PM promotes “soft power” as new engine driving Thai economy, emphasizes people as partners in national development

PM promotes “soft power” as new engine driving Thai economy, emphasizes people as partners in national development, enhances charm of Thai brands to penetrate the global market

October 21, 2567 at 09.00:2 a.m. at Grand Ballroom 3-XNUMX, Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, Bangkok Ms. Pae Thongthan Shinawatra, Prime Minister Participate in the Dailynews Talk 2024 seminar “Soft Power: Opportunities for Thailand” with Mr. Poomtham Wechayachai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Mr. Pichai Naripthaphan Minister of Commerce Mr. Chusak Sirinil Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office Miss Jiraporn Sinthuprai Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office Miss Sudawan Wang Suphakit Koson Minister of Culture Ms. Thiratrat Samretwanich Deputy Minister of Interior Mr. Suraphong Suebwonglee Chairman of the National Soft Power Development Committee attended the event.

Mr. Jiraayu Huangtraph The Prime Minister's Office spokesman revealed that the Prime Minister gave a seminar. “Soft Power: Opportunities for Thailand” One section says that Thailand has been stuck in the middle-income trap for decades. Raising the level to become a high-income country is not easy. Factors include competitiveness, quality of education, and changes in technology. Therefore, it is very necessary for Thailand to make a major change in its economic strategy. One of the important strategies is: “Soft Power Strategy”

The Prime Minister said the government is confident “Soft power” It will be a new engine that will drive Thailand's economy to leap forward within the next decade and be a policy that will improve the quality of life for tens of millions of Thai people. Thailand is a country rich in cultural capital. The charm of Thai people and Thailand attracts people all over the world, making foreigners fascinated and believe that Thai people are capable, have potential, and have creative skills that are waiting for an opportunity to develop.

“The core of the soft power policy is to develop low-skilled labor to become high-skilled labor and increase the value of products and services from high skills with creativity, further developed with innovation, and created branding with stories by further developing existing skills or Up-skilling and training to create new skills or Re-skilling. This is very important and necessary. All parties, including government agencies, academics, universities, the private sector, and labor, have been working separately in the past. There has been no serious integration or integration into a system,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Soft power policy formulation under the project “1 family, 1 soft power” Or OFOS - One Family One Soft Power will make all relevant sectors come together to drive the design of training courses that can actually be used in a profession, both on-site training and online training. Everyone can study for free, without any costs, with no limitations on educational qualifications. This allows for the elevation of skill potential from the low to the intermediate and high levels without limitations and with the easiest access possible, which requires the private sector to help in writing the training course formula.

The goal is to enable Thai people to work in all soft power-related careers, to upgrade products and services from Thai culture to be of higher quality, more creative, and more attractive, so that they do not have to worry about competing on price with manufacturers who have the advantage of mass production (Economy of scale).

The Prime Minister gave an example 'Korakot' A bamboo sculpture brand from Thai wisdom, it is a beautiful decoration as furniture, using bamboo to play with light and shadow outstandingly, which has been very successful on the world stage until a French luxury brand hired Korakot to make a window backdrop, developing local wisdom and adding creativity to reach a world-class level, aiming to elevate local artisans to have the opportunity to learn and use creative skills to reach a world-class level because the world market is vast, without borders and without limits.

The Prime Minister said that the examples given reflect how much potential Thai people and Thai culture have if they are promoted systematically and sustainably. From traveling to the ACD meetings and ASEAN, it was found that many countries are very interested in Thai culture, especially "Thai food" Each country has different interests. For the food industry, it must change from agriculture that exports crops to the modern food industry. In addition to pushing “Thai Kitchen to World Kitchen” In addition to having authentic Thai restaurants that put creativity into every dish to every corner of the world, we will also export ready-to-eat Thai food with delicious flavors using food preservation technology that can be stored for 2 years, adding food innovation with the Food Lab that helps maintain the taste and aroma as if it were freshly cooked for foodies around the world.

And a very famous example in America is 'Frozen Thai coconut pancakes' Sold in supermarkets, it sold well to the point of creating a viral trend because it can maintain the taste of Khanom Krok well. In addition, using food preservation innovations will make Thai food more accessible to people around the world. It is believed that ready-to-eat Thai food such as Tom Yum Goong, Panaeng Neua, Pad Krapow, and Tom Kha Gai have markets around the world and have the potential to grow a lot more. Currently, innovations in food preservation, whether retort technology, frozen food, extending the shelf life of food, and maintaining the freshness of food are much cheaper. This is a new opportunity for Thai food.

The Prime Minister stated that the Wellness industry is a global trend that is paying attention to. Being healthy, having good physical and mental health is important. This business is growing a lot all over the world, including in Thailand, which has a complete range of health foods, Thai herbs, as well as wisdom that is a world heritage such as Thai massage. There is also Thai boxing for exercise for health and is famous all over the world, including medical strength, giving Thailand a great opportunity in the Wellness industry, which must be systematically developed further.

Including raising the level of tourism with Human made tourism, which will raise the level of various festivals, whether it be Maha Songkran, Loi Krathong, or local levels such as Phi Ta Khon, Candle Festival, Bun Bang Fai, enhancing the image of a Festival country, a country that can be visited all year round, with new festivals to come to all the time, creating a festival economy that circulates in every locality, including preparing Thailand to be a place for hosting world-class music festivals.

All of these are opportunities for Thailand within the framework of the word “Soft power” To improve the lives of our people according to the set goals, the government also has a policy to promote tourism in secondary cities throughout the year by using the soft power of each region as a selling point, stimulating the country's economic circulation to distribute income to the community.

“The people and the government are partners of Thailand who must work together to help develop Thailand to be prosperous, to become a developed country with high income, and Thai people will no longer be poor. When the people develop their potential and skills, raise their income and status to be wealthy, the government will be able to collect more taxes. The taxes collected will be used to develop the country to be prosperous, and the benefits will return to the Thai people,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Read all economic news throughout Thailand here.