Thai election campaign intensifies with key parties promising perks

BLOOMBERG

Thailand’s major political parties are ramping up their policy promises to cement a foothold in regional bastions ahead of a general election in May.
Campaigning in north Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, the main opposition Pheu Thai Party vowed to triple farmers’ income during the first four years in office if elected. That will be achieved by introducing new farming technology, the head of the party’s policy committee Prommin Lertsuriyadej said.
The party will also seek to generate more tax revenue to finance development through income earned from trade, tourism and farming, while it plans to introduce a three-year debt moratorium for farmers and improve the so-called 30-baht universal healthcare programme.
Meanwhile, the United Thai Nation party, of which Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha is a member, rallied in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province. The premier touted the government’s infrastructure investment program as the largest in three decades and an investment for future generations. He pledged to create a fund to shore up crop prices in the northeast if voted into power.
Prayuth is the top choice for prime minister among the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, according to a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration.
Of some 1,100 eligible voters surveyed, almost 20% said the incumbent prime minister is their preferred choice, while 18% support Wan Muhamad Noor Matha of the Prachachat Party and 17% back Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Pheu Thai.
The Thai premier has said he will dissolve parliament in March, paving the way for the election. He hasn’t given a specific date, but the general election is tentatively scheduled for
May 7. If the premier dissolves the house as late as March 22 — just one day before its term ends — the election can be held by May 21 at the latest.