The cabinet on Tuesday gave the green light to the Finance Ministry to borrow 2 trillion baht from domestic and foreign sources to implement the country's most ambitious infrastructure development projects.
The government says the projects will greatly improve the country's competitiveness and bring about economic prosperity.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said the huge borrowings would put public debt at less than 50% of gross domestic product _ still a safe level that will not harm fiscal discipline.
The 2 trillion baht in debt, he said, will be repaid in a period not exceeding 50 years. That means that every Thai citizen today and those who are yet to be born will have to foot the bill for the next half century.
Most critics, including this newspaper, have no objection to the infrastructure projects if they are meant for the benefit of the country and its people. What they are opposed to is the abnormal way the government approaches the projects. That is, to seek outside loans in one lump sum rather than getting funding from annual budgets, and the lack of transparency regarding the projects.
Public participation is non-existent and there is a widespread concern that it will be bypassed for the sake of speedy implementation of the projects. Environmental impact assessment studies which are a must for any projects which may affect the livelihoods of the people and the environment are rarely mentioned.
But the biggest doubt in the minds of the public about this ambitious undertaking by the government is the corruption problem.
Transport Minister Chadchat Sittipunt, whose ministry is in charge of implementing most of the rail and road projects, admitted the public does not trust the projects will be corruption-free. He also stressed the need for the government to restore public trust and confidence, with the private sector's anti-graft network being invited to participate in the scrutiny process.
Meanwhile, Mr Kittiratt said the projects would come under tough scrutiny based on benchmark prices set by the Finance Ministry and procurement regulations of the Prime Minister's Office to ensure transparency.
Well said by both Mr Kittiratt and Mr Chadchat. But time will prove whether they really mean it.
Let's take the transparency issue for a start. It will be more convincing and helpful in building trust if the government is more honest and straightforward on the public debt issue, particularly the hidden debt from the populist rice pledging scheme which is concealed in state-owned banks such as the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. If the loss from the scheme, estimated at 170 billion baht for the first year and about 200 billion baht for the second year, is added up, Thailand's public debt may actually exceed 50% of GDP.
Because of the high stakes involved, the public has every reason to doubt the government, despite all its promises, will be able to keep corruption at a minimum. Mr Kittiratt must make sure the staggering public debt which we as Thais and our next generations are forced to shoulder without any choice is worth spending _ every baht of it.