Budgetary etiquette

The recent passing of the Prayut Chan-o-cha government’s national budget for fiscal year 2019, with a 20% increase in national security spending, has attracted much public criticism — as it should. The coup-installed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) unanimously approved the 3-trillion-baht budget last week, representing 17.1% of GDP, which set a new record. Of the 200-member NLA, 197 agreed with the bill and three abstained.

Gen Prayut insisted the budget matches the needs of the nation and is an investment in Thailand’s future.

Under the 2019 budget beginning this October, revenue is projected at 2.55 trillion baht with a deficit of 450 billion baht funded by loans. It is worth noting here that the annual budget has been running a deficit for over a decade.

The budget has been allocated to six strategic areas: national security (329.1 billion baht); national competitiveness (406.4 billion baht); human development (560.8 billion baht); stamping out poverty and inequality (397.5 billion baht); water management and sustainable development (117.2 billion baht); and general realignment to balance and further improve the administrative system (838.4 billion baht).

While the armed forces and other security agencies are getting a bigger slice of the budgetary cake, the regime decided to cut the budget for education. For decades, Thailand’s education budget has increased on an annual basis. It was cut for the first time in 2018.

As such this marks the second year in a row it has been downsized (the education budget still ranks among the highest in the world, however, proportional to the size of the national budget). In fiscal 2019, it is being chopped by 21 billion baht or 4% to 489.8 billion baht. This means it will be lower than in 2015 (498 billion baht). In 2018, some 3 billion baht was shaved off the education budget compared to the year before.

Meanwhile, the budget for battling poverty and inequality has been ramped up by 19% to 332.6 billion baht from one year earlier.

The budgets for competitiveness building and human resources development, which are part of the education cluster, have been reduced by 14.7% and 2.6%, respectively.

In contrast, the new 329.1-billion-baht budget for defence and security is up 20% from last year, when it stood at 274 billion baht.

The budget allocation indicates that policy and action are following two quite different narratives. It also reflects to a certain extent hypocrisy on the part of the regime. While the government insists it is prioritising sustainable development as a strategy, it only allocated 117.2 billion baht — a third of the defence budget — to sustainable development projects.

The spike in defence and security spending, while coming as a disappointment, can hardly be considered a surprise since the regime in 2017 decided to go ahead with the controversial purchase of three submarines from China despite public complaints at a cost of 36 billion baht. This triggered widespread debate as the regime is well aware that despite the added financial burden for the state, the military is unlikely to use them.

Such wealth could be much more wisely used in improving public health and welfare. After all, a healthier public is an asset worth considerably more, in terms of added productivity and lower healthcare costs, than some unused weaponry.

In fact, the public has frowned on several scandalous arms purchases of late, notably the buying of a blimp, ostensibly for surveillance purposes, GT200 bomb detectors, and Alpha 6 bomb and narcotics detectors. The public has every right to be angry as probes into these questionable shenanigans by anti-graft agencies typically go nowhere.

Finally, the Prayut regime must be aware of the fact that now the country is geared up for a return to full democracy, it must readjust its role to that of a caretaker government. In addition to promising the election will take place in February, the regime must refrain from approving any more pricey megaprojects in the name of political etiquette.