Kanate Wangpaichitr, DBA
August 30, 2018Dr. Wangpaichitr received his D.B.A. from the Northumbria University in Newcastle in the United Kingdom. He is the Assistant to the Vice Minister of the Thailand Regulatory Guillotine Project at the Government House of Thailand. He is also the Secretary-General of the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations (FETCO) and the Vice President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). For him, the lack of financial literacy in the general population is a major concern. In order for Thailand to create an equitable and inclusive environment conducive to sustained growth and development, the nation urgently needs to resolve all financial literacy problems at the root of cyclical poverty traps. Recent surveys show that a majority of Thai people do not fully understand compound interest calculations, deposit protection policies, and the time value of money. Financial behavior and financial attitude scores are understandably low. Low income and education levels as well as low paying jobs and workers are correlated with lower financial literacy scores. One proposed solution includes setting up a national literacy institute supported by both public and private sectors to prepare policy for educating consumers.