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Published on October 20, 2007

In their first televised policy debate, political leaders promised to cut taxes and provide more social welfare for voters, but viewers expressed doubts about their ability to follow through and how parties would pay for their promises.

Representatives of seven political parties yesterday took part in a joint public forum hosted by the National Economic and Social Advisory Council. Each laid out their party's economic policy and replied to questions from viewers watching the live broadcast on TV Channel 11.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party, which is widely expected to lead a coalition government, boasted that economic growth could be 7 to 8 per cent if the Democrats ran the next government after the December 23 election.

To woo the middle class and the business community, he said the party would cut tax rates and compensate tax losses by increasing the tax base. However, he did not clarify how they would do this. Mass transit and transport networks would be improved, he said.

Trying to win support of rural voters, Abhisit promised to raise prices for farm products via an insurance scheme. He promised adequate welfare for pregnant mothers and the elderly, free education up to upper secondary school, and free medical care for everybody.

His rival, Surapong Suebwonglee, secretary-general of the People Power Party, insisted he would continue with populist projects initiated by the defunct Thai Rak Thai party. These included the village fund, universal healthcare scheme, housing for the poor and SML-development fund for every village. These had proved very popular among rural voters and the poor in the past administration.

Prachai Leophairatana, leader of Matchima Thippatai Party, outlined ambitious investment plans for infrastructure projects by borrowing money from the Bank of Thailand, which has an accumulated official reserve of US$80 billion (Bt2.73 trillion). The government would issue bonds with a 40-year maturity and borrow money from the central bank to invest in mass transit, transport and logistics, plus irrigation, he said.

Thamma Pinsukarnjana, treasurer of the Chat Thai Party, promised to review free-trade deals and to cut personal and corporate tax. Land reform was also part of their policy - by

offering land title deeds to farmers.

Jirayu Wasurat, deputy leader of Pua Paendin Party, also told of plans to cut tax rates, saying current tax levels were unjust. He also agreed inheritance and property taxes should be imposed as a way to narrow the income gap between the rich and poor. Chat Thai would create venture capital worth Bt10 billion in order to support small and medium-sized firms, he said.

Korn Dabbaransri, deputy leader of Pracharaj Party, vowed to allocate degraded forest areas to the poor. He also called for greater attention to be paid to the farming sector. He said globalisation would do more harm than good to the economy and policies should be aimed at trying to improve the agricultural sector.

Ronnachai Tontrakul, an executive of the Mahachon Party, promised to focus farm products on three key areas: food, animal feed and bio-fuel.

Meanwhile, viewers were largely sceptical. They asked where the parties could get the huge funds needed for mega-projects. Some wanted to know how they could eradicate poverty, while voters from the Northeast wanted parties to invest more in irrigation.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation