Thai PM details Thailand 4.0 policy

The Thailand 4.0 policy will chart the country’s new direction, according to prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

During his recent national address on the program “Return Happiness to the People”, the prime minister said Thailand 4.0 is a new economic model to develop Thailand into a valued-based economy.

It is envisioned to change the country’s traditional farming to smart farming, traditional SMEs to smart enterprises, and traditional services to high-value services.

The policy also seeks to promote creativity, innovation, and the application of technology in various economic activities, the objective of which is to create equilibrium between the environment and society.

The report in the government website said Thailand has passed through three economic development models – Thailand 1.0, which emphasized agricultural development; Thailand 2.0, which focused on light industries and helped upgrade the country’s economy from the low-income to middle-income status; and the third model, Thailand 3.0, which emphasized heavy industries for continued economic growth.

In Thailand 4.0, the country needs to pull itself out of the middle-income trap and deal effectively with disparities and the imbalance between the environment and society.

“This model will be carried out along with the 20-year national strategy and economic reform through the mechanism of “public-private-people partnership.” It will transform Thailand’s comparative advantage into a competitive advantage. In this regard, new engines of growth will be introduced,” the report noted.

The Prime Minister was also quoted as saying that 10 target industrial groups will become new engines of growth. “Thailand 4.0 also consists of seven industries that are considered the backbone of the digital economy,” the report added.