A modest proposal for Thai protectionism
Re: “At least the military is not a stooge of the West”, Letters, The Nation Weekend, April 13-14.
I wholeheartedly agree with Vint Chavala that Western companies only use democratic principles as a means to pry open Thailand’s market for their own greedy profits.
With this, I urge the Thai government, whoever it may be, to immediately dissolve the Board of Investment since there will be no use for this government agency dishing out tax and non-tax privileges to foreign-owned companies.
To help support Thai companies, the government should implement stricter labour control regulation such as totally eliminating unions, (Thanathorn of FFP was accused of demolishing unionisation of his family-owned company), reducing the daily minimum wage to, say, Bt150 and revising the Thai Accounting Standard to recognise the use of two sets of books of accounts as the norm.
Jeff Chong
Bangkok
