Democrat Party urges Thai government to assess grassroots economic reality

The Democrat Party has urged the Thai government to look beyond credit ratings and engage directly with citizens to assess the true state of the economy. Trirat Sirichantharopas, a member of the party's economic team, argued that while the government promotes economic success, many small entrepreneurs, farmers, and laborers continue to face high living costs, stagnant incomes, and weakened purchasing power.

Trirat cautioned against relying solely on investment figures from sectors like Data Centers and AI, questioning whether such capital effectively reaches the grassroots economy or creates quality employment for the majority. He warned of growing structural vulnerabilities and a potential loss of long-term competitiveness, drawing parallels to the period leading up to the 1997 Tom Yum Goong crisis to emphasize the need to address hidden economic risks rather than focusing only on growth percentages.