ECONOMIC TEAM LAYS OUT POLICIES AS CREDENTIALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 BANGKOK 000430

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EB
STATE PASS TO USTR
TREASURY FOR OASIA
COMMERCE FOR EAP/MAC/OKSA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2017
TAGS: ECON EFIN ELAB ENRG ETRD PGOV PINR SENV TH
SUBJECT: ECONOMIC TEAM LAYS OUT POLICIES AS CREDENTIALS
QUESTIONED

REF: A. BANGKOK 409 (CABINET'S PRO-THAKSIN FIGURES)

B. BANGKOK 359 (CHOICES AWAIT MINISTER)

C. 07 BANGKOK 4943 (PPP CAMPAIGN PLATFORM)

BANGKOK 00000430 001.2 OF 005


Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason: 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's economic
team, announced in his February 6 cabinet inauguration, has
drawn sharp criticism from the business community for some
team members' apparent lack of economic expertise on
financial and trade issues. Like the rest of the cabinet,
the economic team includes a number of spouses, relatives and
other "nominees" of former Thai Rak Thai (TRT) members banned
from political activity. Much of the criticism is directed
at the choice of Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee, a medical doctor
by professionQ/yQ:a9
v1$rQQdB}tcrence
February 7, by declaring himself the "CEO of the Economic
Team" who would receive "confidential advice" from "six or
seven" unnamed advisers. Surapong and Minister of Commerce,
Mingwan Saengsuwan, would serve as "Chief Financial Officer"
and "Chief Operating Officer," respectively, with another
Deputy Prime Minister in charge of fast-tracking
infrastructure "megaprojects." On the intellectual property
front, the new Public Health Minister said recent compulsory
licenses on pharmaceuticals would be "reviewed." End Summary.


ECONOMIC TRIUMVIRATE - NOT YOUR DREAM TEAM
--------------


2. (C) Samak has declared himself to be the "CEO of the
Economic Team," partly due to reported clashes between
Surapong and Minister of Commerce, Mingkwan Saengsuwan, for
overall primacy on economic policy direction. Samak
describes Surapon?}^g
Mingkwan as his "Chief Operating Officer," responsible for
macro and micro economic policy, respectively. Mingkwan was
the PPP's top economic adviser leading up to the December
2007 elections, charged with resurrecting the disbanded Thai
Rak Thai's (TRT) populist policies that drew significant
support from the rural Northeast. Mingkwan was also
President of the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand
(MCOT),which controversially allowed former Prime Minister
Thaksin to broadcast a state of emergency decree over Channel
9 television (under MCOT's control) on the evening of the
September 19, 2006 military coup.


3. (C) Surapong is the PPP's Secretary General, and has often
spoken of the need to win back the confidence of foreign
investors by repealing remaining capital controls and
prohibiting any retroactive changes to the Foreign Business
Act. However, his appointment has caused consternation in
the local business community (Ref B) due to his lack of
financial expertise. Reports in mid-January that he would
have two Deputy Ministers, rather than one, raised hopes that
experienced bankers or bureaucrats would assist him in fiscal
policy decision-making and coordination with the Bank of
Thailand (BOT) on monetary policy. However, the eventual
choices as deputies are reported by the media to have been
made over Samak's objections and based on political
considerations in consultation with Thaksin.


4. (C) Samak admitted publicly on February 7 that he had a
"difficult time" filling the Finance Minister post, with a
number of prominent economists turning the job down due to
legal restrictions on their ability to work in the private
sector after completion of their term. One reputed candidate
for the job, Dr. Supavud Saicheua, told econoffs in January
that a lack of confidence in the longevity of the current
coalition was also a factor that dissuaded candidates.
Deposed PM Thaksin's previous Finance Minister, Dr. Thanong

BANGKOK 00000430 002.2 OF 005


Bidhaya, is believed to have fallen out with Thaksin
following the September 2006 military coup, when he
reportedly apologized to Privy Council Chairman Prem
Tinsulanonda for his role in Thaksin's government. Samak
stated that a "back up team of six or seven advisers" would
offer advice behind the scenes and remain anonymous to avoid
conflict-of-interest restrictions.


FOCUS ON EXPANDED INFRASTRUCTURE, "POPULISM"
--------------


5. (U) In a press statement February 7, Surapong said his
chief priorities would be to boost domestic consumption and
investment by expanding spending on infrastructure, including
nine mass transit routes in Bangkok, and restoring TRT
populist policies including a debt suspension for farmers,
microcredit programs for villages, and tax breaks for low
income groups. In an earlier interview February 6, Surapong
said the government had leeway to expand spending by an
additional 1 percent of GDP, and could run a deficit of up to
2.5 percent of GDP in a revised 2008 budget to be presented
to Parliament in May. Although he has previously called for
the immediate removal of the 30 percent reserve requirement
on capital inflows (Ref B and C),he edged away from that
commitment slightly on February 7, saying he would first need
to consult with Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase.


6. (U) In other cabinet announcements, Public Health Minister
Chaiya Sasomsab announced that the recent imposition of
compulsory licenses by the outgoing Minister would be
"reviewed," which immediately elicited criticism that he was
pandering to big business and abandoning the poor. Labor
Minister Uraiwan Thienthong proposed a "Fly First, Pay Later"
scheme to assist Thai workers in securing jobs overseas and
flying to their destinations with air tickets paid on credit.
Transport Minister Sanit Prompat said he would support
Surapong in speeding up expenditures on Bangkok's mass
transit projects. Information and Communications Technology
Minister Man Pattanothai said he will promote low-cost
computer availability and internet access for rural
provinces. Natural Resources and Environment Minister
Anongwan Thepsuthin announced a program to use fast-growing
trees to replace fossil fuels for electricity generation.
Science and Technology Minister Wuthipong Chaisaeng said his
ministry would focus on eucalyptus and tamarind plantations
to expand bio-fuel production.


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES ON ECONOMIC MINISTERS
--------------

Finance
--------------


7. (C) Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee, Secretary General of PPP, is
a medical doctor-turned-politician, whose rise to prominence
was enhanced by his promotion of the grassroots-friendly 30
baht health care scheme, which ostensibly allowed citizens to
receive primary health care for only 30 baht (less than 1
USD) per visit. While the program has stressed the
healthcare system, it proved highly popular in the 2005 and
2007 elections for the TRT and PPP parties, respectively. He
served as Deputy Minister of Public Health from 2001-2002,
was promoted to Minister of Information and Communications
Technology in 2002-2005, and became Thaksin's hand-picked
government spokesman after the 2005 election until the 2006
coup.


8. (U) Sub. Lt. Ranongrak Suwanchawee, one of two Deputy
Ministers of Finance, is the wife of Sub. Lt. Pairoj
Suwanchawee, a former Deputy Minister of Commerce during
Thaksin's administration and one of the 111 banned Thai Rak
Thai members. She has no known background in financial
matters and is a registered nurse. Ranongrak was among

BANGKOK 00000430 003.3 OF 005


several appointees involved in the media-reported clash
between Samak and Thaksin over cabinet and sub-cabinet
appointees (Samak allegedly trying to shift her to a less
sensitive post). A first-time Member of Parliament
representing the Puea Pandin party, she is a long-time civil
servant in the Public Health Ministry who won election as a
Senator in 2006, but was unable to serve due to the coup in
September that year.


9. (U) Mr. Pradit Pattaraprasit, the second of two Deputy
Ministers, is a prominent businessman who is now Secretary
General of the Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana party, part of the
PPP-led coalition. He first turned politician in 1995,
representing his hometown of Pichit from 1995-1997 in the
Democrat Party and becoming Deputy Minister of Transport in

1997. Pradit was appointed Secretary General of the Democrat
Party in 2005, only to resign in 2007 to form the Ruam Jai
Thai group, which would later join Chart Pattana to become
the Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana party.

Commerce
--------------


10. (SBU) Minister of Commerce Mr. Mingkwan Saengsuwan, who
also holds a Deputy Prime Minister title, is a long-time
senior marketing executive of Toyota Thailand and former
President of the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand
(MCOT). Mingkwan was forced to resign his position at MCOT
after allowing television's Channel 9, under his command, to
broadcast Thaksin's statement from New York declaring a state
of emergency during the military coup of September 19,2006.
He was the PPP's chief economic advisor during the December
2007 election campaign, responsible for crafting revised
versions of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party's "populist"
programs that remain popular outside Bangkok. He has a law
degree from Chulalongkorn University.

Agriculture
--------------


11. (U) Mr. Somsak Prissanananthakul, currently a deputy
leader of the Chart Thai party, has expressed support for
PPP's populist initiatives including debt suspension for
farmers and price supports for agricultural commodities.
He is a former Minister of Education (1999) and served as
First Deputy House Speaker in 2001.

Industry
--------------


12. (U) Mr. Suwit Khunkitti, who served as one of Thaksin's
Deputy PMs, resigned from TRT in 2005 for health reasons.
Upon his recovery, he entered the monkhood and was not
covered by the five-year ban on TRT's 111 executive members.
Having represented Khon Kaen for eight terms, he failed to
get elected to the House of Representatives in the December
2007 elections even though he was the senior-most leader of
the Puea Pandin party. He has previously occupied six
ministerial positions in his 25-year career, and received
bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemistry from the
University of Kentucky.

Information and Communication Technology
--------------


13. (U) Dr. Man Patthanothai is the deputy leader of the Puea
Pandin party. He is considered the right-hand man of party
leader Vatana Asavahame, and has served Vatana as Secretary
to the Minister in each of Vatana's previous ministerial
positions (as Minister of Industry, Minister of Interior and
the Prime Minister's Office). He has served four
parliamentary terms representing Samut Prakarn province in
several different parties, most recently Mahachon party
before joining Puea Pandin with Vatana.


BANGKOK 00000430 004.2 OF 005


Labor
--------------


14. (U) Ms. Uraiwan Thienthong is the wife of Sanoh
Thienthong, the leader of the Pracharaj party and former
leader of the influential Wang Nam Yen group which brought 80
representatives to join PM Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party
(TRT) in 2000. After her retirement as a civil servant in
2002, she joined TRT and became the government's first
Minister of Culture. She later became Minister of Labor in
2003, and returned to become Minister of Culture again in

2005. She resigned the latter position in 2006, citing a
need "to uphold proper political ethics of good governance,"
after a widely reported rift between her husband (Sanoh) and
PM Thaksin. On this go-around, Sanoh selected her to
represent the Pracharaj party, which won five seats, in the
new cabinet.

Public Health
--------------


15. (SBU) Mr. Chaiya Sasomsab, Minister of Public Health, was
an adviser to the Minister of Social Development and Human
Security who later became Deputy Minister for Transport and
Communications during Thaksin's administration. He is the
younger brother of Chaiyod Sasomsab, who was Deputy Minister
of Finance under Thaksin. Reports indicate that PM Samak
intended to appoint Chaiya to be Deputy Minister of Finance
himself, but bowed to pressure from Puea Pandin to nominate
their own candidate instead. Chaiya has minimal experience
in health issues. He has, however, told Thai media that he
intends to review the ministry's compulsory license schemes
for cancer medications. He said that decision-makers need to
carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of patients'
access to medication against patent violation problems.


16. (SBU) Mr. Charawat Chanveerakul is the new Deputy Public
Health Minister, and had been Chairman of the Sino-Thai
Engineering Public Company most of his life, resigning on
January 31 to accept his new position. Aged 72, he is
believed to be a surrogate for his son, Anutin Chanveerkul,
who himself served as Deputy Public Health Minister under
Thaksin and is now one of the TRT banned politicians.

Social Development and Human Security
--------------


17. (U) Mr. Sutha Chansaeng, one of PPP's nine Bangkok MPs,
is a close aide to banned TRT member Sudarat Keyuraphan who
followed her from the Palang Dharma party to TRT and has now
joined PPP. He became Secretary to the Minister of Finance
in 2003 and was later Deputy Secretary General to the Prime
Minister for Political Affairs in 2005. Noting that he has
little experience in social development and welfare issues,
apart from those he encountered as an MP, Sutha states that
he will not interfere with civil servants running the
Ministry and will make a priority of improving government
housing projects for the poor. He will be assisted in the
Ministry by two businessmen who owned a pharmacy and a
microbrewery before running unsuccessfully for Parliament.

Transport
--------------


18. (U) Mr. Santi Prompat of Palang Prachachon party has had
close ties with banned TRT member Pongsak Raktapongpaisarn,
who was Minister of Transport in Thaksin's second term. He
and Pongsak played prominent roles in TRT's electoral
successes in the northern provinces, and he repeated that
role for Palang Prachachon in the December 2007 elections.
Santi is President of Nawapattana Thanee, a major real estate
developer, and owns various machinery and auto parts
businesses. He has promised to push for new metro rail lines
in Bangkok and on his first day in office suspended a
previously-planned bus fare increase.

BANGKOK 00000430 005.2 OF 005



Environment and Natural Resources
--------------


19. (U) Ms. Anongwan Thepsuthin is Secretary General of the
Matchimathipataya party and wife of Somsak Thepsuthin, the
banned TRT member who served as Labor Minister in Thaksin's
administration. Both Somsak and Anongwan were TRT MPs
representing Sukhothai province. Although Anongwan lost her
contest in the December 2007 elections, she retained her
position as Secretary General and was the first coalition
partner to announce support for Samak as Prime Minister. Her
appointment is viewed a reward for her quick support of the
PPP-led coalition, and for her husband's ties to Thaksin.

Science and Technology
--------------


20. (SBU) Mr. Wuthipong Chaisaeng, from the PPP, is the
younger brother of Chaturon Chaisaeng, the banned TRT member
who served as TRT acting party leader after the coup, and a
Deputy Prime Minister under Thaksin. Wuthipong's appointment
is believed to be, at least in part, repayment for Chaturon's
TRT service. Wuthipong's and Chaturon's father was a
prominent politician from Chachoengsao province, and his
sister, Anand, is also a PPP Member of Parliament.

Energy
--------------


21. (SBU) Lt. Gen. Poonpirom Liptapanlop is a retired
military officer. She is the wife (and likely "nominee") of
Suwat Liptapanlop, the prominent banned TRT member from
Nakhon Ratchasima who was deputy TRT leader, Minister of
Justice and a Deputy Prime Minister in Thaksin's
administration before re-forming Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana
party. Poonpirom served as a lecturer at the National
Defense College from 2002-2005 and was appointed a Senator in

2006. She was recently profiled in The Nation newspaper as
an energy conservationist.
JOHN