Leading Thai economist blames inequality for Thailand’s ills
Thailand needs new thinking on its economy, moving away from the emphasis on growth and consumption to the quality of life rather than the quantity of things, said Pasuk Phongpaichit, Emeritus Professor in Political Economy, Chulalongkorn University.
She made the remark at the Fukuoka Prize Symposium held on September 10 in the Japanese city, in an event celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Pasuk and historian Chris Baker, the co-winners of the Fukuoka Prize’s 2017 Grand Prize, were among five past laureates invited to share their views in the Symposium, which had as its theme “The coexistence of developing Asia and its cultures-What Fukuoka Prize and the successive Prize laureates have protected, nurtured and newly created in last 30 years”.
Pasuk said that as an economy, Thailand along with others in Southeast Asia, have been doing quite successfully. But Thailand’s big problem is inequality.
Sirivish Toomgum
