ABSTRACT
Among the most dominant images on the road into Bangkok from the airport are hundreds of pairs of concrete pillars extending for several miles, each of which is two to three stories high and connected by a crossbeam. These are the remnants of the ironically named ‘Hopewell Project’ (after the Hong Kong company that undertook the project), intended as a rapid transit system to link Bangkok to its northern suburbs. The project failed many years ago. Now labelled by some as Thailand’s Stonehenge,’ it stands as a poignant reminder of the heady days of 8 and 9 per cent economic growth enjoyed in Thailand prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the subsequent impact of the crisis. But despite significant setbacks, as reflected in the Hopewell Project, the Thai economy has shown signs of resilience and appears, at this writing, to be staging a gradual, if not dramatic, recovery.
