However, he believed that foreign investors, particularly those that have opted to play long-term roles,
understood the Thai political situation well and continued to increase investment in Thailand.

Such long-term players saw no problem in respect to changes of parties or individual political actors in the post-election period. The main policy directions would be similar.

Mr. Kongkiati said he did not think Thailand's ongoing political problem would be worse than the previous
political crisis.

Regarding mounting concerns over the inflation hike, he said the Bank of Thailand's Monetary Policy
Committee should maintain the short-term interest rate if the inflation rate stayed at a rather high level.

He added that no foreign capital had been found flowing into the Thai economy in large amounts for
currency specualtion related to the baht value because Thailand is the small country and its economy had
begun to recover.

In addition, the interest spread of Thailand and the United States by one percentage point remains not high enough to attract investment. (TNA)-E005