Mega-projects while all else crumbles?
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For Thailand's far North, the government has babbled about a "four-nation eco-tourism zone", a Chiang Rai special economic zone and a "green city" in its Amphur Muang. We already have "agro-tourism".
Can the Bt2.2-trillion loan mean more than that? I think not. Who would lend it? Even in the currently dubious investment climate, 1 per cent isn’t much inducement. Even if the proposed mega-projects added a million jobs, monies available from tax revenue – provided other populist schemes continue – would still be only about half of what they have been. Cuts to uniformed services? I don’t think so. So crumbling roads won’t get fixed, warehouses for drug mules will be as full as those for rice, fewer will be able to tolerate the long waits at public hospitals, and people will remain poorly educated enough to vote for fools. Sounds like a plan!
Nai Amphoe
Chiang Rai
