After a steady-as-she-goes three years at the helm of Thailand’s fiscal ship, two words sum up the challenge facing the country’s finance minister Apisak Tantivorawong: political risk.
In our annual study of finance ministers, Tantivorawong's lacklustre preparation to counter the blowback from political headwinds provides the backdrop for a drop of two places in his league positioning to 10th place from 8th last year.
A recent abortive and unprecedented attempt by Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya to run for prime minister in elections this year after a half-decade of military rule, compounded by the continued influence of the exiled prime ministerial sibling double-act of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, has plunged the country into yet another round of political uncertainty.
Up to this point, Thailand’s economy had been ticking over relatively well under Tantivorawong’s stewardship following the military coup d’etat of 2014, which installed the National Council for Peace and Order led by ex-army general strongman Prayuth Chan-ocha.
