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Uptick attributed to gold prices

Easy Money, one of the country’s leading pawn shop operators, expects to record its highest loan growth in two decades this year, driven largely by surging gold prices.

For the first 10 months of this year, the company’s total outstanding loans rose to 27 billion baht.

Outstanding loans are projected to reach 29-30 billion baht by year-end, representing year-on-year growth of around 30%, according to Sittiwit Tangthanakiat, chairman of Easy Money Group.

“The sharp rise in gold prices has drawn more customers to use gold-pawn services. This supports what we expect will be a 20-year high in loan expansion,” he said.

According to Mr Sittiwit, young Thai entrepreneurs including freelancers and online vendors increasingly rely on pawn shop services as working capital for inventory or short-term investments.

As a result, Easy Money has evolved into an asset-backed lender that supports customer liquidity and enables them to pursue broader business opportunities, he said.

Many small entrepreneurs still struggle to access bank loans, making pawn shops an alternative financial channel. As their businesses grow, these clients often improve their ability to access formal bank credit and transition out of informal borrowing, said Mr Sittiwit.

“With 20 years of experience, we have consistently seen this customer pattern. Easy Money offers a bridging loan role, helping local entrepreneurs move into the formal financial system,” he said.

The company’s loan growth is shaped by three factors: economic conditions, gold prices and customer behaviour.

In general, a recovering economy tends to support stronger loan demand compared with periods of stagnation, said Mr Sittiwit.

Chief executive Suthee Panaworn said Easy Money is preparing for a potential listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand within three years.

The planned fundraising would support long-term business expansion, he said.

Easy Money operates 98 branches across 33 provinces and also offers services via its digital platform.

The company serves roughly 700,000 customers nationwide, with substantial room for further growth.

Thailand’s pawn shop sector is expected to offer strong potential over 5-10 years, in line with rising household wealth, said Mr Suthee.

“Our customers typically have assets they can convert into cash, and have the ability to generate income to redeem their pawned items,” he said.

Regulations limit pawn contracts to a maximum of five years. Easy Money reports a high redemption rate of about 95% of total transactions.

The company charges an interest rate of 1.25% a month.

CHIANG MAI: The government will step up investigations into narcotics and grey-market businesses, warning that all involved, including officials, will face consequences, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.

“Every organisation has both good and bad people. Those who break the law will be dealt with,” he said, urging officials not to fear political or social pressure.

Mr Anutin made his comments while leading a government delegation to Chiang Mai, beginning his inspection tour with the handover ceremony of an urgent flood-prevention project along the Ping River.

The prime minister addressed an ongoing probe into the fraudulent use of Thai ID cards by foreigners, confirming that the investigation is being expanded and will reach senior officials if necessary. In his capacity as the interior minister, he asked the Department of Provincial Administration to clarify details regarding alleged bribes involved in such cases.

Mr Anutin urged members of the public to provide information directly to the police rather than keeping it hidden, saying authorities will pursue cases fully and expand investigations based on each lead.

When asked whether this amounted to a purge within the Interior Ministry, Mr Anutin rejected the term, explaining that misconduct is limited to a minority of officials who damage the reputation of the majority. “Removing these individuals is not difficult,” he said.

“Corrupt officials who accepted bribes have already been dismissed and prosecuted, but further investigations will track their financial flows linked to organised crime,” he said.

He also said Thailand’s grey business networks are deeply interconnected, spanning human trafficking, gambling, online scams, and the sex trade.

Value-added tax to reach 8.5% in 2028

The Finance Ministry plans to gradually raise the value-added tax (VAT) rate by an additional 1.5 percentage points to 8.5% by 2028, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on Thursday.

Additionally, under the plan, the VAT rate will be increased to the full legal ceiling of 10% in 2030, he said.

Adjusting the rate and reducing expenditure are part of the Finance Ministry’s plans to strengthen medium-term fiscal stability.

Speaking at Money Expo 2025 Bangkok Year-End on Thursday, Mr Ekniti said that the ministry has outlined its medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF), which includes a gradual increase in VAT by 2028.

“I believe that by 2028, Thailand will be able to return to its full growth potential. That may be the right time for us to begin gradually raising VAT,” he said.

Mr Ekniti noted that the VAT increase is included in the MTFF, which was approved by the cabinet on Nov 18.

The MTFF aims to demonstrate to domestic and foreign investors that there is confidence in the government’s fiscal position. The MTFF also states that if the government cannot raise the VAT rate, it will adopt alternative measures to reassure both foreign and Thai investors that the government’s fiscal position remains sound.

Mr Ekniti said two rating agencies — Moody’s and Fitch Ratings — have revised Thailand’s outlook to negative from stable, while S&P Global Ratings has not changed its outlook because it trusts the government’s fiscal-discipline plan.

He said the two agencies revised Thailand’s outlook because the country’s fiscal deficit is higher than international norms — exceeding 3%. In the last fiscal year, Thailand’s deficit reached 4.4%. Under the MTFF plan, the deficit must be brought below 3% of GDP by 2029 to restore confidence in the government’s fiscal health.

In addition to tax-reform measures, such as the VAT increase, the MTFF also includes plans to reduce spending, use the Thailand Infrastructure Fund and expand public-private partnerships to support public investment and ease fiscal burdens.

On expenditure reduction, the minister said the cabinet has directed the Finance Ministry and the Budget Bureau to prepare a plan to eliminate redundant spending.

For example, overlapping welfare schemes run by multiple agencies may need to be consolidated into a unified welfare system, supported by inter-agency data connectivity to cut duplication.

Mr Ekniti also referred to a stimulus package soon to be submitted to the cabinet: an SME-promotion package covering loans, loan guarantees, tax measures and initiatives to help SMEs gain greater access to government procurement and bidding.

He said the government will launch a “big brothers help little brothers” programme to encourage large corporations to support smaller businesses, backed by tax incentives.

He also discussed measures to support retirement savings, saying that the government plans to adopt the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s concept of the Thailand Individual Savings Account to replace the retirement mutual fund, the Super Savings Fund and the Thailand ESG Fund.

Firm unveils $5.4bn petrochemical plant

Siam Cement Group (SCG) has reinforced its footprint in Southeast Asia with the launch of Vietnam’s largest petrochemical plant, aiming to make the country its major investment base in the region.

Subsidiary SCG Chemicals (SCGC) opened the Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP) complex, a fully integrated facility designed to support Vietnam’s economic growth.

Kulachet Dharachandra, executive vice-president and country director for Vietnam at SCGC, said the project highlights Vietnam’s strong potential in both domestic and export markets, buoyed by more than 60 free trade agreements.

SCGC operates petrochemical plants in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, with LSP set to enhance competitiveness regionally and globally, he said.

The US$5.4-billion (173-billion-baht) project is SCG’s largest single investment in Vietnam, where the group has been active for 33 years, with $7 billion invested across 28 companies and 50 plants.

The LSP facility will produce 1.4 million tonnes of olefins-derived petrochemical products annually, feeding demand for plastics such as high-density polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene and polypropylene, which averages 4 million tonnes a year in Vietnam.

Its flexible technology allows switching between naphtha and propane feedstocks, with propane currently accounting for 70% of input to cut costs.

SCGC has committed an additional $500 million to upgrade the plant under the LSP Enhancement Project, adding ethane storage and processing capacity.

Construction is 20% complete and expected to finish by 2027.

The company plans to use more ethane — a colourless, odourless, gaseous hydrocarbon — as a raw material to reduce its dependence on naphtha, which is a product of fossil fuels.

This can help to avoid the impact of crude oil price volatility, which affects naphtha prices, leading to expensive raw materials, chief executive and president Sakchai Patiparnpreechavud said earlier.

SCGC previously secured a 15-year ethane supply agreement from the US, he said.

The company forecasts LSP’s annual turnover at $1.5 billion, with a sales volume of 1 million tonnes, but has ruled out a second phase for now, citing a focus on sustainable growth.

SCGC also plans to earn 2 billion baht over 3-5 years from its new business offering digital solutions to customers across industries that want to improve factory operations.