The business sector has welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak's pledge to rebuild Thailand's economic structure so that growth resembles a Nike "swoosh" sign in the long term.
However, businessmen have voiced concerns over how to implement policies and how long it will take to build up recovery momentum in a gradual way.
Mr Somkid and his economic team were bombarded with questions by business leaders Thursday at Post Forum 2015 under the theme of "Rebuilding the Thai Economy: Meet the Economic Team".
- Main coverage: Somkid says 'reforms are the key'
Rice subsidy policy
The rice pledging scheme is again the centre of attention after the government's move to claim compensation for its losses from former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Somkid: Aid for farm sector essential
Even though the scheme caused losses of 500 billion baht, Mr Somkid reaffirmed that rice farmers really need the government's help due to the basic problem of an oversupply of grains.
He admitted all types of subsidy required massive government spending, but in the short term rice farmers would be unable to survive, especially with the drought affecting the new harvest season.
"The aid programme for the farm sector is essential, but the government will need to control losses that may occur," Mr Somkid said.
Relevant agencies will need to assess the number of rice growers willing to adopt technology.
The government will implement measures to help them improve their harvesting technology and also support them in creating demand among their communities.
Once rice farmers have demonstrated their successful farming technology, others will follow suit, Mr Somkid said.
The Commerce Ministry has been aggressively selling rice in state stockpiles as quickly as possible. It also seeks to sell spoiled rice to the industrial sector for use in production processes.
Tourism and aviation
Businessmen were interested to hear Mr Somkid describe the tourism sector as the driver of the growth engine.
They are concerned about the direction of tourism development and whether the government will focus on quality tourists with high spending per head.
Mr Somkid said the key to success was the government's strategy to develop and improve major tourists sites to meet this target group.
Domestic tourism should also be developed to provide substitute revenue when the export sector is weak.
Free trade agenda
The Commerce Ministry has been assigned to conduct an in-depth study on the pros and cons of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as well as study how to encourage Thai companies to tap into profits via various free trade pacts to which the country has committed.
"The TPP is a very useful one that we need to tap into. However, we still have time to study its pros and cons before joining the pact," Mr Somkid said.
He said he had ordered the Commerce Ministry to study the TPP issue.
The ministry is also required to conduct an in-depth study of all free trade areas to assess how Thai companies can gain from economic cooperation.
Mr Somkid said Thailand had conducted various free trade agreements including the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement and others.
The ministry is expected to work closely with the Thailand Development Research Institute to study the issues.
E-payment project
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong told the forum that e-payments were his priority, with plans to launch a pilot module in a month and more modules over the next year.
Apisak: E-payments to help SMEs
The government plans to launch e-payments nationwide, expecting the system to be implemented by next year to help e-commerce and boost domestic trade and exports.
E-payments will be another way to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by making it easier to pay via electronic cards and identification cards that would help to bring producers, sellers and consumers into the national taxation system, he said.
"It will be a short cut to make it easier for people to spend and with more transparency as well as bringing all relevant agencies to pay tax appropriately," Mr Apisak said.
The "Any ID" module will enable everybody to transfer money via their identification cards.
The second module is to expand the electronic data capture (EDC) system nationwide in order to help cut operation costs, mostly financial costs, and increase the country's competitiveness.
"The EDC will help to cut financial costs and make services and products cheaper," Mr Apisak said.
Moreover, the government will apply the EDC system to reach all low-income earners to help them access the system and bring more taxpayers into the system.
According to the plan, all companies will have to register for accounts, which will be linked to relevant government agencies, particularly the Revenue Department.
That means all companies will be pulled into the government's taxation system.
"Each module we're talking about will take a certain of time to implement. However, I expect we would see them all implemented by next year at best," Mr Apisak said.
He said the e-payment system would be a major mechanism to support Thai SMEs to access more clients as well as cut production costs.
"This system will be a superhighway to help solve financial problems. It will be the most advanced system in Asean, maybe even the most advanced in Asia, one that will increase our competitiveness," Mr Apisak said.
Infrastructure fund
The government's planned infrastructure fund is expected to catch foreign investors' eyes because of its large size, Mr Apisak said.
He said the Finance Ministry planned to set up only one infrastructure fund into which all projects were pooled, giving the advantage of diversification.
Setting up infrastructure funds for each project might not be attractive, as some projects are not worthwhile in investors' view, Mr Apisak said.
As infrastructure projects take a long time and greenfield projects could take four or five years before seeing revenue, the ministry would provide a minimum guarantee that would allow the infrastructure fund to have a high rating that would attract funds and foreign investors.
The government plans to invest 1.9 trillion baht in infrastructure projects until 2020 excluding water management. The lion's share of investment in megaprojects will go to double-track railways, high-speed trains, electric trains and motorways.
Regional digital hub
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry has set five policies to be launched in the next three months in a bid to develop the government's digital economy policy.
Uttama: Digital plan to boost Thailand
The policies aim to develop physical infrastructure, especially the broadband network, leverage smart e-government services, promote technology start-up companies, create digital telecentres to help local businesses and increase the number of e-commerce businesses, and push related digital economy draft bills.
ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana said every additional 10% of broadband service penetration in the country would expand the value of GDP by 1.35%, according to Bank of Thailand research.
The ministry is considering developing a national broadband policy to foster collaboration with private companies to provide services for all Thais.
Mr Uttama said the agenda of smart public service aimed to provide more safety and transparency.
For example, all state agencies must be able to provide services through the paperless system so that people can access them by showing only their smart identification card.
"Early next year, at least 100 state agencies out of the total of 1,000 will operate the smart service," Mr Uttama said.
For the plan to promote tech start-ups, Mr Uttama reassured the private sector that the government would not play the role of competitor but the ministry would support and develop facilities as well as support collaboration among stakeholders to promote start-up companies.
CAT Telecom has been assigned to become a digital accelerator promoting tech start-up firms.
"I prefer to use the new term 'digital Thailand' instead of the 'digital economy', as a digital Thailand means both society and economic affairs will move towards digital development," Mr Uttama said.
Banker's view
Bangkok Bank executive vice-president Kobsak Pootrakool said an acceleration in the government's infrastructure projects and regulatory reform of state-owned enterprises would be the main factors laying the foundation for Thailand's economic growth in the future.
"We should not be too concerned about short-term economic growth but rather place a greater emphasis on laying a structural platform for future growth," he said.
Regulations related to supporting the grass roots and enhancing research and development projects are other measures the government should look into, Mr Kobsak said.
He said the main reason why Thailand's GDP growth had been lacklustre in recent years was that the country's economic structure remained unchanged.
Now is the right time for the government to implement reform policies.
Foreign direct investment could flow into Thailand within three years if the reform measures are implemented effectively, but investment could flow out in the next two years if the reform process fails, Mr Kobsak said.