Thawee Insists Justice Must Come Before Loans, Urges Government to Stop Financial Leaks Through Debt Creation

On May 13, 2025, Pol. Lt. Col. Thawee Sodsong, list MP and leader of the Pracharaj Party (Pcho.), posted on Facebook stating that the government must address wealth concentration and income inequality, ending a system where debt and interest burden the public while profits flow to monopolistic capital groups.

Meanwhile, the opposition has submitted a petition to the President of the House of Representatives to refer the 400 billion baht loan decree to the Constitutional Court for review on whether it violates Article 172 of the Constitution. Alongside this legal process, consideration must be given to the "structural injustice" of an economic system favoring monopolistic capital and market dominance, creating inequality borne by citizens due to distorted economic structures.

1. Retail Crisis and Market Dominance: According to the decree framework, 200 billion baht from the first loan tranche will reach the public through the state welfare card and Thailand Helps Thailand Plus program. However, the current structure is designed to channel money into an economic ecosystem where small businesses are disadvantaged from day one. Small restaurants, community shops, and countless small traders depend on large wholesale systems for raw materials. Meanwhile, convenience stores numbered 15,945 nationwide in 2024, and combined with wholesale operations of the same companies, total over 21,000 outlets nationwide, controlling over 70% market share.

Empirical data from 2024 shows major retail capital groups earned 1,022,143 million baht in total revenue and swept 28,206 million baht in net profit (up 11.30%), while national GDP grew only 1.6-2%. This profit growth of 11.30% reflects not overall economic growth but wealth transfer from citizens' pockets to major shareholders, indicating complete market dominance. Government loans thus become merely "money passing through citizens' hands" that ultimately returns as accumulated profits for capital groups, a structure consistently leaving small businesses behind.

2. Energy Crisis: Public Burden on Capital Group Wealth: The 200 billion baht loan claimed for "clean energy" and "EV" may ultimately be merely a "change of monopoly hands" from fossil fuels to traditional capital groups. The controversial ENPO resolution (November 28, 2024) allocated 1,500 MW solar farms to major companies instead of distributing "community solar" for ordinary Thai citizens.

A particularly criticized aspect is the "distortion of energy costs through dual-standard gas." The state allocates cheap gas from the Gulf of Thailand to petrochemical conglomerates while pushing expensive imported LNG costs onto citizens' electricity bills. If the state stops favoring big capital and returns Gulf gas to the public, electricity would immediately drop 0.53 baht per unit, returning tens of billions to Thai citizens' pockets rather than being converted to dividend profits for privately enriched groups.

The most disheartening irony is that while citizens pay heavily for fuel, the first quarter 2025 financial statements of a major oil refinery giant show it became "overwhelmingly wealthy," sweeping net profits of 19,481 million baht compared to only 2,458 million baht in the fourth quarter last year—a jump of 17,023 million baht or 450% growth in three months. Notably, revenue from sales soared to 114,809 million baht.