That's big money for a central government whose total projected revenue for 2007 was 1.5 trillion baht.


The irony here is that Thaksinomics was never a great success. Mr. Thaksin's hodge-podge spending projects didn't do much to upgrade the country's export sector, attract foreign investment or boost overall economic growth. Rather, Thailand under Thaksin -- like much of the rest of Asia -- enjoyed the flood of investment dollars created by the U.S. Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan and the upswing in export demand from the U.S., Europe and the rest of the region. As Thai exports soared, so did tax revenue.

That's not the external environment that Thailand faces today. The Fed may again be flooding the world with dollars, but as the Prime Minister notes, inflationary pressures are mounting. Thailand's consumer confidence is recovering after the military junta's economic mismanagement but it is still fragile. Foreign investment in Thailand lags that of its Asian peers. Couple that with shaky financial markets, and there's no guarantee Thailand will enjoy robust investment or buoyant export demand this year.

Mr. Samak's newly elected government would serve its constituents better if it kept its spending promises constrained and focused on making Thailand an easier place to do business. It could start by cutting corporate and personal income taxes, getting rid of all capital controls and reinvigorating free trade talks. Rather than borrowing money to increase the government deficit, Mr. Samak could aim for a balanced budget.

It's possible that the Prime Minister wants to cement his government's popularity with its rural voter base before turning to reform. But as any Japanese politician could tell you, once a government starts down a road of handouts and infrastructure spending promises, it's hard to turn back.