Charter draft rejection not a worry for the private sector

The sector believes the government will push for the new draft along with the country’s strategic road map as planned. 

“We don’t think this issue will have much of an impact on industry,” said Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries. 

He was confident a new draft would be submitted within 180 days along with the road map.

Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the economy would continue moving forward, although the NRC did not pass the draft. 

“In the short term, there has been no impact on the private sector. But, we have to wait and see in the long run,” he said, adding that he believed peace and order would be good for the country’s trade and investments.

 Issara said if the government could follow its stimulus package – worth Bt130 billion – for the rest of the year, it would help boost economic expansion to reach a growth target of 3 per cent as planned.

Kesara Manchusree, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, declined to give any comment on the issue as it was sensitive to market sentiment. 

“The market sentiment is now in a normal situation. Yet, external factors will soon have to be monitored closely, such as a possible rate hike by the US Federal Reserve,” she said.

 Meanwhile, Anusorn Thammajai, dean of the Faculty of Economics at Rangsit University, said this would be good – but only in the short term – for the country’s economy, as there would be a lower degree of confrontation risk between supporters and opponents of the draft. 

 “If the government after the election is designed to be strong enough and fully-fledged with democracy, this will be rather beneficial to the country,” he said.

 Anusorn said that the Bt130-billion economic stimulus package, although it could help spur the economy in the second half of this year and the beginning of next year, was not sizable – equivalent to less than 1 per cent of the gross domestic product. 

However, he said, that amount could circulate money in the system many times, mainly driven by the state sector’s spending, including financial assistance to the grassroots.