Bangkok Post (19 Nov 2007)
Phetchaburi - Six of 10 members of provincial chambers of commerce believe the new government to come after the Dec 23 general election will last more than two years, but believe it will take a year for business to start to pick up, a new poll showed on Sunday.
In a survey conducted among 379 Thai business leaders during the two-day annual meeting of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) which ended on Sunday in this central resort province, 27.5 per cent of the respondents said they believed the new multi-party coalition government would last only a year.
Regarding the country's economy, the business people were generally pessimistic, but believe that economy will start to improve in the last quarter of 2008 due to sluggish exports during the first three quarters.
They said that the new government must boost domestic consumption and invest in the country's scheduled mega-projects.
In terms of a regional basis, representatives from the South have less confidence regarding the future administration. They believe that whatever post-election government is formed will be shortlived, lasting as little as three months and unlikely to survive for more than a year.
Almost 6 of 10 respondents - 58.75 per cent - also said the political parties contesting upcoming election are focussing too much on populist policies which offered promises to the rural poor to match or exceed those made by the previous government of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The business community is expressing concern regarding the implications for both the economy and the politics if strongly populist policies are implemented without the economic or political means to follow through on the promises on a long-term basis.
One in four - 25.58 per cent of the participants - at the weekend meeting that the new government will concentrate on national education, 20 per cent on removing corruption, almost 16 per cent on resolving poverty and almost 12 per cent on managing energy. (TNA)
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