Thailand's energy transition is on the agenda, but in the most expensive way possible. On May 9, the government published an emergency decree authorising the Ministry of Finance to borrow up to 400 billion baht, of which half is for energy crisis relief and the other half (200 billion baht) for what Santitarn Sathirathai, assistant to the finance minister, has branded the "Jump Start" plan.
Mr Santitarn's four pillars -- building new clean energy supply, modernising the grid, greening transport and logistics, and developing the workforce and innovation ecosystem -- seem like the right diagnosis, and the call to be judged by its impact on Thailand's long-run productive potential is correct in principle.
