Thread: Investigating Thailand’s Traditional Sakdina System, The back story of the “Prai” and

^Yeah. But they're loans, right? And they haven't been repaid, right? So it must have been Thaksin who done it. He killed a lot of people too.

yeh, good point. I mean it was toxxie that was the reason for the Thai economic crisis, weren't it? i mean it's bladdy obvious, innit??

Originally Posted by sabang

But these are absolutely not village 'micro-loans'. Different story.

thaksin did not pioneer micro-finance in rural thailand , and his village loans scam was not a mirco-finance initative , just age old porkbarreling.


http://www.asiandevbank.org/Document...pers/wp009.pdf

This paper evaluates the outreach and impact of two microfinance “village bank” programs that target the poor in Northeast Thailand. It controls for endogenous self-selection and program placement, using data from a unique survey conducted in 1995-1996. Results indicate that even prior to program intervention, participants tend to be significantly wealthier than non-participants, and the wealthiest villagers are almost twice as likely to participate in the program as the poorer villagers. Moreover, the wealthiest in the village often become program committee members and use their positions to borrow substantially more than rank and file members. However, local information on individual creditworthiness is also used in member selection. Results demonstrate that microfinance loans positively affect many measures of household welfare for the wealthy committee members, but the impact is largely insignificant for poorer rank and file members. Policy recommendations include increased vigilance in targeting the poor, greater efforts to publicly disseminate the rules and purpose of the village bank program, and introduction and enforcement of eligibility criteria based on wealth while continuing to allow villagers to self-select.

Originally Posted by good2bhappy

where did you get a copy?

a pdf here
BOT.rar

Originally Posted by baldrick

thaksin did not pioneer micro-finance in rural thailand

Actually I wasn't aware of that- I'll read the ADB report with interest.
But it does illustrate something that i try to emphasize where possible, re Thaksinomics. A nice brand name, certainly some succesful policies (the recent Establishment smear that it was sending Thailand broke is nonsense. Government debt was reduced sharply under Thaksin). But nothing really new.

Keynesianism by any other name- government stimulation of an economy on it's knees, by some strategic infrastructural and local level spending & investment. Because of the 'Moo Bahn' dynamics of Thailand, the government didn't really need to focus on creating 'jobs for jobs sake' though, as several other programs have done. Thus it was probably more efficient. I think the success of the Village Loan scheme may have surprised Thaksin actually. He certainly had a very good economic team.

Originally Posted by baldrick

http://www.asiandevbank.org/Document...pers/wp009.pdf

very nice report baldrick,

I have also noticed that the "wealthy" of the villages were usually the ones distributing the loans and making use of them the most, like opening 3 mini-mart in the same Soi, or better making deposit on a new truck for a "transport" business

Originally Posted by sabang

Originally Posted by Thaihome

That’s pretty simple – it is the EXACT game plan that was executed by Mr. Thaksin and the TRT party. Thaksin’s “micro-loan” program was never a loan program. The cash was not dispensed at village-level with guidance to invest it capital improvements that could generate long-term return on investment – while also repaying the loan, so that the loan fund could become self-regenerating. Not a chance. The funds were dispensed at village level as pure political payola – here is money as a gift from TRT/Thasksin – have fun with it, and make sure you keep voting for TRT, so that we can keep getting more of such windfall cash.

What utter Nonsense. This Blogger is either speaking from total ignorance, or spreading dishonest propaganda. Apart from being personally witness to some 'micro-loan' success stories locally, the fact is the percentage of micro-monies lent that were repaid, including modest interest, exceeded the debt collection ratio's of the Thai commercial banks! Of course, the reason that China and several other nations sent economic study teams to study this 'village loan' phenomenon was because of it's colossal failure. Snigger.

Just to explode another, contrary myth though- the village loans program was not an invention of Toxxinomics at all. In fact, there has been considerable research done on it, in several areas of the world. Actually, this was Dr Ann Dunhams main field of study, in rural Indonesia. Better known as President Obamas mother. Also, in rural India, a micro loan program was started, and enjoyed such success that a 'micro loan' commercial bank was set up based on it.

Originally Posted by Thaihome

That is the way it happened – I saw it with my own eyes, at village level, up in Mukdahan province. True to form, TRT/Thaksin later forgave ALL the village micro-loans (what a surprise), as well as a second round of loans. Payola, pure and simple.

I can't speak for Mukdahan- although frankly the glaring bias and falsehoods in the authors paragraph above lead me to seriously doubt that he can either. It is true that funds were disbursed at local level, by regional and village based committee's, in fact this is often attributed as a major reason for it's internationally acknowledged (and copied) success.

Simple fact is, most people in the villages just do not have the capital, or access to capital, to start even a modest business. I'm talking seed capital amounts of 20- 100,000 bht in general. Modest to us, but just not achievable on subsistence wages. There are plenty of legitimate avenues for criticising Toxxie without having to resort to such a disengenous rewriting of recent history.

On which basis, the Blogger really retains no credibility.

First off let me note that I am note the author of the piece. Indo-Siam wrote that and unlike virtually all of us, he does not hide behind an anonymous internet ID. If you doubt his credibility, I suggest you send him an e-mail. Steve reacts well to such accusations.

My own experience with the million baht a village program is in another province where a relative of my wife’s was elected to the TAO in 2001. My wife readily admits that it was a program administered by people, including her relative, that were inexperienced and not interested in making it anything other then a cash giveaway to favored people. Her own mother received 20k and immediately gave it to her son, my wife’s brother, who promptly frittered it away impressing his friends. When he ran for TAO in 2005, I was hit up to pay it back so he could register to run. Note he lost as his running against the other relative split the family vote.

I am sure there are many success stories with the program and I think a micro-loan program is a good idea to help people get started or improve their small businesses. It must be administered by the right people, and in too many cases this did not happen in Thailand.
TH

Originally Posted by baldrick

Originally Posted by sabang

But these are absolutely not village 'micro-loans'. Different story.

thaksin did not pioneer micro-finance in rural thailand , and his village loans scam was not a mirco-finance initative , just age old porkbarreling.

Exactly.

Govt to reach out to local people through Village Fund Project
Nereita Tancharoen

BANGKOK, 19 June 2010 (NNT) - The government will expedite the process of National Poll to sound out public sentiment through the Village Fund Project to be used in the government's National Reconciliation Plan.

Minister to the Prime Minister Office, Satit Wongnongtoey disclosed that the national poll will be conducted to approach local communities via the Village Fund project initiated in self exiled–ex Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration in a bid to study local opinions as 12 million members across the country had joined the project. The strategy is believed to help reduce social inequality.

Deputy Prime Minister for economy Trairong Suwankiri has been assigned to help set up series of questions, with the help of the National Statistical Office to include the National Poll in the census process.

A subcommittee will be set up to push forward the Social Welfare fund as the government has successfully transformed the Village Fund project to the Community Bank in order to turn Thailand into the Welfare Society.

thainews.prd.go.th