Leading Thai economist blames inequality for Thailand’s ills

[mehrdad]

Only beauty words !!!

nothing change with stupidity decisions!! 

[sambum]

19 hours ago, worgeordie said:

100 % true.....but nothing is going to change,anytime soon.

regards worgeordie

I am from the UK, and he first things I noticed when I first came to Thailand was the ready Thai smile, and the fact that one could be sitting having conversation over a beer with a millionaire on one side of you, and a dustman the other, and you wouldn't know the difference because no one was bragging about how big his house/car/swimming pool/bank account was.

 

How things HAVE changed. In many cases, the ready Thai smile has gone, and on ThaiVisa we have my fellow countrymen saying that if you can't afford a "paltry" 800,000 baht to be kept in a Thai bank account, you shouldn't be here.

 

So change is not always for the better!

[mommysboy]

Unless there is another reinvention of consumerism, which seems unlikely, then yes there are some really big problems ahead that can only be mitigated by some sort of social politics.

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[fordguy61mi]

And the poisoning of liberalism and “social justice” creeps into Southeast Asia. Sad.

[Jack P]

Sounds more like a Marxist political economy prof than a real economist. Government handouts for the poor, make them all wards of the state.

[tgw]

the problem is that leftists confuse "equality of opportunity" (good) with "egalitarism" (bad)

 

countries need a wealth tax, applicable to both companies and individuals, whose tax would be compounded with income tax.

[garyk]

I have an ex girlfriend in Thailand that I was with for years. She makes over a million Baht a year easy. Not much by western standard but she was in good shape in Thailand. As her income increased the change was unreal. I though the women in America were bad but she turned into a first class witch about money..  But, where she is from very few people make that and she was elevated to a prominent woman in the village. It went to her head... Haha.  

Actually I don't see any difference in America than in Thailand as far as money is concerned. 

The inequality is about the same IMO. 

[Odysseus123]

22 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I think the fact she's stood up and stated the problem is very surprising - and good.

 

The solution is in the hands of those behind the muppets who appear to be running the country.

 

For Pasuk Phongpaichit to say what needs to be done, will, in my opinion, get her into a lot of trouble. So your comment 'typical Thai' is a pretty pointless jibe at someone who's had the guts to say what she's said so far.

Agreed-100%!

[MiNombreEsFicticious]

On 9/13/2019 at 7:46 AM, nobodysfriend said:

That is right !

Scientists should replace politicians .  .

This place needs to be run by foreigners for a long while; i.e. McKinsey consultants with 100% free reign to do whatever they feel is necessary to save the basket case. There are talented consultants with vast experience doing huge reorganizations of failed enterprises, which we have here in said country. You don't let the people who broke everything be in charge of fixing it. 

[gk10002000]

It is one of the more stratified societies I have experienced, and the way that subordinates are discouraged from giving feedback or talking with their superiors seems stifling sometimes

[tso310]

On 9/13/2019 at 1:59 AM, bluesofa said:

I think the fact she's stood up and stated the problem is very surprising - and good.

 

The solution is in the hands of those behind the muppets who appear to be running the country.

 

For Pasuk Phongpaichit to say what needs to be done, will, in my opinion, get her into a lot of trouble. So your comment 'typical Thai' is a pretty pointless jibe at someone who's had the guts to say what she's said so far.

She has long been a critic of many administrations whether it was Thaksin or the military about the obvious inequalities within Thailand and the failure to properly address them.

[phungo]

The biggest obstacle to wealth is big government and liberalism. Not capitalism which has lifted millions of people OUT of poverty globally.

maybe your heart is in the right place, but your statement is obscene ignorance.

[sunnyboy2018]

On 9/12/2019 at 4:43 PM, Enzian said:

She makes it sound easy, as though it were only a matter of economics and will and public policy, the kind of public policy that "nudges" people in the right direction. But inequality is part of the fabric of Thai culture, it's expressed in the unspoken hierarchy in which everyone has a designated place on the ladder, it's the worldview which makes everyone feel they belong and are secure. How do you change that without removing some part of every person's identity? 

Its not just unspoken.  It is forbidden to speak about. The highest elite support quasi fascist military who are reinforced by Buddhist extremists as do the Whahabists in Saudi. Thailand is going the way of Burma.