: Super User; Thailand; 05 February 2013; Hits: 1654

Political Impasse Hurts Thailand's Credit Rating

ASK Thai government officials and they will fume that it is just unfair. How can Thailand be denied an “A” sovereign credit rating when other countries with poorer macroeconomic numbers already have that coveted assessment?

: Super User; Thailand; 18 December 2012; Hits: 1461

Thailand's IndoChina Dream Taking Shape

THAILAND has long dreamed of becoming the gateway to Indochina. But until very recently, the gate has only been half open. Now, however, a confluence of geographic, economic and political factors suggest that Bangkok’s longstanding vision may finally be within reach.

: Super User; Thailand; 06 September 2012; Hits: 1608

Thailand Steps Up Efforts to Woo Foreign Investors

LAST month, Thailand celebrated second-quarter growth figures well in excess of analysts’ forecasts. Instead of a widely expected economic expansion of around 1.7 per cent, gross domestic product grew 3.3 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

: Super User; Thailand; 01 August 2012; Hits: 1577

Thailand Bent on Greater Influence in Myanmar

LAST week, when Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reaffirmed Bangkok’s support for a multibillion-dollar deep sea port in neighbouring Myanmar, she was not just announcing another infrastructure project.

: Super User; Thailand; 26 June 2012; Hits: 1657

Stuck in the Middle Income Trap

MR SAMPAN Silapanad, president of Thailand’s Electronics and Computer Employers’ Association, had a grim message for participants at a forum on the Asean Economic Community earlier this month.

Key Political Risks

The inability of the government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bridge the deep divisions between her populist government and its royalist opponents in the military and bureaucracy remains a major concern.

Prime Minister Yingluck has selected a competent economic team, but it is difficult for these technocrats to deliver on the new government's campaign promises without triggering inflation or hurting business.

The government has also been unable to resolve the ongoing insurgency involving ethnic Malay Muslim rebels in the south.

WATCH OUT FOR:

Attempts by the government to amend the constitution. The proposed rewrite is aimed removing legal measures initiated by the royalist generals who overthrew former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the current prime minister's elder brother, in 2006.
Ballooning government debt as officials seek to finance government programmes aimed at subsidising rice prices in order to retain the support of farmers.
The relationship between Prime Minister Yingluck and senior generals. Coups have been a common means of regime change in Thai history, and any attempt by the government to purge royalist elements in the top brass could trigger yet another. Thailand