Under the headline “Entrepreneurs happy with performance of CNS, government”, the Thai government’s news agency reports:
On the one-year performance evaluation of the CNS and the government, the survey found they won the entrepreneurs’ satisfaction narrowly regarding the supervision of the baht with a score of 5.2 out of 10 points, national reconciliation with 5.5, solving the southern unrest with 5.8, amending the Foreign Business Act with 5.7, and development of the transport system with 5.6. However, they won the high score of 7.2 points for the implementation of His Majesty the King’s sufficiency economy principle.
As the results are presented in the article, this University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce opinion poll suggests that “sufficiency economy” is the area of governance considered most positively under Thailand’s military regime. Without knowing the details of the survey it is very difficult to say how this conclusion was drawn. However, it does suggest that Thai entrepreneurs are generally less likely to criticise ideas that come from the King than those that they perceive as emerging from the junta.
It is an interesting - although hardly surprising – result.
However, it does open up the field for some more probing questions. For example, is the royal provenance of the sufficiency economy principles enough protection against mediocre polling? Does the ambiguous character of the whole sufficiency project mean that people can agree with it (and with the government’s management of it) regardless of their personal views? Are entrepreneurs really happy with the “sufficiency” economic management of the junta? Or is there some other explanation for the strong approval of the military government’s handling of “sufficiency economy”?
Ideas and comments from New Mandala readers on the results of this survey are very welcome. It would be particularly interesting to hear from readers in Thailand who talk with their friends and associates (entrepreneurial or otherwise) about sufficiency economy. What do they make of its continuing place in the military government’s policy war-chest? Moreover, if any New Mandala readers categorise themselves as a “Thai entrepreneur” it would be great to get your personal reaction to the government’s handling of sufficiency economy, and any of the related issues.
5 responses so far ↓
1 observer // Sep 18, 2007 at 10:12 pm
1) I work in the investment / finance sector in Thailand. I never hear anyone talk about sufficiency economy unless prompted. I remain convinced that no one really knows or cares what it means. Clearly the positive response in the poll has more to do with who initiated the theory than how and if it was implemented (whatever it is and whatever the implementation might look like).
2) I don’t think anyone really believes that the junta is implementing the sufficiency theory. If the poll had asked: What do you think of the junta’s implementation of economic policy? I am sure the results would be far worse than the buzz word-laden version.
3) The government has not implemented a mass transit program at all. It is impossible to be satisfied with it unless you don’t want a mass transit program.
4) We got a briefing on politics and economic this morning that included a strongly worded paraphrasing of the Thai business community’s view of the Junta. Basically, “Awk Pai!”
5) However, the businesses that I deal with are generally larger than those in the Thai Chamber of Commerce and have more beneficial exposure to international trade and capital markets. The Thai Chamber has been the most protectionist and would be expected to be more positive than other business segments.
6) Why are any of us paying attention to a survey done by a third tier Thai University? Even at the best universities these are often done by students sitting in a group on the floor and filling in blanks with different colored pens, or after some seminar. As far as I know, only ABAC and Suan Dusit are considered remotely meaningful.
2 Grasshopper // Sep 19, 2007 at 12:01 am
Observer, you work in the investment sector? Why would you ever hear of anything to do with sufficiency economy in order to make a claim like “I don’t think anyone really believes that the junta is implementing the sufficiency theory.”? Maybe not for you!
Also, this article does not mention how many entrepreneurs were surveyed.
Btw, thanks Nicholas for highlighting Michael Connors blog.
3 Grasshopper // Sep 19, 2007 at 12:50 am
Upon re-reading this, I have completely mis-judged the tone of what you were writing Observer! Apologies :-S
4 Kulap // Sep 19, 2007 at 2:37 am
Andrew–
Are you aware that UTCC does a monthly survey of consumer confidence? I don’t know if the press usually covers the results–but since the beginning of this year it has. Just about every month the index been sliding. I don’t know about August but July had the lowest score in 60 months.
I have no idea about the numbers or survey methods. Thai press stories often admit those. But it’s strange that small entrepreneurs would be so upbeat about the sufficiency economy when they must be hurting the most. The economy has bounced along so well, as everyone knows, because of the good export performance. (Now, wait a minute, that conflicts with a sufficiency economy doesn’t it? Exports and foreign buyers are nasty.)
Most of my interactions are with big business. These executives have been ticked off about mismanagement of the economy since that fiasco with reserve requirements and the stock market last December. After that, the government just never could capture their confidence.
“Sufficiency economy” doesn’t come up in conversation with business people or economists or stock analysts. I do ask NGO people. They say: “Sounds great. We’re all in favor of moderation, but could you give some concrete examples?”
5 observer // Sep 19, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Kulap,
The Thai Chamber of Commerce was one of the leading forces behind the Foriegn Business Act and do seem to be direct, intentional beneficiaries of the junta’s protectionist economic policies. I suspect that the chamber represents a specific subset of Thai businesses that benefit from excluding competition from the economy, rather than being representative of small entrepreneurs as a whole.
Grasshopper,
No pom pem : )
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