Home
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Celebrating diversity in our food supply
Making a strong case for communal approach to health
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Abhisit takes on Thaksin's key program
Source: Agencies |
January 19, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Thai government is to give more money to the rural poor to jump-start the economy, the prime minister said yesterday, adopting and expanding a much-criticized key program of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he planned to double government spending in the program that provides grants to poor villages as part of a stimulus package.
Abhisit's Democrat Party had previously decried the program as a brazen attempt at buying the loyalty of the country's poor majority.
The government will also step up recruitment of college graduates for government jobs to offset rising unemployment and move ahead with plans to offer millions of low-income residents a one-time payment of 2,000 baht (US$57), Abhisit said.
"The fire is burning fiercely in the house, so we cannot be too economical on the water we use for putting out the blaze," he said.
Abhisit took office last December in a parliamentary vote after a court dissolved the pro-Thaksin party that finished first in 2007 elections. He has made fixing the economy a priority, and last week his Cabinet approved a 115 billion baht stimulus package.
A portion of that package will go toward reviving and expanding a village initiative launched by Thaksin, who was removed in 2006 in a bloodless military coup. Under the popular scheme, government grants were provided for infrastructure projects such as repairing roads and digging irrigation canals.
Thailand's export-driven economy has been hit hard by the global slowdown as well as months of political unrest last year that scared off foreign investors and tourists.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he planned to double government spending in the program that provides grants to poor villages as part of a stimulus package.
Abhisit's Democrat Party had previously decried the program as a brazen attempt at buying the loyalty of the country's poor majority.
The government will also step up recruitment of college graduates for government jobs to offset rising unemployment and move ahead with plans to offer millions of low-income residents a one-time payment of 2,000 baht (US$57), Abhisit said.
"The fire is burning fiercely in the house, so we cannot be too economical on the water we use for putting out the blaze," he said.
Abhisit took office last December in a parliamentary vote after a court dissolved the pro-Thaksin party that finished first in 2007 elections. He has made fixing the economy a priority, and last week his Cabinet approved a 115 billion baht stimulus package.
A portion of that package will go toward reviving and expanding a village initiative launched by Thaksin, who was removed in 2006 in a bloodless military coup. Under the popular scheme, government grants were provided for infrastructure projects such as repairing roads and digging irrigation canals.
Thailand's export-driven economy has been hit hard by the global slowdown as well as months of political unrest last year that scared off foreign investors and tourists.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
