The Crisis in Thailand
ORGIBET, JORGES
The Crisis in Thailand Economic problems are causing serious internal strife By Jorges Orgibet Bangkok The shock of an economic crisis has hit Thailand, Asia's most prosperous country since...
...Despite public discontent, the Thai people are not embracing Communism as an alternative...
...After 1945, when Thailand was the world's largest rice exporter, it controlled a seller's market...
...The most popular phrase in the Thai language is "mai pen rai," meaning "never mind...
...Anxiety over a possible coup d'?tat plagues the present government...
...But it is rice which controls the nation's economy...
...The decline in world trade in rubber and tin adversely affected Thailand's foreign-exchange balance...
...The Crisis in Thailand Economic problems are causing serious internal strife By Jorges Orgibet Bangkok The shock of an economic crisis has hit Thailand, Asia's most prosperous country since World War II...
...Under-paid civilian and military employes are disgruntled because they have not shared in the personal fortunes made by some of the top leaders during Thailand's postwar prosperity...
...A new Rice Board, made up of the strongest Cabinet leaders, has taken over...
...This is 20,000 tons less than the British took in 1953, and the price is down $6.72 a ton...
...Its first action has been to lower rice prices...
...Should a coup be attempted—and there have been eight tries in as many years—it could well come from lower ranks within the Government itself...
...But the system seems deeply entrenched, and the chances of eradicating corruption are remote indeed...
...Thailand's arbitrary attitude and high prices lost the good will of buyers...
...Warehouses are overflowing with unsold rice, and the current crop is moving in...
...As a result, Col...
...This does not mean that reform would follow a change of rule...
...Opposition, however, is centering on the regime's failure to sell 300,000 tons of last year's rice crop...
...It is more likely that the present leaders would be told to move on and let someone else at the public trough...
...Thailand is still the Land of Smiles...
...Some Thai National Assemblymen doubt if 300,000 tons will be sold...
...You cannot starve to death in this land of plenty, and you cannot freeze...
...The average Westerner finds it exceedingly difficult to understand or cope with the "tea money," kickback, rake-off, cut-in and pay-off policy which governs almost every transaction...
...Life is hard for the average Thai, but not so hard as in neighboring states...
...Compared with neighboring Burma, Indo-China and Malaya, this nation is relatively free of a major internal Communist threat...
...The Government based its 1954 budget of about $200 million on Bancha's estimates of exporting more than 1.6 million tons of rice this year...
...While the Government wrestles the rice problem with one hand, it is shadow-boxing corruption with the other...
...All imports recently were placed under stringent Government controls in order to conserve foreign exchange...
...Millers and farmers, facing heavy losses, blame the Government for failing to sell the carryover long before...
...Exports have slumped alarmingly...
...Thailand has always been independent, so they cannot "liberate" the people from anyone but themselves...
...Hardly a week goes by without new cases of corruption coming to light, or new plans being offered to combat it...
...Yet, this widely acknowledged corruption in the Government is political dynamite...
...The big question is: Even with lower prices, can Thailand retain its rice-export market...
...Whatever fears Thai Government leaders have of foreign Communist aggression are minor compared with their worries over this internal discontent...
...The cost of living is soaring...
...Rice production is increasing rapidly in competitor nations, and the Thais find themselves facing this competition with little good will on their side...
...Now tomorrow is here...
...Rubber, tin and corruption are sharing the blame with controversial Government policies on rice exports...
...Vorakan Bancha has been ousted as Minister of Economic Affairs and his post assumed by Premier Pibul Songgram...
...If a man is in a position to fill his pockets, and he doesn't, he is considered foolish...
...So far, no opposition group appears to possess the united strength needed to combat the Government's tightly-controlled military and police forces...
...If they are right, Thailand will be hard hit...
...Thailand has been forced to lower its rice prices...
...The average worker has learned to require so little that employers complain he will not work any longer than is necessary to pay for the barest essentials...
...The policy seemed to be to grab the quick dollar today and never mind tomorrow...
...And the people are grumbling...
...The new Rice Board has signed an agreement to supply 300,000 tons of rice to British territories during the coming year...
...Merchants are hoarding their goods and boosting prices on consumer goods, which are now in short supply...
...Jorges Orgibet is a correspondent for the World Wide Press Service...
...Within Thailand, Communism is not now a threat...
...Businessmen fear drastic price cuts must be made to move it...
...The Communists do not have much to offer the Thais...
Vol. 37 • March 1954 • No. 10
