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[Applause]

3 prime minister it is it is a true

honor for for us to have you joining uh

us today and also we're so thrilled at

Forbes to be hosting this conference

here in in Bangkok your leadership

arrives at what many say is one of the

most profound moments uh of

transformation for this region variety

of different factors that we know from

evolving economic Dynamics Global

Partnerships technology and the like and

Thailand very much sits at the center of

this given your unique role in the

region so today I'm very eager to talk

about your vision both shortterm and

your longer term vision for for Thailand

I want to start off you've been in

office for a 100 days uh many in in this

room are from the international business

Community CEOs and the like who may be

less familiar with the Dynamics of of

the region for the benefit of this

audience can you give some perspectives

on the developments that led you uh to

taking on this role and before we talk

about some of your policies in Greater

depth uh helping to understand where you

see Thailand today in the context of of

where you hope to bring it forward thank

you very much thank you Mora and thank

you FS for having me and I'm very

excited to be here and um I just told

you and um the the all the fs family

that um if it's going to be in Thailand

I wouldn't be this excited so if it's in

English it's a little bit more a little

bit nervous of course um today I I had a

chance to um tell you about all the the

the vision of Thailand so this um this

morning I had a chance to talk about the

the whole picture of Thailand in

2025 so let let me talk let me tell you

about like right now this year that um

since I I I became a prime minister

there's a lot of um the

the the the trust and

the uh the confidence that I have to go

and make people understand what we

standing right now because um all the

investment right now is very important

because um over a decade that Thailand

is not growing as fast as as we expected

to so we need like new income for the

country like new investment for the

country too so the former prime minister

who said t is um was um planning on on

inviting all the invest investors to

come to Thailand as you can hear from

the news like Google and uh Microsoft

and many more uh um successful business

to come and invest in Thailand so the

first first um week first month that um

I became a prime minister there's a lot

of um investors

that want to make sure that they still

can invest in Thailand or not if if I

still carry the policy or not something

like that but luckily that we are from

the same party so and we're very close

and then we we so so so as my government

I want to continue all the policies that

about investment too so um first first

like first month I went on on and tell

all the country all the leaders all the

companies and CEOs that I still want to

invest I still want to like the people

to invest more in Thailand and of course

I got a very good feedback and right now

when I had a chance to join many

important meeting around the world GMS

Asen and I just got back from ape Peru

um two days two days ago I still woke up

at 3:00

a.m. for for two days now uh but um I I

I had a really good talk with all the

leaders and they're very excited to um

invest in Thailand as well and they they

see a very good chance because you know

I used to be in the private sector

before my family is doing um business

like Hotel business mostly about hospit

about

Hospitality so um I understand like all

the pain that the can possible happen in

for for the private sector so so right

now so I have a government when I get a

chance to talk to all the CE CEO and

people who um interested in in investing

I told them that the government fully

support on um all the investment because

I understand that you know we have to

involve all the paperworks all the steps

that can be very painful for the private

sector and um I understand that sometime

when you're not Thai and you come to

Thailand and you think where do I go

next what what what should we do so we

have the Boi that can fully support on

like the for the the foreign investment

and um I think right now we still have

um many many good deals that but still

ongoing that's very um some I can't

really talk about but um some that can

that already invested in Thailand they

want to invest more such as um Google

Microsoft they want to to invest more

they already invested about like Data

Center and that would create more jobs

and more incomes for the country so when

I have a chance to talk to them I told

them that um of course like in Thailand

people speak Thai and um if they can

come up with the training cost in Eng in

Thai so can help Tai people understand

more about like AI business about

technology business so that's the first

thing that I requested for for doing the

business in Thailand and the next I I I

told them that I try to improve the

education as fast as possible that's the

many things that I have to do all

together at once so there's um a lot of

um um things that need to be improved

because over a decade that Thailand is

growing slower than we expected so we

can't really do one thing to fix all the

problems we have to do many things just

like we like building one watch you know

we can't really miss anything something

like that that's what trying to do right

now so you've been spending your time

laying the foundation in in terms of of

the business case for Thailand taking

out some of the friction or pain points

and challenges for businesses to be here

but also investing in education and the

like uh uh to to accelerate that

transformation you mentioned you were

recently in Peru for the Apec meeting

you outlined several of your core

agendum ite agenda items strengthening

the the country and in in the broader

region making it more stable for growth

and the like you've also introduced a

comprehensive 10-point uh economic plan

focused on on really transforming uh

many many sectors of the economy can you

walk us through your core priorities and

one or two of those initiatives that you

believe exemplify your broader vision

for this next phase of Thailand I

understand that um you know for the

business U investor they all want the

the stability and and and growth and

ease of doing business so um I think

it's very important to to make sure

that's going to happen in Thailand for

sure and like I can give you an example

of like soft power that um I think

that's going to help a lot okay Thailand

has a very rich culture and of course we

can start from that and I I believe that

people outside of Thailand they think

that when they want to come to Thailand

they understand the food they understand

the people they understand the culture

and they want to know more about this so

I think this is of course like our our

soft power so I want to enhance this

like you know when you have like sran

everybody knows sran but um the sran day

is only like three days like 13 14 and

15 but in some in some Province outside

of Bangkok they started s since like 8th

of of um April until 21st of April when

we have this kind of information we try

to make our country like connect all the

events together when you come to

Thailand you can just like go any any

place in Thailand and enjoy some Grand

during April something like that so to

make to make like the festival go

throughout the country and make them

like so you know like if if the tourists

come in and spend more stay longer of

course it's going to benefit Tha

Thailand of course and um just give you

some example like the number of the

tourist like before before the pandemic

it was everything was normal everything

was doing great but after the pandemic

so the number of the tourists like

decreased like dramatically I think it

happens around the world so in Thailand

so only this year the numbers like came

like increased

28% so right now we have like 36 million

tourists one year in in in Thailand so

we predict that maybe next year we can

go back to the to the number of before

the pandemic and um of course the invest

investment in Thailand is create like a

lot more like 40% more of the the future

business 40% more this is like the

highest number in 10 years so this is um

I think like Thailand is doing a lot

better so I hope that um you know if the

if the politic is very stable I think

it's going to stable everything is going

to be more stable people going to trust

more like Thailand is not going to

change too much and they will have more

confidence to invest so at first I have

to build like the confidence like

domestic and international both I have

to make typ people believe in themselves

too that um the government is supporting

them in doing like new business and you

know in this country like 75% is a so

that's why the government came up with

the policy to support the like soft loan

and um all the um the law that we have

to adjust because some law is created

like 30 years ago you know before this

AI before all the technology so I have

to look at all that you know conditions

to fix it and to make it

easier especially for Thai people as

well you're you're activating and really

expanding very very important segments

of the economy you talked about soft

Power Tour and and the like you

mentioned earlier some of the

investments from a technology

perspective uh uh the cloud Market in AI

are are are booming in southeast East

Asia and inflection point um from many

many perspectives and Thailand has this

unique uh uh opportunity to be at the

center of this you mentioned some of the

investment from uh AWS Microsoft

building new data centers Google Cloud

announced a billion dollar investment in

the company while these these

Investments signal extraordinary

confidence in in Thailand there's still

the need to build the infrastructure the

talent and the like to to behind that

how do you plan to build on this

momentum in in the tech space and what

does it take to achieve the leadership

position that you've outlined in terms

of this

opportunity um of course that the

infrastructure is is very very important

um I think like I have to build it's

like it's it's come back to the same

thing that I mentioned earlier about

like we have to push everything all

together not just one thing can fix all

the problems that Thailand been having

you know but right now like um I I so

under my leadership I try to um con

connect with other countries and people

in my country as well to help out like

to to make them understand more what I'm

doing right now so the think that um

since I'm the one of the youngest leader

in the world but the youngest leader in

Tha and one of the very very few female

leaders uh female leader yes yes but um

I was lucky that thank

you on the on the Asian Asian Asian

stage I was um the only woman know the

leaders but um the AP meeting there

there were two so me and the president

of Peru so two women not so lonely

anymore okay back to the question um so

um yeah I I try I try to make the the

confidence and and everything and um I

think that to to build the

infrastructure

I for the um the inside problems in

Thailand so the government have done

many things um in the past one year we

like the first we we we for the 3 years

um debt uh suspension for the farmers we

did that and um you know all the the

help the support before we have like a

small package of help like the money and

it didn't help that much so we come up

with the the 10 million B policy to help

out the people and the group of people

we study that this group of people the

first group of people that we we hand

the money into directly to their hands

is because that these group of people

they would spend more than to save up so

that's why we chose we prioritize the

group first and we just announced the

policy that the um the policy that um

we're going to give out another 10

another 10 um 10,000 for the group of

people who's like 60 and and above and

older so this group that we prioritize

is that we make sure that they are going

to spend so to make the cash flow flows

over the country so this is what we

planning and of course we have many more

things like for the soft power we have

11 different Industries and those and

each industri we have all the committee

that understand what's going on so we

going to help that the government will

have the taka as a mechanism for for the

soft power business to understand like

to like come you can have like this taka

as a One-Stop service for every industry

so just come to this um taka and they

can have all sorted that's why like you

know because right now typ people have

many potential but they just they don't

really come together as a group so when

we develop anything it's like some of

them just get the benefit but some of

them don't something like that so we try

to grab everyone together and um like

let me show you some example that um

when I went to um La I had a chance to

talk to um the the theme Industries like

Disney um Netflix um Amazon so I

announced about the cash rebate like 30%

from 20% this is a very good news for

them because um before this you know in

Thailand alone we have like 40 different

countries that come to Thailand to fee

in Thailand and um from the four like

like last year uh they Fe 450 FES in

Thailand and 40 from the US that's a

that's quite big number so we when we PR

now is the the cash rebate that's going

to help a lot so the cost and everything

is cheaper so for for for the government

to support that we support like the Tha

as well that's why we create like the

different 11 different Industries to

help up and to know really know like the

problems and the way to fix things and

to make things better in each industri

like that so it's like

make all the all all the possibilities

is to be better you you mentioned going

around the world uh speaking to other

world leaders other CEOs Industries and

and the like uh for those in this room

can you make the investment case to why

Thailand why now and what the unique

advantages are to this country versus

other opportunities in the

region when I when I when I have a

chance to talk to lader I think that one

thing that um is very very Advantage for

Thailand is the location as well look

Thailand is is the heart from Southeast

Asia so the location is very good and um

we have a very strong uh agriculture too

so um when I go talk to leaders I talk

about food security and they are very um

excited because um they already know

that in Thailand we can have um we can

have a lot of food and in in our country

is very peaceful so we if we can stock

the food for them and we can ship out to

them

like in the best

quality you know whenever they want I

offer this policy to many many countries

and I I got a very good feedbacks on

this and of course the minister is

carrying out the the policy and they

they set the committee to talk about

things about the food security and we

try to um

develop um the technology about you know

to Retro the food and to keep the food

as as long as possible and to send out

like the fresh and very um good quality

of food to other countries and I think

right now Thailand is ready ready with

technology and ready with um the stable

government and um of course I set up all

the policy and the people who's working

for the government is very strong and

very well connected with other countries

yes so I think it's a very right moment

and is a very good moment to invest in

Thailand right now as you going around

around the world what's the most common

question you get from world leaders or

CEOs on on on the opportunities here and

is there one aspect of the Thailand

transformation story that you don't

think gets enough attention in terms of

of what it means for your broader Vision

the first question when I met with all

the leaders they said How's your

father I've never gotten that question

it's true I try to answer like like

business-wise but this is the first

question and I can't really lie about it

well we'll be hearing from him tonight

so good yes so they asked about my

father and then um and the next question

was my aunt something like

that yes it's true though um yes so so

we talk about many things and and

um uh and I think the the area that um

being um not really

recognize I think the quality of um like

the craftsmanship in

Thailand I I learned this from doing the

soft power policy before I became a

prime minister I really into this policy

and um I um I have been all over the

country as I was doing campaign while I

was pregnant um I met a lot of people

and I talked to them you know all the

all like the craftsmanship they have a

very good quality of work but in

Thailand it's like you can get so little

by doing so much that's a thing that um

I feel that if I have a chance I would

improve this so much because um I I

learned from um the the uh the group of

the the organization that I talked to

that all the craftsmanship in in France

they get like so many like so much money

for doing like one watch you know like P

Philip something like that they have

particularly like one person who can do

these kind of work and they get so much

money from that so I feel that the labor

in Thailand is like is very cheap that's

that's one of our policy as well to

increase um the labor but you know the

labor like special the specialty like

this like the craftsmanship like they

they can make like the amazing fabric

amazing textile and and and the the

print and everything and they get so

little I feel I feel bad and I think

that Tai people don't

really understand that how good they are

and they're just like oh I can do just

you know OEM they can just support all

the brands and they don't even know that

all the high Brands Just Produce in

Thailand you know everything is like

made in Thailand something like that and

they can sell like 200% more of of the

type people get that's the one thing

that um I really want to fix that and I

want like around the world to see that

how talented Tai people are that's one

thing that I I really want to enhance

that's why like I

go you know around the world wearing

like Thai fabric all the time because I

I feel proud I feel proud to wear

something like that of course like I'm

being I'm being myself like all the time

some maybe some people don't like that

but I just wear whatever I want and

whatever I I I love like I can match

like the Thai fabric with the high-end

brand something like that it just it's

just how I am and I like to present

Thailand the way I feel like you know

honest about it something like that so

that's why like I'm so proud of um of

tha people for doing like these kind of

product to produce all the product that

they have yes but it seems like through

these different initiatives you are

unlocking aspects of of the economy but

also aspects of the workforce to really

position Thailand in a different way or

or a way that better reflects the

country on a global stage but also

reinforces some of the things that you

talked about as it relates to to soft

power and tourism and understand the the

culture as a as a driver of economic

value to to the country as well uh I

want to shift shift gears uh a little

bit um in terms of of Thailand on the

world stage uh earlier this week you had

a conversation with President Trump uh

and uh this relationship between the US

and Thailand has has deep root Thailand

is Washington's oldest Ally in in Asia

uh but but right now obviously there's

there's many questions around the

Dynamics and relationships when with

trade between between China and and the

US and your relationship Visa this

dynamic as Washington unfolds under the

Trump Administration in particular how

how do you think the return of of trump

will impact these types of factors

okay first I want to answer like the

first one first um when I when I go um

talk to

um the representative of um United

States or or China or many countries I

we present oursel as um active promo of

peace and common Prosperity that's one

thing that um is the key for me when

when I when I um introduced Thailand so

um so for of course for for Mr President

Trump I think like the the the market

the the way he look at economic would

shift a little bit especially with like

um the the

export you they they they try to find um

so we we have to have the policy that

can support this as well we aware of

this and um right now we try to try to

um make Tha people understand that

the way the policy that Trump that M

that Mr President like think or plan is

it's it's one thing so but it's not

going to be our problem because because

um we have um we have export we have

export around like 10% of the GDP to the

states and um I plan to open more for

for the import stuff as well you know

because um like in Thailand we have a

lot of good quality that can export like

we we have cows that many countries that

contact us to to export More Cows and

more products of Thailand so this is

this is like the the thing that need to

be adjust a little bit but I think we

the policy that we have and and uh Mr

President have I think we can adjust on

that and um it's not something that that

impossible or anything it's just

something that shift a little bit and

and um I know that people are worried

about this like this morning I already

give this speech and tie about this as

well in quite in depth so um we the

government prepare for for for for this

as well so you've had conversations uh

with with President Trump in terms of in

terms of of the opportunities on the

global stage you're doing a number of

these different initiatives in the

region and and internally to to boost

and activate the com the economy attract

foreign investment when you think about

the role that you would like Thailand to

play

in this region that it can uniquely play

in this region what is that

role for for Thailand I think that we we

need to just make sure that we ready for

the for the other the investment

especially for the future business like

technology like Data Center and um

semiconductor that we already have the

commune to to talk about this as well

and um I think this role that to

announce to the world that we ready for

the future invest investment to Future

business investment that's going to

attract like around around the world

because um you know because a lot of

changes happened during this this year

this last year and many years before and

um when when I when I can announce that

this is like more stable and um more

back on track already I think that's

going to because then we have like a

peace peaceful country too so it's

yeah when when you look at at these

different um different initiatives and

you you know you talked so much about in

terms of of um uh foreign investment

understanding that the opportunities in

this country if you could fast forward 5

years from now what is your hope in

terms of of the outcome of some of of

your policies and and the vision that

you are are laying out

today uh as I said earlier for the

educations I really want um the people

to to adapt more to learn more in in in

a the the second language you know it

doesn't have to be always be English but

um the language it has to be more

because right now we started already

about the education and of course like

it's going to be the country full of um

uh new the future business Data Center

and um uh like semiconductor as well

like the the the the cloud first policy

that we already have done so in the 5

years time it's going to going to see

like more obvious with this kind of um

future business too and of course like

in the future um I hope that um we we

can assure the people that we have the

stable um politics and because you know

everyone wants to see the country go

forward for you know in a long long term

and I do think that in 5 years time

people will escape from the middle

income that's what we planning to do

like all the plan right now up to the 5

years actually we the government plan

for like the 10 years time and we have

to make the root of it for even the

government change the Prime Minister

change but I just want the policy to

stick to the country and to the people

and are the Ben benefits that can stay

with the people as as long as possible

just like 30 B porc that 20 years 20

years ago until today we still have that

policy but enhanced the policy something

like that so that's what you know

because from my background I don't want

the benefit to

just done when the government is done

the something I just want to build to

just like make the route go deeper for

Thailand so all the policy that I

build it today I try to make it stay

forever that's what I'm planning to do

and of course I think you you will see

for sure well prime minister thank you

so much for for sharing for sharing your

your vision for Thailand and and and the

ways in which you are engaging so many

stakeholders and collaborators as as

part of this Vision we're excited to see

what's ahead for this country and thank

you so much Forin joining us today thank

you so much thank you for having me

thank

you thank you prime minister and MOA

ladies and gentlemen