Bangkok, Aug 23 - The Yingluck Shinawatra government has received an overall borderline pass for its one-year performance with the poorest score given to its inefficiency in solving Thailand’s chronic problem of corruption, according to a university survey.
A survey by the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) on the first anniversary of the government’s administration complemented the government’s effort in pushing ahead with an economic expansion despite severe floods in the country last year and the economic crisis in the European Union.
Thanawat Polvichai, director of the university’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting, said the government received extremely poor scores for its political and social performance.
The highest score for the government was 7.63 out of a possible 10 with credits going to preparations for Thailand to join the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 and tourism promotion.
The poorest scores of 4.99 went to the government’s anti-corruption efforts and 4.86 for the distribution of computer tablets to Pathom 1 or Grade 1 students.
All in all, the government made a borderline pass with a score of only 5.32, the survey concluded.
On the other hand, the private sector gave a thumbs-up approval to the government with a score of 7.17 out of 10, expressing satisfaction with the general improvement in education and tourism.
The private sector gave 6.71 points to the government’s success in executing its policy, 4.66 points to anti-corruption solutions, 5.02 points to drug suppression and 5.9 points to solutions on increasing prices of raw materials.
Mr Thanawat said the massive floods last year have had a negative impact on the government’s overall performances.
He added that the government had strongly emphasised its pre-election campaign policy and spent more than Bt400 billion in its rice mortgage scheme, reduction of personal income tax and subsidy for the energy fund.
These measures were aimed at expanding Thailand’s economy to 5.5-6 per cent but the government lacks a long-term policy, he said.
He called on the government to speed up investment on the country’s basic infrastructure and water management in the second year.
The Yingluck government took office on August 8 last year. (MCOT online news)
