the anti foriegn agenda of the feudal lords
The anti-foreign sentiment has worsened since the junta took over. It does not only target the undesirable as the junta tried to defend itself, but it targets all legitimate foreigners who have poured in billion and billions of dollars, and help to employ million and million of Thais.
Not only the visa law, the 30% foreign currency reserve law, but the one that really scared away all potential investors and also tries to drive out as much foreign influences as possible is the foriegn owership law. Because of the protective feudal structure of this corrupted nation, that a foreign entity who bring lots and lots of money to this third world nation can only legally own 49% of the shares of the company under this Thai feudal law. That means they need to find a legal Thai partner who has the money and skill to invest the other 51% of the shares to make the company, or to give the shares away to a legal Thai partner. Yes, this is how ignorant and stupid the Thai investment laws are.
So this law is so backward and ignorant, that up to this point that all previuos governments did not enforce it and actually encouraged a nominee system to roundabout the ignorant law. Simply they knew its not logical. Under the nominee system, the foreigners will find thier trustworthy people and nominate them as partners on the paper. So after taking all the billions of dollars the foreigners can still be control of their investments. Of couse this is basic concept.
But things have changed after the coup. They have a very clear hidden agendas to really clean away foreign influences by enforcing this law. They required the foregn companies that used the nominee systems to restructure in one year. To either find or to give away the 51% shares in a year. This basically involved all major foreign investments. So when foreigners bring billion and billion to this country, these feudal lords look at it as donation, not investments. True, even Thai economists have sarcastically said that.
Now Thailand is voted the most least attractive investment destinations in Asia by Japanese and Europeans only few months after the junta tookover. The new foreign investments have dropped nearly nil, and the ones already established are trying to get out desperately.
I have quite many friends who have major enterprises in Thailand from service to production, all are warned to restructure their owership in a year. Letter from this junta. Realistically some investments involved billions of dollars, it is fairy tale to find a Thai partner with this strength and with honesty to take over the 51%, and it would be even more ignorant as Thai government also encourages to give away your hard earned billions dollars investment to your Thai "stratigic partner" as they called it.
China and Vietnam are opening up so quickly, and allowing foreign full ownership in practically all fields of industries. The junta is going the opposit way very fast. So many established enterprises here in Thailand are looking relocation to these 2 countries. The foriegn enterprises exodus have actually begun now.
The hidden agenda is so obvious, anti-foreign, anti-foriegn influences, close-nation policy, enforce the Thai king's naive self-sufficency policy. Yes thats what they try to proclaim, self sufficency for 65 millions people with majority poverty stricken and landless, to self sustain themselves, not to depend on the billions and billions of foreign investments, and foriegn helps. This country is really going backward intentionally just to benifit these feudal lords that control the whole country.
As one Princeton Asian studies professor called this self sufficency economy is an agenda to keep the majority of poors "in place", to keep them poor and ignorant, in a political and social term, we can call it" chicken in the cage" policy. Keep the chicken in the boundry of the cage, keep them alive but keep them ignorant. The manipulation of this mega extend is so rare in the 20 century world.
I now feel really sympathetic for many of my foriegn friends who invested everything they have in the country, help the poor Thais with jobs, and helps the economy to grow, help the poor masses to achieve higher standard of living. Then came the junta and ordered them to give away their enterprises that they have built up. This third world nation is turning to fourth world, its becoming Myanmar or Congo in so many aspects. It's making a hidden cleasing of all foreign influences good or bad. It's making the chicken cage smaller and smaller, and trying harder and harder to keep the chickens more and more ignorant and tamed inside the little cage. The manipulation of masses by these feudal lords has reached unprecedented epidemic. Just look, time will tell, in a few years, the Thai masses will be more and more poor, the living standard will be lower and lower. On the other hand, these feudal lords will have stronger and stronger grips of the power, national wealth and national resources. Not very bright future at all.
