BANGKOK – The Thailand business community gave its broad approval to the Yingluck government this week for its consistent approach of non-governing.
In a press conference co-organized by the Bangkok Business Association and various trade groups representing businesses as diverse as automotive, tourism, manufacturing, and food processing, the ruling coalition was awarded the BBA’s highest honor, the Absentee Award.
“In the year since taking office, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has hardly even shown up for work, much less initiated any kind of economic legislation. And we wish to thank her for that,” said Leewong Worasak, BBA president.
The association specifically cited Yingluck’s absenteeism from parliamentary meetings as their favorite policy of her government, along with Pheu Thai’s obsession with pointless reconciliation bills and politically-charged issues that have nothing to do with the economy.
“PT has done literally nothing to fix the economy,” Leewong said. “Thank goodness.”
The BBA reiterated its stance on keeping politicians out of business, noting that the strength of the kingdom’s economy came from a free market and the capable regulations of non-partisan technocrats. Additionally, the conservative financial laws that followed the 1997 economic crisis, which itself was facilitated by the money policy of the Democratic party, were singled out for praise.
“Politics has nothing to do with economics in Thailand,” Leewong emphasized. “Whether it’s the army enacting an illegal coup, the PAD taking over airports, the courts dissolving elected parties, or the UDD shutting down the city center, the baht and SET have never wavered.”
The attempt by ruling parties to change money market policy or enact draconian currency reserve requirements, on the other hand, always “totally fucked things up,” he added.
Only the government’s rice-pledging scheme was singled out for severe criticism, with several speakers from agricultural trade groups lambasting the government for trying to actually fix something that wasn’t broken.
Credit was also given to the opposition party Democrats for focusing all their energy on fighting the reconciliation bills, attacking Pheu Thai, and pandering to the hysterical anti-Thaksin sentiments of the royalist conservative classes, leaving no time for tinkering with the economy.
The conference concluded with a presentation of a certificate of non-interference to the Prime Minister, who was then called a “shining example of useful nothingness.”
However, Yingluck was not on hand to receive the award, having already committed to a ribbon-cutting ceremony at an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Rai.
