ABSTRACT
As was discussed in Chapter 3 the developmental role of the Thai state since the 1950s has become increasingly restricted to one of fostering domestic and foreign private enterprise, and creating an environment conducive to rapid economic growth. In this climate distributional issues have received little attention. While commitments to the reduction of personal and regional income disparities and the elimination of poverty are reiterated in government statements and featured in all the National Plans, in practice there have been few effective policy interventions. Thai governments have not found it necessary to devote significant resources to redistributive policies with respect either to personal wealth or the spatial pattern of economic growth (see Christensen, 1993). Thus questions of personal and spatial distributions of income have remained largely peripheral to Thai development policy.
