BANGKOK – Leading businessmen and academics attended the Prachachat Business Forum to share their perspectives on the topic “Unlock Thailand.” The event took place in two sessions on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at the Pullman Bangkok Hotel.
Revoke outdated laws
The important key to unlocking Thailand is to know that the country needs to revoke outdated laws that hinder economic progress, said Somkiat Tangjitvanich, President of the Thailand Development Research Institute.
Somkiat said laws and regulations such as requiring foreigners in Thailand to report to immigration police every 90 days hinder economic development because it discourages foreigners working in Thailand. The government should instead seek to ensure a climate of ease of doing business. He estimates that around 30 to 40 percent of laws and regulations need to be abolished.
Two other suggestions are to abolish the education system based on rote memorization which induces people to think alike, hindering the development of arts and science. “The Thai education system has always been terrible and if this continues it’s hard for us to prosper,” Somkiat said.
He said the third issue is that the government must learn from the past. He casts doubt on the Srettha government’s proposed Landbridge project and the 10,000 baht digital wallet handouts are not worth the money to be borrowed and spent.
The academic claimed that previous cash handouts in some countries, including Thailand, were ineffective at boosting the economy, especially given that they would increase the level of public debt. “Please consider carefully,” he urges.
Deal with VUCA
Athid Nanthawithaya, CEO of SCBX PCL, said Thai society will have to try to be able to work out their political differences without stalling each and every new administration. He said political distrust runs deep no matter who is in power. This, he adds, will require that all sides accept common rules in order to allow the government to work.
Under the changing world, Athid stated that problems such as geopolitics, climate change, and disruptive technologies contribute to the result of the word “VUCA” (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), which Thais would also have to deal with to assure business achievement and growth.
“There is no real success because you have to continually adjust yourself. If you stop walking then you start declining. You must run fast and have endurance.” he said.
SCBX values AI since it has the potential to impact the world in the future. As a result, there is a course for 20,000 employees to attend in order to gain the skills needed to work in the technological field. At the same time, the original corporate structure must be preserved while focusing on investment. Effective cost management enables sustained growth.
A Metropolis of Asia
Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, CEO of Frasers Property Ltd., predicts that the next ten years would be more challenging as global growth slows. However, he believes Thailand still has a lot of promise, as the government aims to become a metropolis of Asia.
As a result, Frasers Group has organised its businesses in accordance with government policy, with seven projects currently in the works to complement the city, including one in Bangkok that will contribute significantly to the development of a new central business district around Rama IV Road. They already have significant buildings, such as the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre and Samyan Mitrtown.
Highlights include a pedestrian boulevard that’s 250 metres in length and 33 metres wide next to Lumpini Park and planted with golden trees that will bloom every April and will attract people year round.
Panote added that One Bangkok project will not only be a smart city when opens late this year but will become an important part of Bangkok and Thailand, and placemaking project that inspires users with art installations, and more, dotting the group of mixed use buildings with two million square metres of space. It will also be a green area that helps reduce the heat in the area.
Improve the education
Thailand should speed up rail links between China and Thailand as well as other ASEAN member states because it will boost the kingdom’s position as a logistic hub in the ASEAN region, said Suphachai Chearavaranont, CEO of Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group.
Without naming the country, Suphachai said a superpower is not supportive of the move so the name should be changed to Thailand-ASEAN railway instead. the CEO of CP said Thailand’s strategic location is a “God given gift”.
He added Thailand’s export is growing again and factory workers are employed and these are good indications for 2024. But the country needs to improve on many fronts including a better and more extensive irrigation system that if done could increase agricultural yield of the kingdom by ten fold, attract more foreign skilled workforce like Singapore and push the kingdom into becoming a tech and digital hub.
Challenges include the need to address economic inequality where many poor and elderly people have no life insurance.
The government, Suphachai added, must set a benchmark for its works, improve the education system, empower citizens through digital technology and enable each student to have a computer in order to aid their learning process.
Singapore, he said, has attracted 50,000 startups while Thailand only has 1,000. Leading Thai universities, said Suphachai, should focus on excelling in specific fields, such as Kasetsart University can be a leader in biotech while King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology at Ladkrabang focus on robotics.
Twists And Turns
Former Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said on Wednesday Thailand should be impartial but firm in dealing with China and the US and other foreign states. Surakiart, who was speaking at Prachachat Business Forum 2024 yesterday cited Singapore as an example in its willingness to side with the US when it benefits them and with China when it aligns with Singapore’s national interest. On Myanmar, Surakiart said it’s time for the government to establish contact with ethnic groups fighting the Burmese junta because they could one day be in power.
Without going into details, Surakiart, who was also a former Deputy PM under PM Thaksin Shinwatra, said the Srettha government made some mistakes in the early days of the Israel-Hamas conflicts causing some of its foreign friends to be disappointed. On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said the Thai government should have had the courage to tell Russia that the invasion was wrong.
Surakiart predicts that 2024 will be volatile and the Thai tourism industry could be heavily affected if a terror attack happens elsewhere but affects international travel and tourism.
“We live in a world without order. Today’s world is entering a period that is more than merely volatile. It is poised to turn a corner into twists and turns,” said his son, Santitarn Sathirathai, an economist at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).
There are three areas that greatly affect the Thai economy and business: fierce war, fierce competition, and ASEAN standing out as not being overly hostile to anyone. International companies that want to avoid risks plan to invest more in ASEAN.
The future economy will have numerous dimensions, but the three main ones are the related to technology war, the green economy war, and the talent war.
He sees opportunity for ASEAN and India if international disputes continue, as they are not clearly aligned with either side, have a combined population of 2 billion, and are seeing reasonably strong economic growth.
Seriously, use of AI
Wifi access to the internet should be a public good provided by the government to all Thais in order for people to make the most of technologies and the arrival of AI, said Jirayut Srupsrisopa, founder and CEO of Bitkub Capital Group Holdings.
“The change in the world from the advancement of AI is not just a temporary change but has a huge impact on every industry, including the knowledge and skills of the world’s population,” he said.
Co-speaker Parith Rungsimanond co-founder and executive at Looloo Technology said Thai workforce and businesses will need to retrain themselves to make the most of AI-related apps. Parith said artificial intelligence is a harbinger of a new revolution not unlike that of the invention of light bulbs.
World-class products
A company needs perseverance and consistency in order to create a world-class brand and it cannot be done within three to five years, said Sathian Sathianthamma, CEO of energy-drink Carabao Group Public Company.
He said in the end, the product must be a quality product as well. The company has sponsored the Carabao Football Cup (formerly EFL Cup) in the UK since 2017 because the UK is a large market for energy drinks and football is a global sport. The company also signed a sponsorship with Chelsea Football Club as the official training wear partner in 2015.
He admits that expanding the sale of its energy drink in the UK was tough because Carabao is a relative newcomer and some consumers identify it with Chelsea FC so they won’t buy it if they root for another team.
Sathian admits that although the company has been sponsoring Carabao Cup for over a decade now, the sale of its energy drink in the UK and Europe have yet to meet the target but it will continue to use the strategy as it sees the sponsorship as the best way to eventually penetrate the markets around the world.
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