FOREIGN CONFIDENCE / SUFFICIENCY ECONOMY

CNS seeks academic response to Thaksin

WASSANA NANUAM & SURASAK GLAHAN

The Council for National Security (CNS) is asking academics to write reports on the sufficiency economy to prove to the international community that the theory suits Thailand and the world. CNS spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the council wants academics to look objectively at the principles of the sufficiency economy, an initiative of His Majesty the King, before presenting recommendations.

''We want to increase both Thai and foreign confidence in the government's economic policy,'' said Col Sansern.

The CNS move is in response to recent articles about Thailand's economic policies in three international publications _ Asian Wall Street Journal, The Economist and Newsweek.

The articles compare the economic policies of the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra administration with those of the interim government. The articles all say the international community had more confidence in so-called Thaksinomics _ Mr Thaksin's economic policies _ than in sufficiency policies.

The writers said Mr Thaksin's approach was more in line with world capitalism and had been proven appropriate for international development, while the sufficiency economy has not yet been accepted by some economists.

Col Sansern said the CNS suspects Mr Thaksin, who has hired an influential US-based lobbyist and public relations firm to promote his international activities, was behind the publication of those articles.

A sufficiency economy does not conflict with the world's capitalist-based economic system, said Col Sansern.

Instead, the two principles complement each other, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Thaksin will have more exposure in the international media later this week, said his lawyer Noppadon Pattama. Mr Thaksin recently gave an interview to Time magazine which will be published on Friday, he said.

Now in Beijing, Mr Thaksin plans to travel elsewhere today and to give an interview to a television outlet a few days later, Mr Noppadon said, without being specific.

However, a source said Mr Thaksin will travel today to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on a private plane provided by a Chinese friend, Yian Ping. Then he will fly to Australia to be interviewed by an Australian television network before heading back to China.

Mr Noppadon said the former prime minister chose to raise his media profile because he had been silent for too long.

Previously, he said, Mr Thaksin wanted to keep a low profile to avoid a misunderstanding that he was making political moves. He also denied speculation that Mr Thaksin's interview with CNN was brought about by the PR firm he hired, saying the news network contacted him first to request an interview.

Bangkok Post
Wednesday January 31, 2007