Capital Market Master Plan

The government launched Thailand's first Capital Market Master Plan in early 2002 in an effort to develop and diversify the country's sources of funds. The Master Plan outlines broad initiatives that are considered the main policy framework guiding Thai capital market development. These initiatives include promoting good governance, enlarging the investor base, increasing the quantity and variety of financial instruments, enhancing infrastructure, and reforming the supervisory system.

Payment System Road Map

In 2002 the Bank of Thailand (BOT) launched a three-year development plan for the Thai payment systems, comprising five main agendas:

• Establishment of a Thailand Payment Association, which will have powers to set guidelines for payment services, technical standards, and promoting the common use of new payment systems;
• Collection of National Payment Data and its publication as a statistical report meeting international standards;
• Drafting of the Payment System Act;
• Creation of infrastructure for payment systems, with emphasis on straight through processing systems; and
• Study guidelines for linking Thai and international payment systems. Three models are being considered: Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS), Hong Kong - Payment versus Payment (HK-PvP), and EMEAP-PvP.

Another related development is the BIS Core Compliance Project. In an effort to narrow the gap between local and international payments standards, the BOT aims to make its payments system compliant with the BIS Core Principles for systemically important payment systems (SIPS) by the end of 2004.

Financial Sector Master Plan

In 2003 the BOT unveiled a Financial Sector Master Plan to guide the development of the financial sector over the next 5-10 years. The reforms targeted under are largely centered on the efficient functioning of financial institutions: rationalizing structures and roles, streamlining rules and regulations, and ensuring adequate measures for disclosure and protection of customers. The BOT is currently implementing the reforms. An update on its implementation and a summary of its contents are provided at the links below.

List of Government Policies

A comprehensive summary of Thailand's policy initiatives is available at the Government Policy link below.