With only three weeks left before election day, investors are asking who will lead the country, especially regarding Thailand's economy and capital markets, through the crisis.
The Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations (FETCO) held a major forum inviting representatives from eight political parties to debate their policy visions amid volatility from both internal and external factors.
Current concerns include declining liquidity, falling price indices, and a record low number of IPOs, reflecting the "dark side" and fragility of the capital market, compounded by Thailand's low economic growth and the risk of long-term stagnation.
Nikhon Sachdev, Economic Policy Team, Kla Party. He proposed working under the view that Thailand's economy is in crisis, requiring four key policies:
1. Developing grassroots economy and low-income groups through innovation and AI, with funding sources for SMEs.
2. Finding new markets for quality Thai products by leveraging embassies as global market connectors.
3. Shifting focus from macro to micro levels, including roadshows to attract tourists and investors.
4. Continuing the EEC policy transparently for continuity and expediting VAT refunds to support exporters.
Dr. Kanet Wangspaijit, Head of Economic Team, Thai Khao Mai Party. He promoted the "Four Arrow" policy focusing on the economy, emphasizing two new growth engines:
1. National Investment Strategy to resolve fragmented efforts among government agencies like BOI and EEC, fostering greater collaboration.
2. Involving the Stock Exchange from day one to clarify policies and benefits to investors, and establishing a Head of Country FDI to coordinate ministries and provide clear guidance to investors.
Suradet Thaveesangskulthai, Chairman of Economic Strategy, Thai Sang Thai Party. He emphasized innovation by proposing the use of provincial areas as sandboxes to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and bring technology back to Thailand.
He also advocated promoting local and mega-project investments, expecting provincial investments of 20 billion baht each and listing them on the stock exchange, potentially increasing Thai market capitalization by 18–21 trillion baht within four years.
Additionally, he proposed establishing a public debt and SME debt relief fund using matching funds from deposits with a 4% return, to address debt without increasing public liabilities.
Dr. Chaiwat Sataworawijit, Deputy Leader, Prachachon Party. He noted that Thailand's economy is trapped in a middle-income and structural decline, requiring major reforms focused on breaking monopolies to allow small and medium businesses to grow.
His concept is to build a New Economy by turning "national problems" into business opportunities, such as sensor businesses addressing flooding, integrating SMEs into supply chains.
The government would use procurement policies to drive the economy, with state budgets buying from private sectors under set standards, and international policies to attract technology and talent from East Asia, including Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan, while strengthening rule of law for confidence.
Korn Chatikavanij, Deputy Leader, Democrat Party. He stated that the stock market cannot grow if the economy is weak, proposing three approaches:
1. Bureaucratic reform via a "Super Act" to update outdated laws and digitize bureaucracy for easier and transparent access.
2. Maximizing existing resources, such as opening government data (Open API) and infrastructure to private sectors, and enhancing farmers' bargaining power through cooperatives.
3. Promoting new economic engines by reducing logistics costs below 10% of GDP and accelerating free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations to enhance competitiveness, emphasizing honest politics free from shadowy money.
Dr. Paophum Rojanasakul, Deputy Leader, Pheu Thai Party. He outlined Pheu Thai's economic policies covering structural reforms and quality of life improvements, particularly debt solutions like managing public debt through asset management companies (AMC), restructuring elderly debt with reduced payments, debt holidays for farmers, support for disciplined debtors, and tackling informal debts by providing low-interest government loans to close informal debts.
In welfare, they propose child subsidies alongside the "No Thai in Poverty" policy to lift citizens above poverty with income gap supplementation, plus a "retirement lottery" to encourage long-term savings through gambling incentives.
Agriculture would have a minimum 30% profit guarantee based on clear cost data; businesses would support SMEs by increasing procurement quotas and enabling more participation in public tenders.
They also plan to continue the 20-baht universal healthcare policy, housing projects for Thais, push the Clean Air Act, and upgrade education by providing citizens with education vouchers to choose skills aligned with labor market needs.
Anucha Burapachaisri, Party-list Candidate, Bhumjaithai Party. He stressed both the big picture and individual welfare, aiming for at least 3% economic growth this year and advancing a 10-point economic policy covering all dimensions.
The core is to increase national investment to at least 30% of the annual budget by attracting new investments, both foreign (FDI) and future industries, to elevate Thailand to a high-income country, requiring public-private cooperation.
He promotes increasing public-private partnerships (PPP), using matching funds between central and local governments to stimulate local investments, and supporting private sector and public access to AI without added costs.
He also proposed a "law guillotine" to reduce steps and accelerate delayed legislation, and to advance TISA policies promoting long-term public savings.
Dr. Attawit Suwanpakdee, Deputy Leader, Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party. He observed that Thailand's economy has been stagnant for nearly 20 years due to lack of innovation as a main driver, caused by structural barriers limiting innovation, leading to technology and new industry investments flowing to neighbors, especially Vietnam.
He noted that technology innovation industries rely on clean energy, but Thailand faces access limitations, hindering full development; his solution is to confront the dominance of large energy conglomerates to break this barrier.
Dr. Attawit also mentioned that electricity price reductions of 16% occurred under the Energy Ministry's oversight despite political resistance, affirming that decisive action is essential for innovation and long-term economic progress.
Korn Chatikavanij, Deputy Leader, Democrat Party. He emphasized that capital market policy centers on restoring confidence, product quality, and fair regulations. Confidence is undermined by fraud, accounting scandals, and money laundering through the stock market, with brokers as the first line of responsibility.
He expressed disappointment with the SEC's role and urged the executive branch to enforce laws strictly, including decisive action against stock exchange directors or regulatory executives facing allegations.
He also recommended reviewing tax measures, rules on high-frequency trading (HFT), and stock lending to ensure fairness and enable capital market recovery.
Dr. Paophum Rojanasakul, Deputy Leader, Pheu Thai Party. He viewed the capital market as a key mechanism for economic restructuring that must accompany real economy growth, with priorities including developing a Digital SEC to clearly separate digital asset regulation and promoting Thai ESG and Thai ESGX to boost liquidity.
He plans to advance G-Token digital government bonds, the TouristDigiPay project accepting cryptocurrency from tourists, the Financial Hub Act, and real asset tokenization.
Additionally, he aims to reduce IPO listing time to under one year, open capital markets to SMEs, and use the "retirement lottery" as a savings source, expecting about 13 billion baht annually to flow into the capital market.
Anucha Burapachaisri, Party-list Candidate, Bhumjaithai Party. He stated that restoring investor confidence is paramount through clear government policy communication, ensuring economic and political stability, and signaling serious fiscal discipline.
He emphasized strict law enforcement and rigorous work by independent directors and audit committees of listed companies.
He also proposed advancing the TISA project for personal stock savings accounts to promote public savings and considering tax incentives for long-term stock investments to attract funds into the Thai stock market.
Dr. Attawit Suwanpakdee, Deputy Leader, Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party. He highlighted that the current capital market undervalues companies due to lack of innovation and clean energy, causing investors to doubt growth prospects. He proposed reinstating LTF funds to stimulate the market, offering tax deductions and attracting high-income groups, potentially pushing the stock index to 2,000 points.
He also suggested reforming the credit bureau system to a credit scoring model, allowing borrowers with good scores to access low-interest loans and those with low scores higher rates, replacing blacklists to foster banking competition and solve household debt issues.
Nikhon Sachdev, Economic Policy Team, Kla Party. He believes the capital market must build transparency and governance, as retail investors currently turn to alternative investments viewing the stock market as short-term speculation only.
Despite many listed companies, many have good profits but stagnant stock prices due to lack of transparency. He proposed that the SEC rate companies and use AI monitoring alongside resolving exploitative HFT trading disadvantaging retail investors.
Dr. Kanet Wangspaijit, Head of Economic Team, Thai Khao Mai Party. He proposed three main focuses: restoring confidence, increasing liquidity, and creating new products, noting daily trading value has dropped to 30–40 billion baht.
The government should lead anti-corruption efforts jointly with the Stock Exchange, SEC, and Anti-Money Laundering Office, using AI to detect irregularities and establishing a "Capital Market Court" to expedite cases within two years.
To address liquidity, he suggested promoting tax incentives like LTF and infrastructure funds and opening opportunities for SMEs to grow through the capital market.
Suradet Thaveesangskulthai, Chairman of Economic Strategy, Thai Sang Thai Party. He pointed to confidence issues arising from unclear law enforcement and cases of forced sales and short-selling, proposing regulatory agencies have authority to investigate and prosecute independently.
He also proposed creating a forced-sale prevention fund and increasing legally recognized market makers like international markets, and expanding digital asset boards starting with tokenizing uncontrollable-price commodities.
Dr. Chaiwat Sataworawijit, Deputy Leader, Prachachon Party. He stated that Thailand's capital market is undervalued and requires a serious turnaround, with the Prachachon Party committed to driving market recovery.
The prolonged sideways stock market is due to a lack of small and medium-sized companies with potential listing; the state must set directions via policies such as mega-projects converting social problems into new industries and promoting SMEs into supply chains and capital markets to build new market capitalization.
For savings, he proposed replacing LTF with Individual Accounts to enable direct stock investments with greater tax benefits, while addressing liquidity issues by reviewing obstructive regulations.
However, a key structural problem is governance and independence of regulatory agencies, especially the SEC, including the appointment process of SEC chair and secretary-general, which should be free from political interference.
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