Pheu Thai MP Warns Thailand Faces Fiscal Bottleneck Crisis, Calls for Accelerated Fiscal and Tax Reform to Break Poverty Cycle

On June 30, 2026, Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Chaiseng debated in support of the annual expenditure budget bill during a House of Representatives session. He strongly warned that Thailand is facing a “fiscal bottleneck crisis” and made it clear that if the government does not accelerate structural reforms, cut spending, and create new revenue, the Thai people will never escape the poverty cycle.

Jatuporn stated that he supports this budget for three major reasons: the fiscal constraint situation, the degree of alignment with the problem, and the capacity to respond to global crises. Currently, Thailand is caught in a “multi-dimensional trap,” simultaneously facing multiple crises including low economic growth, social inequality, an aging population, and public debt approaching its ceiling, in addition to external factors such as post-pandemic geopolitical changes, energy and food crises from the Middle East conflict, and the wave of AI transformation.

The most concerning issue is the “fiscal constraint.” Jatuporn revealed that Thailand’s current recurring expenditure is approximately equal to revenue at around 3 trillion baht, causing the total investment budget of about 700 billion baht to rely entirely on “borrowing.” According to fiscal regulations, the investment budget must be no less than 20% of the annual budget.

“This is not a coincidence; our borrowing is 700 billion baht, but rather the result of legal requirements. The current fiscal situation is very rigid: reducing it violates the law, and increasing it will hit the public debt ceiling. Thailand must maintain such a deficit for many years to come, and if recurring expenditure grows by more than 100 billion baht annually without revenue increasing, one day we will be unable to compile any budget,” Jatuporn said.

Jatuporn pointed out that the country has only two ways out: first, cut recurring expenditure, which is difficult because it is tied to civil servant salaries and government agencies continue to expand; second, adjust the tax structure, but there are concerns about increasing the burden on the people during an economic downturn. Therefore, the best way out is to accelerate economic growth and increase people’s income.

Additionally, he reflected suggestions from the private sector that the government should accelerate economic restructuring, improve labor skills, upgrade the education system, and invest in infrastructure. He also pointed out the failures of the current budget compilation lacking integration, for example, AI budgets like “scattered small amounts” as each department applies for them without direction. In contrast, South Korea invested over 18 trillion baht in semiconductor development; budgets for upskilling and retraining were cut, while the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation budget was slashed, and the Education Ministry budget was increased but still stuck in old projects. Budgets for promoting a high-value economy were too low, such as a food technology project targeting the Middle East market receiving only 10.8 million baht, insufficient to drive strategic implementation.

Jatuporn proposed to the special committee reviewing the budget bill: the budget must be truly strategically adjusted and allocated, “prohibiting the transfer of reducible budgets into the central budget,” and instead requiring the cabinet to submit structurally integrated new proposals. If the budget is not improved in this way, Thailand will not be able to move forward, and the people will never escape poverty. He called on parliament and the cabinet to seriously consider how to lead Thailand through this fiscal crisis.