Call for Thai budget rejig

Last year, for the first time in a decade, Thailand surpassed Malaysia in the IMD World Competitiveness Center’s global rankings, coming in second in Southeast Asia behind Singapore, which retained the top spot at the regional level and was ranked as the world’s most competitive economy.

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STRUCTURAL ISSUES

However, structural problems in the Thai economy that affect the country’s competitiveness still persist, reflected in a report by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) that states Thailand's high-tech exports still lag those of Vietnam.

While the government acknowledged the issue over the past decade and consistently discussed the problem of competitiveness, a look at the budget structure categorised by strategic spending across seven strategies reveals the budget allocated to this area declined.

In fiscal 2018, the amount allocated for competitiveness accounted for 16.1% of the overall budget.

Since then, the budget set aside for competitiveness has steadily decreased, falling to 11.3% in fiscal 2024 and 9.7% in fiscal 2025.

Meanwhile, the budget allocated under a strategy to create opportunities and for social equity, covering areas such as universal healthcare, providing quality and standardised education, and ensuring welfare protection for both formal and informal workers, accounted for 11.4% of the budget in fiscal 2018, surging to 24% in fiscal 2024, and edging up to 24.7% in fiscal 2025.

Similarly, the budget allocated for government operations or contingency spending reserved for unforeseen or emergency situations, as well as public debt management, has exhibited an upward trend, rising from 12.2% in fiscal 2018 to 16.2% in 2024, and reaching 18.5% in fiscal 2025.

CALL FOR STRATEGIC FOCUS

Nonarit Bisonyabut, a senior research fellow at Thailand Development Research Institute, said under the current budget structure, about 70% of the total is allocated to salaries, compensation, and welfare for public and civil servants, interest payments, obligations from past projects, debt repayments, and treasury reserve compensation.