BROADBAND THAILAND 2015 - Center for Ethics of Science and ...

FORWARDAs this report is written, in the wake of horrific riots thatpitted one group of Thais against others, thegovernment is struggling to find a new economic modelthat allows growth to proceed in a way that lessens inequities.Currently nearly 60% of Thai wealth is controlled by thewealthiest 20% of the population.The Thai government indeed does have a plan to reverseThis report asks thegovernment to thinkagain about how toachieve its economicreform targets. Evenamid the street protests,the opportunity fordoing so is now.widening gaps between rich and poor, called Stimulus II. Thoughthis report does not take sides in the current political struggle, itshows that Meaningful Broadband could be used to support thesuccess of this plan, and in that way it hopes to help create amore equitable path to economic growth in Thailand. In fact, ameaningful broadband ecosystem, rapidly deployed for thebenefit of the mass population of Thailand, may well be the bestchance for strengthening the social contract upon which Thaidemocracy depends.This report asks the government to rethink how to achieve itsown economic-reform targets. Even amid the street protests, theopportunity for doing so is now. Broadband has become anoverall driver of economic competitiveness in Asia, but thewindow of time available to catch up with Thailand’s morebroadband-enabled neighbors is closing.“Economic stimulus” offers a perfect means for doing so. As inother nations, that term in Thailand no longer means short-termfiscal stimulus but efforts to jump-start qualitativemacroeconomic reforms realizable in the mid-term (5 years orMeaningful Broadband Report 2.0 BROADBAND THAILAND 2015 4