The Government’s economic policies are tailored to favour large corporations at the expense of the poor, resulting in the minority rich becoming richer while the poor get poorer, said party list MP of the now defunct Future Forward party, Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat, during the censure debate on Monday.
As far as GDP (gross domestic product) is concerned, he said that the Thai economy has not reached a critical level yet, but, for the man or woman in the street, the country’s economy is already in a critical condition and worse than during past economic crises.
GDP does not reflect economic reality, as he claimed that the number of poor people in Thailand has increased by two million in the past five years of the administration of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
During the ‘Hamburger Crisis’, between 2006 and 2009, Pita claimed that the number of unemployed reached 140,000, but during the current administration, the number has increased to 170,000, adding that, during the Tom Yum Gung economic crisis, Thailand’s growth rate was 13%, whereas the growth rate of the agricultural sector is now 1.6%.
He noted that the combined wealth of the five super-rich families in Thailand is estimated at about 2.33 trillion baht.
He asked whether it is true that the Prime Minister gave 64 hectares of land in the Makkasan area to the CP Group for development, plus 120 billion baht in government investment, when the group complained that the project to link Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports with a high-speed rail system would be loss-ridden without government support.
He also asked whether the Prime Minister had rushed the auction of the duty-free shop concession, at Suvarnabhumi international airport, because he wanted a specific company to monopolise duty-free operations.
“I cannot trust General Prayuth to remain as Prime Minister for even one more day because the longer he stays, the greater the damage to the country. The country has suffered enough. Current economic management is a disaster. The policies are for the rich, by the rich. This government cannot stay on,” said the party-list MP.
