Economic ills key issue as new Thai party eyes polls

BANGKOK • With less than a year to go before Thailand's general election, a new party led by a former investment banker is pushing the high cost of living and other ills plaguing the economy as key issues in its bid to emerge as a political force.

Mr Korn Chatikavanij, a former chairman of JPMorgan Chase's Thai unit and finance minister, is positioning his two-year-old Kla Party as better equipped than Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's coalition and other mainstream parties to tackle economic issues.

"From the start we made it clear that we'll focus on economic issues and the cost of living," Mr Korn, 58, said. "We don't see many parties with the economic ideas, or with an economic team that the public is identifying with."

With Mr Prayut's government struggling to tackle the highest inflation in almost 14 years amid growing public frustration about rising fuel prices, Mr Korn hit headlines recently with a proposal for a windfall tax on profit of refiners to bankroll an energy subsidy programme. He has also called for an urgent rate increase to stem a decline in the baht that is threatening to further fuel inflation.

That has helped Mr Korn, who was finance minister from 2008 to 2011, to be ranked as a prime ministerial choice above deputy prime ministers Jurin Laksanawisit and Anutin Charnvirakul, who head bigger parties. Mr Korn, who also founded the Thai Fintech Association and a start-up focused on helping to tackle household debt, is pitching for measures to boost new sources of income. He wants gambling legalised to tax the industry and attract foreign investment and spending.

Although Kla Party is focused on the right "pocketbook issues", it will face an uphill battle against other parties with greater brand recognition and well-established provincial networks, said BowerGroupAsia senior director Jay Harriman.

"For sure voters are going to be concerned about the economy, but they might want to go for parties that they think have a fair chance of winning, leaving Kla's smart policies on the drawing board."

Mr Korn is targeting 25 members in the 500-member House of Representatives by putting up 100 candidates in areas where he thinks vote-buying by political parties will have the least sway. He said electoral rules are stacked in favour of larger parties and that may prompt smaller parties to merge. "We're confident that we'll be able to win enough votes to be a part of the next Parliament," he said.

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