Follow the King's principle : Juti

Democrat MP Juti Krairiskh from Phitsanulok yesterday called for the government to turn to sufficiency economics to save Thailand because most other countries are now tanking into the "toilet".

"Today the European Union, China and the United States, which are our export markets, are all reeling under recession. All the countries will be dumping their goods like crazy. Trade agreements will be breached," he said.

Juti, who belongs to the New Decade Group led by Banyat Bantadtan, urged the government to come clean on the real state of the economy, given the deterioration in exports and the current account.

"The global economy is facing a recession. The US won't recover for three years. China might be the only hope, while most countries have crashed into the toilet. But China is waiting to crash into the toilet too," he said.

Under the circumstances, Thailand must rely on sufficiency economics, as championed by His Majesty the King, to save itself, Juti said.

The government has the responsibility to promote

and educate the people about the philosophy of sufficien-

cy economics, he said.

In practice, Thailand would not shy away completely from external demand but would focus on promoting domestic resources and consumption so that despite any external shocks or depression, it could stay afloat.

The economic difficulties will continue into next year so the government must tell the people how it intends to relieve their hardship and get revenue for its spending plans.

"It must be based on reality and on how to realistically save the country," he added.

Asia's economy is heading for a downward spiral, CitiGroup said on Friday.

"Asian GDP growth rates have been falling faster than expected, alongside steeper dipping of the US economy. Production and export data also generally surprised on the downside, prompting recession concerns in the region," Citi said in its "Asia Economic Outlook and Strategy" report.

Citi has revised its forecast for Thai growth to 1 per cent, compared to 7.6 per cent for China, 5.5 per cent for India, 5.2 per cent for Vietnam, 3.8 per cent for Indonesia, 3 per cent for the Philippines, 0.5 per cent for Malaysia, minus 0.7 per cent for Taiwan, minus 1.8 per cent for South Korea, minus 2.2 per cent for Hong Kong and minus 2.8 per cent for Singapore.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed to proceed with legislation to introduce property and estate taxes as part of an attempt to create a more equitable society. But he insisted that the law would not hurt housing but would collect progressive tax on unused land.