FCC club lunch with Dr. Thaksin SHINAWATRA

Speaker: Dr. Thaksin SHINAWATRA
Chairman, Building a Better Future Foundation
Former Prime Minister of Thailand
(Address via Video Link)
Topic: Financial crisis, political uncertainty: lessons from Thailand

The root cause of the current global economic crisis is not a meltdown of the global financial system — it is an intellectual crisis that is affecting business and political leaders around the world. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Thailand, a country that is in the midst of deep political and economic transition.

Business tycoon turned politician, Thaksin SHINAWATRA, has experienced similar crises before. The former prime minister led Thailand out of the 1997 Asian financial crisis by restructuring the country’s economy. A military coup in September 2006 forced him to abandon his economic policies and subsequently Dr. Thaksin went into self-imposed exile. Today, a new government is in power in Bangkok, yet its economic policies still bear the trademarks of Dr. Thaksin’s influence. Following his address to the Club, Dr. Thaksin will take questions on the global financial crisis, and on the economic and political uncertainties facing Thailand.

Dr. Thaksin became the 23rd prime minister of Thailand in 2001 and was the first prime minister in Thai history to complete a full four-year term. He was reelected in February 2005 and was prime minister until the 2006 coup. Dr. Thaksin is also one of Asia’s leading business figures. In 1987 he started Shinawatra Computer and Communications Group, and was chairman until 1994. In 1998 he established and became leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party. He is currently chairman of his own think tank, the Building a Better Future Foundation.