Thailand’s slumping economy is new leader Paetongtarn’s focus in her first parliamentary speech

Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, vowed Thursday in her inaugural speech to Parliament to continue many of her predecessor’s plans to solve the country’s economic woes. Among the government’s more immediate plans are measures to relieve household debt and reduce the rising cost of electricity, petrol and transport, as well as to boost tourism and bring new technologies to the agricultural sector. Paetongtarn also mentioned plans to legalize casinos to attract more revenues and investments, and the renewed support of medical cannabis, a reversal from her predecessor, who vowed to outlaw it.