Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Statistics Expose Lies About Thai Military and Royal Spending

October 8, 2020 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - Almost anything can be made to look bad if dishonest people throw numbers around with no context. 

This is precisely what corrupt billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit did when complaining about Thailand's national budget for 2021 - decrying an "increase" in spending for the Royal Office and the Thai military. 

However, a quick look at just how much is being spent on either versus the overall national budget shows just how small of a percentage is being spent on either and how - particularly for military spending - Thailand's budget falls well under international averages. 

The Royal Office's Budget is Less than Half a Percent of Thailand's National Budget

Thailand's Royal Office has been allotted 8.9 billion Thai Baht (THB) versus a 3.2 trillion THB national budget which equates to just 0.27% - one of the smallest components of the annual budget with science, social development, or environmental issues receiving several times more - or just 2 billion more than Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit's family makes in net income in a year with their union-busting Thai Summit Group. 

Thanathorn's family has a net worth of over 30 billion Thai Baht - which may sound impressive - but according to Forbes it ranks just 28 among Thailand's richest families, meaning the Royal Office's budget - to fund all activities of the head of state - is relatively meager by comparison.  

Doubling or even tripling the current Royal Office budget would still mean it falls well under 1% of Thailand's overall national budget.  

Thai Defense Spending Well Under Global Average 

Thailand's defense spending is also relatively meager when compared to international averages. At 223.4 billion THB versus a 3.2 trillion THB national budget, it equates to just 6.9%. For the same year, US national defense spending will make up over 15% of the US federal budget. 

As a component of Thailand's GDP which stands at 16.5 trillion THB, Thailand's national defense spending represents 1.35%. The global average according to the World Bank stands at around 2.2% meaning Thailand's defense spending is 1.6 times lower than the international average. 

Opposition Lies Seek to Make the Reasonable Look "Unreasonable"

None of this context was provided by Thanathorn or the dishonest media who uncritically repeated his lies and smears precisely because of how bad context makes his argument look. 

Thanathorn's goal is simply to attack Thailand's most important institutions - institutions that unite and protect Thailand from the very sort of subversive foreign-backed opposition he himself represents. Tactics attempting to leverage class and public envy are typical of US-backed "color revolutions" aimed at poisoning the public of a targeted nation against its leaders. 

READ MORE: US Puppet Wants Help Making Thailand Like America

This explains why the foreign media and Thai counterparts emulating their style of shoddy, deliberately dishonest reporting uncritically repeated Thanathorn's claims without providing any context to frame it in. 

When looking at Thailand's national budget compared to international averages and standards - it is clearly reasonable - in fact - so reasonable hardly any argument at all can be made in opposition to it. Only by omitting critical context can the reasonable be twisted into the "unreasonable" by characters like Thanathorn and the Western-backed media machine helping to prop up his agenda.