The initial cost of the property sector program, modeled on the U.S. savings and loan bailout, totals Baht 70 billion. This amount apparently covers only the first year, with money to be raised from private-sector financial institutions, the central bank, and state banks. This fund is financed through levies on the deposits of local financial institutions. The plan to defer aircraft purchases by national carrier THAI Airways in favor of leasing, both to save budget funds and in a misguided effort to curb the current-account deficit, has other drawbacks. The exchange rate continues to obsess many.
Monetary policy is, in fact, one positive area in Thailand.
Jockeying for influential and lucrative government positions has not ended, it has just become somewhat less public. The torching of a Japanese factory last month is but the most violent example of this trend. The administration says it would be happy to halve corruption. The situation has become so severe at Customs, where even diplomatic missions face demands for bribes, that several dozen U.S. companies are organizing a joint protest to the government. The process of constitutional reform, to which so much weight has been given as a way to establish a new political culture in Thailand, so far looks very much like business as usual.