Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, said the world is facing four major megatrends that Thailand must urgently adapt to: geopolitical fragmentation, the industrial revolution driven by AI, the transition to clean energy, and the ageing society crisis. Thailand has been hit by a maximum US tariff of 12.5 percent since 24 July under measures punishing forced labour and overcapacity, while Supachai Suthamphan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, is in ongoing tax negotiations with the United States. Ekniti also said Thailand must maintain neutrality to attract production relocation amid geopolitical conflict, while accelerating the upgrading of entrepreneurs and the public through technology and AI, such as the Thai Helps Thai Plus project, which uses AI to analyse sales and costs, and the justice system must adapt to new types of cases, such as technology crime and the use of deepfakes to create false evidence. In addition, as chairman of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, he has called a special board meeting on 14 August to consider complaints from the bank's state enterprise labour union about the management of current president Chatchai Sirilai.
Article mentions a special board meeting to consider complaints about the bank's president, but outcome is unclear.
