ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses five aspects of Thailand’s economic performance since the Second World War: the changing rate of growth and its composition; the sources of that growth; the causes and consequences of the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997–1999, including the reason it originated in Thailand; the distribution among the Thai population of the fruits of long-term growth; and whether Thailand is caught in a middle-income trap. The evidence from Thailand demolishes the notion that economic growth fails to benefit the poor – provided “benefit” is understood in absolute and not relative terms. It is argued that Thailand is now caught in a “middle-income trap” caused by a backward and under-resourced educational system. Exit is possible but requires a public commitment to overcoming the under-supply of human capital that inevitably results from a market-based economic system. This in turn requires raising the public revenue needed to finance higher levels of educational investment.
