Maybe, at least that’s what some of the country’s most prominent businessmen seemed to suggest during a forum on Thursday, the Bangkok Post reported.
Boonchai Bencharongkul, an executive at the mobile operator DTAC, Sawasdi Horrungruang, who founded NTS Steel Group, and Prachai Leophairatana, a founder of Thai Petrochemical Industry, said they were concerned that the Thai government’s populist policies could backfire.
“I think the current situation is worrisome. As one of those who had such an experience, I can smell it now. People are rushing and competing to buy condos while more and more people are driving Ferraris. These are the same things we saw before the 1997 crisis occurred,” Boonchai said.
Bencharongkul, Horrungruang and Leophairatana were all burned badly during the financial crisis of the late 1990s, and they don’t seem to have forgiven what they see as government’s role in depleting their fortunes.
“[The 1997 crisis] was the government’s failure. And the government should have protected investors … I’m still sad that the government did not help [Thai companies] but just made things worse,” Leophairatana said.
So is it time to make a run on the banks or move your cash into foreign accounts? We at Coconuts have no business commenting on this stuff and after all the rich dudes seem to think this time is different.
“This time, the nature of the crisis might be different,” said Boonchai. “Last time it was the private sector that went bankrupt, but this time we might see the government collapse.”
Well, that is reassuring.
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