FCCT event – Thursday 26th September

Persons Present

• Nattaphong – leader of Peoples Party
• Sirikanya Tansakun – Key Economic Policymaker

I never gave 2 shits about politics anywhere in the world, perhaps this is a function of growing up in the 80s/90s within perfect bubbles created by my parents throughout the countries that I’ve lived in. Or perhaps the world was in a special period where economies were more laissez-faire with less conflicts.

Having observed how the “G” (government) has become a larger and larger factor in economies/markets, and how inept, corrupt, donkey kongs like the previous government of Thailand for the past decade has ruined it’s short and mid-term outlook, as well as observing the impact of Winnie the Xi in China and the socialists of Western Europe, ANZ, N. America lead their economies off a cliff – I start to pay attention. 

On to the event…

Nattaphong 

• He has a great face, does come across as v2 of Thanathorn. Whilst his English isn’t strong, he still came across humble and intelligent in his responses. 
• He is only 37, he admits (cleverly) that he’s currently not ready to be Prime Minister, but that by the next election he’ll hope to prove himself that he deserves it.
• Side note: He’s only 37 – if you’re complaining that you cannot have an impact in a country but haven’t tried, stop whinging, get off your keyboards.
• A member of my team commented that spoke like a politician, i.e. not directly answering questions which I thought was positive, it shows that lessons have been learnt, Thanathorn was too open which led to his dismissal and being banned from the politics for a decade. 
• His family appears to be wealthy – asset wise, real estate.

Strategy

• He said that he would spend the next 1.5 years traveling throughout the country, visiting every province implying 5 days per province, to continue to build the on-the-ground support.
• In the first election, Future Forward won 7 million votes, second election, Move Forward won 14 million votes, at the next election in 3 years will the People’s Party win 21 million votes?

Is the current political system stuck? (i.e. stable?)

• Perhaps the incumbents can’t kick out Pheu Thai or continually ban leaders, because that would dissolve the government, and potentially lead to new elections where the People’s Party could win a majority and lead the country. 
• Side Note: It is rumoured that the dismissal of Srettha was a surprise, and that this was an action of Prawit still thinking he’s a BSD, as he was kicked to the side by Pheu Thai, and used his power to sway the Constitutional Court by 1 vote to have Srettha dismissed by 5-4. 
• What does this mean? The commentary is the usual, yes they will win the popular/majority vote, but will they be “allowed” to win? In light of recent conflicts throughout the world, my viewpoint is simply whichever side has the biggest “guns” always wins. One’s history, ideology, moral code, doesn’t matter. 

Policies

• I’ve called Sirikanya a Marxist trained economist, at least this time there was less commentary on the Marxist/communist crap that was all over the news leading up to the previous election
• Commentary on the oligopolistic nature of several industries that are anti-competitive – good.
• Alcohol/beer liberalisation – usual good. 
• Comments that if other political parties such as Pheu Thai borrow and implement their policies – this is perfectly fine as it is positive for the country. 

Final Thoughts

• They came across more mature, more like a “politician”, less naive mistakes. 
• Side note: It was at the FCCT where Thanathorn commented that he loaned funds to the party to keep it afloat and this was used against him to be kicked out out of politics. 
• I went in thinking that this group has already been marginalised due to the constant political/legal fights reducing them to their 3rd tier, I walked out thinking no, their bench appears deep. The ideology of doing the “right thing” and focusing on the populace remains. Lessons have been learnt, scar tissue has formed around the party, the naivety of the initial period is gone, though have they finally learnt that their aim should be to WIN first and then talk about and implement policies? There’s no point in being holier than the pope unless you win. 

Sources 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cz4SC0N7zU

As an aside: The FCCT allows non-members to join in the events, I’m not a member, anyone can join participate and ask questions at their events – just go. It’s cheaper than buying an overpriced Starbucks dessert drink and sandwich, and you can have great random discussions with people there.