Thailand faces a fiscal warning as Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong reveals a ฿138bn revenue gap, ฿754 billion in borrowing and ฿300 billion in unused loans, with stalled stimulus funds, weak tax receipts and growing concerns over government spending discipline.
Thailand’s public finances are under intense scrutiny after Prachachart Party leader Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong exposed a widening budget crisis marked by a ฿138 billion revenue shortfall, a ฿754 billion borrowing bill and billions more in unused loans and stalled stimulus funds. The senior MP warned the fiscal year 2025 figures revealed severe economic strain and failing fiscal discipline, with falling business taxes, weaker consumer spending and more than ฿80 billion trapped in bureaucracy as SMEs and households face financial pressure.
Prachachart Party leader and party-list MP Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong has warned of mounting fiscal strain after the government missed revenue targets and relied heavily on new borrowing to finance spending.
Speaking on June 12, Pol. Col. Thawee referred to his June 11 House of Representatives debate on the fiscal year 2025 budget report. He said the revenue and expenditure figures reflected a severe economic crisis and weakening fiscal discipline.
The government recorded net revenue of only ฿2.78 trillion. However, spending exceeded ฿4 trillion. As a result, the state had to borrow ฿754 billion to close the gap. Pol. Col. Thawee compared the imbalance to a household earning ฿28,000 monthly but spending ฿40,000 and relying on debt.
Government revenue shortfalls expose business weakness and falling consumer purchasing power
In particular, he highlighted a broad failure in government revenue collection. Total receipts fell ฿138 billion below the official target. He argued the figures revealed pressure across businesses, consumer spending and several key revenue sources.
Corporate income tax generated ฿39 billion less than expected. According to Pol. Col. Thawee, this reflected falling profits and losses among businesses and retailers. Meanwhile, vehicle tax collections missed their target by ฿19 billion. He said this showed declining purchasing power and reduced public ability to purchase major assets.
Notably, excise tax recorded one of the sharpest declines. Authorities expected collections of approximately ฿124 billion. Instead, only ฿53 billion was received. Consequently, the shortfall exceeded ฿70 billion, representing a decline of around 57%.
On another front, foreign worker permit fees also collapsed below expectations. The government targeted ฿10 billion but collected only ฿2.7 billion. In response, Pol. Col. Thawee pointed to irregularities in the registration system and the previously reported large-scale kickback scandal.
Borrowing concerns grow as billions remain unused despite interest costs and slow spending delays
Separately, he questioned the government’s management of borrowed money. The state secured ฿754 billion in loans to support expenditure. Nevertheless, around ฿300 billion remained unused and was carried into the next fiscal year.
The unused funds continued to generate interest costs. The average interest rate stood at 2.95%. According to Pol. Col. Thawee, the money failed to stimulate GDP growth despite the borrowing burden.
As part of this criticism, he examined the government’s economic stimulus programme. The package carried a budget of ฿160 billion. However, only ฿70 billion had been disbursed. More than ฿80 billion remained trapped inside bureaucratic processes.
In parallel, he said the delays left the public and SMEs facing financial constraints while approved funds remained untouched.
Thawee demands stronger fiscal discipline and accountability over failed public spending oversight
“The economic stimulus budget is very worrying. It was set at ฿160 billion, but only ฿70 billion has been spent. More than ฿80 billion is locked within the bureaucratic system, while the public and SMEs have no money to spend,” Pol. Col. Thawee said.
Following this, he called for stricter fiscal discipline across government agencies. He proposed accountability measures for organisations that borrowed funds but failed to meet spending targets.
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Such failures created interest expenses without achieving economic objectives, he said. Therefore, the burden should not simply fall upon taxpayers.
The remarks formed part of a wider parliamentary review of fiscal year 2025 finances. The debate examined revenue weakness, expenditure delays, government borrowing and overall budget management.
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