Three parties pitch reforms to reboot Thailand’s economy

Thailand’s economy is facing mounting pressure from entrenched structural weaknesses, tightening fiscal room and geopolitical turbulence, prompting calls for a major overhaul as growth risks sliding to its lowest level in three decades outside crisis years.

In a “Deep Talk” forum hosted by Krungthep Turakij, economic representatives from Pheu Thai, the People’s Party and the Democrat Party presented competing proposals aimed at creating new economic “engines” and breaking what they described as long-running constraints on Thai growth.

People’s Party: plug fiscal leaks, cut corruption, build open commerce

Sirikanya Tansakun, deputy leader of the People’s Party, said the government is operating under serious “fiscal space” constraints at a time when stimulus is needed. She said that while deficits previously ran above 3% of GDP, the economy was not slowing as sharply as it is now, with some analysts warning 2026 growth could be the weakest in 30 years.

She said that for fiscal year 2027, the budget totals roughly 3 trillion baht, but after routine spending and repeated revenue shortfalls are accounted for, only around 700 billion baht remains as genuine policy space.

To improve state revenue efficiency, she said the party prioritises closing corruption “leaks”, particularly in procurement, by using AI to analyse bidding and pricing patterns — an approach she said could bring in more than 100 billion baht, noting that a 1% rise in VAT would generate only about 80 billion baht.

On the informal economy, Sirikanya said the sector ranges from “clean white” to “black and grey” activities requiring different approaches. She highlighted a “tax lottery” incentive for informal businesses, allowing people to collect receipts worth 500 baht to exchange for a three-digit lottery draw. She also proposed easing VAT concerns for SMEs by lifting the registration threshold from 1.8 million baht in annual revenue to 3.6 million baht, and allowing VAT-registered firms to deduct annual accounting costs or staff upskilling expenses.

For digital policy, she said the state should become a “platform” rather than running countless disconnected apps, while also pushing an Open Commerce Network (OCN) model — drawing lessons from India — to reduce platform intermediary fees by more than 50% and help small merchants reach customers without relying on foreign-owned e-commerce giants.

Pheu Thai: fix fiscal constraints, tackle debt, push digital finance tools

Paophum Rojanasakul, deputy leader of Pheu Thai, said fiscal space in the medium-term fiscal framework depends heavily on realistic assumptions for economic growth and inflation. He said inflation forecasts have often been too low, and that the Finance Ministry has been discussing an appropriate inflation level with the Bank of Thailand.

He said Thailand needs to use fiscal policy as efficiently as possible without raising the public debt ceiling, and cited a targeted programme, “Kon Thai Rai Jon” (Thais without poverty), budgeted at around 60–70 billion baht per year to support vulnerable groups.

Paophum argued that the key is not only spending, but bringing new money into the system through FDI, legal reforms to position Thailand as a financial and tourism hub, and a comprehensive debt solution. He described household debt as a “chain” holding back growth, and said stimulus would not work fully without debt relief.

He outlined a package including a pico-finance approach to create legal creditors in the formal system, offering loans of 50,000 baht per person to close informal debts. He also said SMEs struggle to access credit due to risk perceptions and limits in existing guarantee mechanisms such as the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG). Pheu Thai proposes setting up a National Credit Guarantee Agency (NaCGA) to overhaul the guarantee system so lending flows more effectively to businesses.

On digital economy policy, he listed:

1. Tokenisation of underused state assets (such as Treasury Department land) to allow public investment
2. G-Token, issuing government bonds as digital tokens so retail investors can buy from small amounts and trade with higher liquidity
3. Tourist DigiPay, enabling tourists to spend cryptocurrency via QR code to bring new funds into local businesses
4. AI for All, using AI to reduce inequality by improving productivity, such as matching agricultural supply-demand and easing traffic

Democrats: Thailand’s “engine” is outdated, push open data economy

Karndee Leopairote, the Democrat Party’s prime ministerial candidate and deputy leader, said Thailand is still running an “economic engine version 3.0” while the world and regional competitors have moved ahead.

She said the Democrats’ approach focuses on reducing current costs and raising incomes across groups; fixing root causes such as the legal structure and transparency; and creating external opportunities by attracting new investment in emerging industries.

She said upgrading national competitiveness requires:

1. breaking out of outdated frameworks
2. building advantages for SMEs, startups, freelancers and the informal sector
3. preparing structural capacity, technology and people for future opportunities

The party’s flagship proposal is an Open Data Economy, aimed at unlocking the state’s vast but fragmented datasets so Thailand can move towards an AI economy and data economy. She argued the government should not build more scattered apps, but instead support software platforms that centralise access to data so businesses can plan better and reduce compliance costs.

She added that open data could also help freelancers use platform work histories as proof to access funding without traditional collateral, expanding equality of opportunity.

Karndee said digital economy infrastructure should be designed like public utilities, prioritising beneficial data linkages such as health and skills. She also argued Thailand should negotiate with foreign investors in the sector to ensure R&D benefits flow to Thai people, and posed a strategic question: whether Thailand should build its own brands or position itself as a powerful supply-chain base in the era of data economy and data centres.