Is Thailand heading towards an economic crisis?

Gross domestic product in the third quarter grew by only 1.5 per cent. Most of the leading economists do not see any risk, but politicians in the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its supporters are ringing alarm bells.

Economists argue that the current slowdown in growth is nothing like the crisis when the gross domestic product contracted by 6.1 per cent in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic in 2020, or the 1998 “Tom Yum” crisis when the economy shrank by 7.6 per cent.

Most economists, however, warn that the government must save money to cope with harder times in future.

Those in the economic crisis bandwagon have a vested interest to justify the government’s controversial digital wallet scheme that has generally…