Research: Thais have very poor financial management skills
Bangkok, 1 May 2014 (NNT) - Thais have scored very low in regard to their financial management skills, according to Piyabutr Chonvicharn, Vice-Chairman of the Kenan Institute Asia.
Mr. Piyabutr cited a recent survey by the Bank of Thailand and the Finance Ministry as showing that three groups of people most at risk in piling up on debt were students, low-income people, and farmers. Shockingly, they make up at least 70 percent of the Thai population. He said that their poor spending habits resulted in higher household debts, which had risen from 55.6 percent in 2008 to an alarming 82.3 percent in 2013.
To deal with this problem, the Kenan Institute and the City Foundation have joined hands in a 3-year campaign to educate these groups of people, especially students. The survey showed that the latter group’s excessive spending habit was influenced by commercial advertisements on mainstream media.
Meanwhile, Mr. Teera Phutrakul, the Chairman of the Thai Financial Planners Association, stated that at least 90 percent of Thais neither keep a record of their income and expenses, nor take the initiative to manage their finances. Therefore, he said it is an important agenda to fix this kind of attitude in order to let the country move forward.
Lastly, Mr. Ratchapol Laovanitch, the Managing Director for Miracle Creation also stated that the media should play a more important role in educating Thai people on how to manage their finances.
-- NNT 2014-05-01
1 maj 2014#1
