Pheu Thai are great marketers but their products are poorly timed

On his Facebook page, he hinted that it was natural for Pheu Thai fans to vote for the party due to its wage hike policy. For people in such a situation, every offer was alluring.

He got it right. While feeling sorry for "them" as the policy would not benefit all workers as expected, he urged people in his community, dubbed as "us", to understand the voters.

Yes, the voters are not fools. And yes, Pheu Thai is just naturally excellent with its marketing. Unlike the Democrat Party which is often rather too rhetorical, Pheu Thai comes up with more appealing policies with easy-to-understand wording. Sometimes, the party's members were convinced these policies could be implemented without any hurdles. And when a hurdle did arise, they were sure they could handle it, even if it was poorly.

The Bt300 nationwide wage hike, for one, was a mistake as the party did not take into account the different cost of living in each province. In light of heavy criticism, it changed course to implement it first in a limited number of provinces.

Next came the suspension of the Oil Fund levies on the three fuel products, including octane-91 and octane-95 petrol. When it was criticised for making the products cheaper and gasohol products less attractive, the price gaps of premium and gasohol products were widened. Another widening is expected at the meeting later this month.

Now problems are arising from the first-car policy. Forget about a possible violation of the World Trade Organisation rules; no such issue was launched against China or the US when a similar policy was initiated there. Problems instead come from automakers, chiefly Ford, as its products are excluded from the package despite the mere 100cc difference in engine size.

Yes, this week, Cabinet is expected to extend the policy to cover Ford Fiesta and other models with engines up to 1,600cc. Rules would also be drawn to deal with tax rebates in case of vehicle foreclosures.

Following comes the rice-pledging scheme through which old corruption practices are expected to resurface. This could be changed if it does not succeed, said Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong.

The first-home policy is criticised for favouring the middle-class as the eligible house price is up to Bt5 million. And so to please those with lower incomes, a zero-rate mortgage scheme is on offer for houses valued at no more than Bt2 million.

Indeed, Korn is right. These policies are not benefiting the poor, who form the vast base of votes for Pheu Thai. How much has a family to earn so that it can pay a Bt20,000 monthly mortgage instalment for a Bt4 million house? Earning a minimum wage of Bt221 in Phuket, workers there cannot take benefit from the first-car policy.

What the poor stand to gain is so small - like the planned credit cards for farmers for raw material purchases, and energy credit cards for households and taxi companies for special energy prices following an energy price overhaul. And they will have to wait before the minimum wage hike comes true.

Pheu Thai is apparently canvassing for votes from the middle-class who form the vast vote base for the Democrats.

Actually, the Democrats did the same thing when they handed out the Bt2,000 cheques for those earning less than Bt15,000, effectively low-income earners by our standards.

The only difference here is the Democrats launched the cheque scheme when the world was engulfed in financial crisis and a credit crunch. Pheu Thai is launching all its policies when the economy is threatened by high inflationary pressures and inflation expectation. Indeed, the global economy is reeling from another possible crisis.

These policies, to boost consumption and effectively push up inflation, would be a wonder if they could boost the Thai economy. Indeed, Kittiratt or Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala could win the Banker Magazine's award for long-sightedness, as Korn was once honoured.

Alas, it's really sad for its supporters that the party is so good at marketing, but so poor at putting the right products on the market at the right time.