thai poll campaign intensifies with parties promising perks

By Pathom Sangwongwanich

THAILAND S m ajor political parties are ramping up their policy promises to cement a foothold in regional bastions ahead of a general election in May.

Campaigning in north Thailand’s Chiang Rai province on Saturday, the main opposition Pheu Thai Party vowed to triple farmers’ income during the first four years in office if elected. That will be achieved by introducing new farming technology, the head of the party’s policy committee Prommin Lertsuriyadej said.

The party will also seek to generate more tax revenue to finance development through income earned from trade, tourism and farming, while it plans to introduce a three-year debt moratorium for farmers and improve the so-called 30-baht universal healthcare program.

Meanwhile, the United Thai Nation party, of which Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha is a member, rallied in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province. The premier touted the government’s infrastructure investment program as the largest in three decades and an investment for future generations. He pledged to create a fund to shore up crop prices in the northeast if voted into power.

day, Scholz said Germany could help India achieve its ambitious goals when it comes to expanding renewable power generation.

India is set to receive $10.5 billion in aid by 2030 to boost the use of clean energy under agreements the two sides signed in May last year.

Scholz’s delegation included several German business leaders, including the head of ThyssenKrupp, which is trying to sell further submarines to India.

Asked whether such a deal with India, which has been a major buyer of arms from Russia, could be struck, Scholz said he had “the impression that the quality of German technology enjoys great recognition and appreciated here.”

The two-day visit will also take Scholz to India’s information technology hub Bengaluru on Sunday. Frank Jordans reported from Berlin