Thailand 20250103: Sacrosanct, Rarefied, Biopunk
Mekong Memo Thailand Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.
Business stories from Southeast Asia directly to your inbox every week.
The Mekong Memo is proudly presented by:
Horton International is your premier partner for executive search in Southeast Asia. Whether you're a small startup or a global corporation, our reliable and effective recruiting solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs. With extensive experience and offices across the region, we excel at overcoming recruitment challenges and securing top talent for your organization.
Click here to learn how Horton can make your life easier.
Here is your Mekong Memo Thailand for this week.
As a reminder, you can adjust which country versions of The Memo you would like to receive by adjusting your settings here.
Headlines:
Political Transition Shapes Economic Agenda
Economic Headwinds Gather
Future Industries Initiative Launched
Banking Security Overhaul
Electricity Prices Drop with Policy Adjustments
Environmental Challenges Keep Growing
Healthcare Landscape is Greening
Smart Farming Revolution
BRICS Partnership Established
New Employee Welfare Fund in the Works
Refer three friends and receive a full paid subscription to The Memo for one month absolutely FREE:
Political Transition Shapes Economic Agenda
Paetongtarn Shinawatra became Thailand's youngest prime minister in August 2024 following Srettha Thavisin's removal by the Constitutional Court. The transition was the Shinawatra family's return to Thai politics, with former PM Thaksin reclaiming influence after his return from exile. The administration has a rocky road ahead, especially around economic challenges. 2024 GDP growth forecasts have been edged down to 2.7%. Major continuing initiatives include a Digital Wallet program and tourism targets of 40 million visitors for this full calendar year.
Read more: VOA News (Political Analysis), Bangkok Post (Political Outlook)
Economic Headwinds Gather
Five major economic challenges are facing the nation this coming year: household debt, investment uncertainty, revised U.S. trade policies, a Chinese slowdown, and general geopolitical tensions. Manufacturing output dropped in November, with the automotive sector crushed and down 27.2%. The household debt crisis has reached critical levels, indicated by a tally of 284,000 pickup trucks at risk of repossession. Total credit debt reportedly stands at 13.6 trillion baht across 158 institutions.
Read more: Nation Thailand (Debt Crisis), Bangkok Post (Manufacturing)
Future Industries Initiative Launched
The government is looking to draw investments in five future industries: data centers, AI, electric vehicles, precision agriculture, and food technology. The projects are hoped to pull in 800 billion baht in investments this year. Major tech companies including Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, and Huawei are already investing in data centers. The government says it will streamline investment processes by updating old regulations, but we will be watching closely to see if anything comes to pass.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Banking Security Overhaul
The Bank of Thailand is demanding increased mobile banking security measures, including a 50,000 baht daily transfer limit for “vulnerable” groups. Banks will nee required to incorporate face recognition technology for larger transfers. New screening measures will also target company registrations linked to suspected money-launderers, and Thai banks will be shackled with stricter regulations to try and prevent Myanmar's junta from accessing financial services.
Read more: Bangkok Post (Security), Nation Thailand(Junta Regulations)
Electricity Prices Drop with Policy Adjustments
Electricity prices will be reduced from 4.18 to 4.15 baht per kilowatt-hour for the first four months of 2025. This minuscule decrease, part of the government’s “New Year measures,” was approved following discussions among the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and state entities. The reduction of zero point zero zero seven percent is intended to ease public financial burdens while balancing costs related to natural gas imports and subsidies for the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. Future adjustments remain under review as authorities explore more sustainable pricing.
Read more: Bangkok Post (Tariff reduction policy), Nation Thailand (Public relief initiative)
Environmental Challenges Keep Growing
Last year was no respite from environmental challenges, including widespread blackchin tilapia invasion, hazardous waste incidents, and severe flooding affecting 57 provinces. The August-September floods impacted 37 provinces, causing 49 deaths and affecting 181,870 households. Mae Sai district experienced its worst flooding in nearly 100 years. Is it all a harbinger of things to come?
Read more: Bangkok Post (Environmental Issues), Nation Thailand (Flooding)
Healthcare Landscape is Greening
The healthcare sector is jumping on the sustainability bandwagon on the back of growing international demand. Leading hospitals are starting up eco-friendly initiatives, like energy-efficient systems, renewable energy programs, and reduced carbon emissions strategies. Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) is at the forefront with its Green Healthcare initiative while expanding capacity by adding 600 beds by 2027 to cater to more international patients. Hospitals like Thonburi Healthcare Group are beginning to use solar energy, while others are focusing on green construction to align with ESG goals.
Read more: Bangkok Post (Eco-friendly hospitals), Khaosod English (Sustainability initiatives), BNN Bloomberg(Capacity expansion)
Smart Farming Revolution
Thailand is adopting Chinese smart farming technology to make the agricultural sector more efficient and competitive. Huida Tech's autopilot steering system has reportedly helped reduce ploughing costs from 1,600 baht to 200 baht per rai. Thailand currently has 5,000 drones in action to monitor 4 million rai of land, with plans for a new innovation center to look for new opportunities in this segment within the next two years.
Read more: Nation Thailand
BRICS Partnership Established
Thailand has joined BRICS as a partner country effective January 1, alongside Malaysia and Indonesia. The partnership builds on Thailand's 2017 participation in the BRICS Plus mechanism, focused on trade, investment, and tourism. Word on the street is that the government is still hoping to achieve full membership in the near future.
Read more: Phuket News
New Employee Welfare Fund in the Works
A new Employee Welfare Fund on will be introduced on October 1, 2025, requiring both employers and employees to contribute 0.25% of wages to start, with that amount scheduled to increase to 0.5% after September 2030. The fund is designed to provide financial support during termination, death, or other circumstances deemed appropriate by the committee putting the project together. We’ll have to keep watching for more details.
Read more: ASEAN Briefing
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading!
How are we doing?
We love hearing from readers, and we are always looking for feedback. How are we doing with the Mekong Memo? Is there anything you'd like to see more of or less of? Which aspects of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?
Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back— hit reply and help us get better. We'd love to hear from you!
If you value the Mekong Memo, please consider buying (or gifting!) a paid subscription, sharing it on social media or forwarding this email to someone who might enjoy it. Please also “like” this newsletter by clicking the ❤️ below, which helps us get visibility on the Substack network.
Thank you!