m r pridiyathorn devakula : upon acceptance of the award for central banker of the year - asia 2006 statement by mr m r pridiyathorn devakula, governor of the bank of thailand, at the banker magazine luncheon seminar, bangkok, 1 february 2006. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, back in june 2001, when i landed at the job of governor of the bank of thailand, i was fairly confident that i would be able to do well in the area of bank supervision, given the considerable exposure i ’ ve had as a commercial banker. i also had some ideas on how to move forward the resolution of npl and return banks to profitability. but i was a banker and not an economist by profession. my expertise in business administration made me a bit uneasy on matters concerning monetary policy, as i felt that i did not have enough macroeconomic background to master the monetary policy issues. however, i was really fortunate to have a highly competent monetary policy committee as well as bot staff to support me in this area. indeed the depth of knowledge and the quality of analysis provided by bot staff are materials which i can always rely on. all i have to do during the past 4½ years is to pay close attention to their presentation, data analysis and proposals. the analysis of bot staff is intellectually rigorous yet very clear in their message, enabling me to fully grasp the issues, and the monetary policy committee to make appropriate decisions. however, in a country where the functioning of financial market mechanism is not fully efficient, there is an important role for public communication to help enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy. public understanding of monetary policy would lead to desirable change of market behaviour and adjustment process. effective communication would also enable financial market participants to anticipate the direction of monetary policy, thereby enhancing the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. it is in this area that i feel i could contribute. series of efforts have been made to improve bank of thailand ’ s public communication and i believe nowadays the public is more receptive to monetary policy, while financial market participants could correctly anticipate the direction of monetary policy and adjust their behaviour accordingly. because this award is based on the work in the monetary policy area, i therefore humbly accept this award - not only for myself, but also on behalf of the monetary policy committee as well as the staff of the bank of thailand. and as mr. caplen mentioned earlier on, the thai banking sector also deserves congrat

tarisa watanagase : bank of thailand ’ s perspective on the retail banking industry keynote address by dr tarisa watanagase, governor of the bank of thailand, at the excellence in retail financial services convention 2008, bangkok, 15 - 16 may 2008. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, i am pleased to be invited to give the keynote address for this prestigious convention organized by the asian banker. it gives me the opportunity to share with you the bank of thailand ’ s perspective on the retail banking industry, which i hope would help both service providers and consumers alike to better understand our regulatory objectives and priorities. retail banking business in thailand has enjoyed rapid growth since after the asian financial crisis, as banks – having learned the lesson of risk concentration – began to shift their strategies to diversify their portfolios and revenues by making inroads into the retail market segments. over the past five years, bank consumer loans have grown at an average annual rate of 20 percent, outpacing the corporate loans which have increased three percent annually. as a result, consumer loans now constitute almost a quarter of total loan portfolio of the banking system in thailand, compared with 16 percent in 2003. housing loans continue to account for the largest share, followed by personal loans and credit card loans. competition in the retail banking business has been intense, with more variety of product offerings and new delivery channels introduced to satisfy customer needs. non - bank players have also been aggressively competing for market share in the personal loan and credit card market, although with focus on people in the lower range of income groups. considerable amount of investment has been made to revolutionize network channel, operational process, and risk management system in order to reduce the operational cost and service delivery time, and to manage risks more effectively. functionalities of traditional delivery channel such as atm have been greatly expanded, while new e - banking tools such as internet banking, mobile banking, and electronic money service have been introduced. use of atm, debit and credit cards continues to grow steadily, whilst internet banking transactions and use of electronic money services increase markedly both in terms of the number of users and the value of usage. modernization of operational process and risk management system includes automating application process, credit approval process, and increasing use of credit scoring models and credit information system. ladies and gentlemen, we view increased competition and innovation in the retail banking business as beneficial to consumers and the financial system as a whole. banks ’ loan portfolios have become more