BANGKOK - Speculation is rife about who among Thailand's billionaires will be called up by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha after he announced he would invite the kingdom's 20 richest people to join his government in easing pandemic-induced hardship.
To critics, it was an admission that the government had run out of money, or ideas - or both. To analysts, it was a glaring example of the special treatment accorded to Thailand's biggest conglomerates, which are expected to weather the looming recession far better than millions of struggling small and medium-sized enterprises .
"It raises the issue of cronyism, of the government granting direct access to companies that already talk to the government," she told The Straits Times."This is basically giving cronyism some steroids."