Somkid Jatusripitak
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Somkid Jatusripitak (Thai: สมคิด จาตุศรีพิทักษ์ , born 15 July 1953), Thai politician, is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of Thailand. He was a leader and cofounder of the populist Thai Rak Thai party. His wife, Anurachanee Jatusripitak, teaches at Chulalongkorn University. He has two children.
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[edit] Early life
Somkid was born in Bangkok and grew up in a large Chinese-Thai family, one of 10 children[1]. One of his older brothers, Som Jatusripitak later became president of Siam City Bank and Commerce Minister in Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's government[2].
[edit] Education and academic career
Somkid graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University in 1972. He completed an MBA in Finance from the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) and a Ph.D. in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
After graduating, he joined NIDA and became Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration. Somkid's thinking was greatly influenced by Michael Porter's "Competitiveness of Nations". He focused much of his academic research on the development of national and business competitiveness. Along with his mentor Philip Kotler, he was a strong supporter of the concept of Nation Branding. In 1997, Somkid co-authored "The Marketing of Nations: A Strategic Approach to Building National Wealth" with Philip Kotler. The book outlined how countries could improve their competitiveness through marketing and appropriate policies to support it[3]. Somkid's book, "Thailand Inc: Concepts and Strategy", stressed how Thailand should use marketing to improve its competitiveness.
[edit] Business career
Somkid was a co-founder of the Manager Media Group, along with Sondhi Limthongkul.[4] He played a role in the establishment of the Phatra Research Institute[5]. He became a Direcor of the Saha Pattanapibul Group, a major Thai consumer goods conglomerate. He was appointed to become Advisor of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Director of PTTEP, and Director of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.
[edit] Entry into politics
[edit] Advisor to Foreign Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Somkid became secretary to Foreign Minister Thaksin Shinawatra under Banharn Silpa-Archa's government.
[edit] Advisor to Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya
Somkid became secretary to Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya under Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's government.
[edit] Founding of the Thai Rak Thai Party
Somkid was one of the co-founders of the Thai Rak Thai party in 1998, along with party leader Thaksin Shinawatra. His senior stature in the party was apparent from his no. 3 position in the TRT's 2001 election party list, behind Thaksin Shinawatra and Purachai Piemsomboon.
Somkid has been been called "the man behind Thaksinomics"[6], and was the mastermind of the populist policies that helped propel the Thai Rak Thai party to a landslide election victory in 2001. The TRT "won by embracing populism on a grand scale," said the Far Eastern Economic Review. Somkid's chief policy innovations included the universal healthcare program, 1 million THB development funds for each of Thailand's 70,000 villages, a 3-year loan freeze for farmers, fast-track privatization of state enterprises, and a national asset management corporation (AMC) to buy up the $20 billion in bad debt carried by Thai banks[7].
Somkid also pioneered the TRT party's rural small and medium enterprise (SME) policy. Noting that agriculture remains the most important economic sector, employing 60-70% of the Thai population, the economic challenge was to develop the agricultural sector and link it with the modern sector[8]. This became one of the founding principles of the Thaksin government's popular One Tambon One Product (OTOP) program.
At the time, The Nation newspaper exclaimed that these policies "amount to a revolution in Thai public policy"[9].
[edit] Finance and Commerce Minister Under the Thaksin Government
From the TRT's landslide election win of 2001, Somkid was a core member of Thakin's economic inner cabinet - starting off as Finance Minister and then becoming Commerce Minister.
[edit] Finance Minister
In his term as Finance Minister, Somkid
- Oversaw a management reshuffle at state-owned Thai Airways International
- Led the establishment of the national asset management corporation (AMC)
- In 2002, Somkid established the village fund program. This program gave each of Thailand's 70,000 villages a self-managed fund of 1 million THB (approx. 25,000 USD), to be used for grassroots social and economic investments.
[edit] Commerce Minister
In his term as Commerce Minister, Somkid
- Oversaw the recovery of tourism industry in the Andaman coast after the tsunami of 2004
- Agreed to draw up a comprehensive road map for increasing trade, investment and cooperatiion with the UK[10]
- Boosted Board of Investment incentives in three target sectors - electronics, petrochemicals and vehicle tyres[11]
During the anti-Thaksin demonstrations of 2005-2006, Thaksin noted that Somkid was one of four individuals who might become Prime Minister if Thaksin stepped down.
In March 2006, during the height of the anti-Thaksin protests, Somkid underwent balloon angioplasty surgery to relieve a blood clot in an artery near his heart[12].
After Thaksin Shinawatra's announcement that he would not accept the Premiership from Parliament after the April 2006 elections, Somkid was widely seen as a potential replacement. In a poll of businesmen, 57% said Somkid was the most suitable candidate for new premier. The next highest TRT politician was Bhokin Bhalakula, who received only 12%[13]. Soon later, a broad coalition of TRT factions, including Wang Nam Yom (130 MPs), Rim Nam (15 MPs), Lamtakong (7 MPs), Wang Phya Nag (10 MPs), Chon Buri (7 MPs) and the Central provinces (10 MPs) decided to push for Somkid Jatusripitak as the next prime minister[14].
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Somkid is a long-time member of the Thammasat University Council.
- Somkid is sometimes mis-spelt as Somkit. Jatusripitak is sometimes mis-spelt as Chatusripitak.
