BANGKOK, Thailand – People’s Party MP Anusorn Tamajai has warned that Thailand’s four-pillar economic strategy could fall short of its goals unless the country develops its own technology, reforms state agencies and tackles corruption more seriously.
Anusorn, a Bangkok MP and vice chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Fiscal Affairs, Financial Institutions and Financial Markets, said the government’s economic strategy must go beyond attracting investment and focus on creating lasting benefits for Thailand and its people.
The government’s four-pillar framework includes the Future Investment Hub, aimed at making Thailand a centre for future investment; the Trade and Service Engine, covering quality tourism, wellness and food security; the Human Capital Engine, focused on developing the workforce; and the Government Effectiveness Engine, aimed at improving public-sector efficiency and moving Thailand toward high-income status within 12 years.
Anusorn said the investment pillar would be difficult to achieve if investors lack confidence in Thailand’s legal system or believe they must pay bribes to government officials or politicians.
He also warned that Thailand’s agricultural and food sectors face declining competitiveness due to shortages of skilled workers, rising production costs and insufficient investment in crop and agricultural technology. Heavy dependence on imported chemical fertilisers has added to the sector’s challenges.
Human capital development also faces serious obstacles, he said, pointing to corruption in educational institutions and alleged cheating in recruitment examinations for local government employees and Interior Ministry officials. Anusorn said weakening ethical standards in the civil service, combined with declining public confidence in independent organisations and the justice system, could become early warning signs of state failure. He also raised concerns about Chinese business groups allegedly using Thailand to obtain export privileges without making substantial investments or creating genuine production capacity in the country.
Some companies, he said, may import nearly finished products and carry out only minor modifications in Thailand before claiming Thai production status and taking advantage of investment incentives or export quotas. Thailand therefore needs stricter checks on whether processing carried out locally creates significant value and genuinely benefits the Thai economy, he said.
Anusorn also called for reform of the Board of Investment (BOI) and its performance indicators. He argued that current KPIs largely measure whether investors qualify for tax incentives, but do not adequately assess what Thailand and Thai citizens gain from those investments. He said BOI tax incentives for factory construction and investment should be more carefully managed, with clear requirements covering employment, technology transfer and domestic value creation.
According to Anusorn, BOI corporate income tax exemptions have averaged around 70 billion baht annually in recent years. He said the value of these incentives should be assessed against both direct economic benefits and longer-term spillover effects. He cited BOI figures showing that 67.066 billion baht in corporate income tax exemptions in 2024 were associated with more than 600 billion baht in investment and about 80,000 jobs for Thai workers. However, he questioned whether the figures sufficiently demonstrate genuine technology transfer and the development of domestic technological capabilities.
Anusorn said countries including China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia have been more successful than Thailand in turning investment promotion into technology development. He attributed part of the difference to the quality of human capital and education systems capable of absorbing and developing imported technology.
He said Thailand must therefore reconsider how investment-related tax policy is structured so that incentives produce greater benefits for the broader economy and the Thai public. Anusorn also urged the government to prepare additional funding to deal with floods and droughts linked to increasingly severe climate variability. He said climate policy must address both the causes and consequences of climate change. Thailand needs to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and limit the effects of global warming while also helping businesses and households adapt to increasingly unpredictable weather.
Climate change, he said, is partly driven by human activity, ranging from heavy industrial production to everyday consumption patterns. Rising greenhouse-gas concentrations are contributing to higher global temperatures and increasing risks from extreme weather, including heatwaves, droughts and severe flooding.
Anusorn called on the public to use cleaner energy, conserve electricity, choose fuel-efficient or non-fossil-fuel vehicles, recycle and reuse products, reduce unnecessary consumption, plant trees and protect forests and watersheds. Thailand’s broader investment strategy is also moving toward digital technology, AI, human-capital development and regulatory reform, reflecting growing recognition that competitiveness depends on more than simply attracting foreign capital. (english.news.cn)
