Military leaders tackle Thailand's economical issues

The new military leaders in Thailand have urgently tackled the economical problems the country faces.

After a 2.1 percent drop in the country's GDP during the first months of the year, Thailand finds itself on the brink of reccession.

To top that, the last six months of political turmoil have hurt business confidence and scared away tourists.

Among the generals' priorities was paying farmers the arrears the former government failed to pay.

In an act of gratitude, thousands of farmers marched to an army base in Bangkok to thank the army leaders for dispensing the long-delayed rice payments.

The military government has promised that some 2 billion euros will go to rice farmers from bank loans and state finances in less than a month.

The old government bought rice from farmers at a generous price and then hoped to regain the money by manipulating the international market. However, as the whole scheme was unravelled, millions of tonnes of unsold rice was left to rot in warehouses.

Payments to farmers were also halted.

Tourism has also dropped dramatically during the last seven months, falling by six percent from January to April.

Even though the new military government has issued announcements letting everyone know that the situation is fine and everything is more calm now than before, as many as 40 countries, including the US and Hong Kong released travel alerts, advising tourists to avoid travelling to Thailand unless neccessary.

One downside to the military government is that a 10 o'clock curfew was installed and every bar or restaurants needs to close at that hour, leaving the nightlife lifeless.

Tourism is responsible for seven percent of the country's venue and creates about two million jobs.