is this really true? need some expat explanation

[MARCUSCHAN]

hi expat, 

 

just fly back to my country and right now reading some news regards LOS. 
 

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-economy

 

based on the article, its even highlight that thailand is doing very bad for the economic and the price for the rice gotten expensive while household income is low. what i am trying to bring over here is that 'Does Thailand still consider the 3rd world country?'

 

for a country that have high value for tourism and attractive culture and even branded goods are sold in bangkok, why does the country still doing bad? forgive me for my curiosity if upset some member here, i just dont believe that thailand is doing bad. YES is true they have political issue but does it really matter to the economic of the country? what will happen to BAHT in future ?

 

what my main concern is that if thailand getting back to stone age ( economic downfall), is it gonna effected to us all as foreigner currency might getting the bad value? 

 

 

[stef74]

Go to Shanghai, amazing modern city, but China is still 3rd world,

 

forget what you see in big cities.

[Tarl]

Go to Shanghai, amazing modern city, but China is still 3rd world,

forget what you see in big cities.

China is such a huge empire and is a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd world all rolled into one.

[stef74]

China is such a huge empire and is a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd world all rolled into one.

sure kind of emerging 3rd world.

 

but here only used it as an example how to dismiss what you see in a city.

[Dalef65]

What's the question exactly..?

[Stillearly]

what my main concern is that if thailand getting back to stone age ( economic downfall), is it gonna effected to us all as foreigner currency might getting the bad value? 

 :

Surely the opposite would be true

[geezerrb]

The "emerging" Asian economies are undergoing the same scenario of many western countries in the 2008 crisis and suffering the same outcome that the divide between "rich and poor" is getting wider.

[Scumbag]

hi expat, 

 

just fly back to my country and right now reading some news regards LOS. 

 

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-economy

 

based on the article, its even highlight that thailand is doing very bad for the economic and the price for the rice gotten expensive while household income is low. what i am trying to bring over here is that 'Does Thailand still consider the 3rd world country?'

 

for a country that have high value for tourism and attractive culture and even branded goods are sold in bangkok, why does the country still doing bad? forgive me for my curiosity if upset some member here, i just dont believe that thailand is doing bad. YES is true they have political issue but does it really matter to the economic of the country? what will happen to BAHT in future ?

 

what my main concern is that if thailand getting back to stone age ( economic downfall), is it gonna effected to us all as foreigner currency might getting the bad value? 

 

 

Thailand is not a third world country.

 

While tourism is an important income stream it only makes up less than 10% of the economy. The largest part of the economy is agricultural products and manufactured goods.

 

If the country is doing poorly it is unlikely to result in its currency becoming strong. The opposite is more likely to happen.

[hamlek]

Agree with the previous posters, the baht is strong against most (all?) major currencies, unemployment is less than 1%, GDP is growing, household disposable income rising etc would all indicate that the Thai economy is doing quite well at the moment. 

[the revalationer]

I regard it as a third world country. No rule of law. No elected government. The 1% who control 99% of the wealth are unaccountable to the people. It has slave labour wages. No real welfare or health system. No system of legal foreign ownership of businesses that would be acceptable in the developed world. An agrarian population of near serfs trapped forever to be uneducated labourers. An elites immoral hi so upper class who have died out in most countries. The forces of law and order and army just tools of the elite. A massive prison population of the poor, the dispossessed and hundreds of political prisoners inside for not actions but words. It is similar to a third world African state. The lower classes are treated as human rubbish. Next time you are there just look at the desperation in the body language. It is the posture of defeat and even hunger and fear of hunger.

[MARCUSCHAN]

Go to Shanghai, amazing modern city, but China is still 3rd world,

forget what you see in big cities.

Thx for the reply

But to say that Thailand is 2nd world is very hard for me to believe. Corruption are everywhere and many people jobless and not mention education most province are poor

 

If Thailand is not the 3rd world, then what is the 3rd world countr them?

[Scumbag]

Thx for the reply

But to say that Thailand is 2nd world is very hard for me to believe. Corruption are everywhere and many people jobless and not mention education most province are poor

 

If Thailand is not the 3rd world, then what is the 3rd world countr them?

Thailand is not 2nd World or 3rd World. Second world was/is the communist countries and their allies. The terms first, second and third world countries came about during the cold war and were based on which side the country was aligned to, or not in the case of third world countries. However, you are thinking about the use of the term in economic terms. Officially Thailand is classed as a 'newly industrialised country' (source, defininition).

[misteregg]

This article has been criticized in Thailand.

Not really true at all. The new military regime are spending a lot of money to get the economy going but the average Thai is better off than a few years ago.

Household debt is rising though.

[Kreggerz]

I think the key long term is the education system in Thailand.

Yes, it's really bad when considering Thailand's global competitive potential.

I'm not sure the term third world is very meaningful anymore but it's clear to most westerners that live in Thailand that Thailand is not on a path to be any kind of Big Singapore.

That could change over time ... generations really. 

 

 

The main reason however that exports have not grown properly in recent years is a loss in Thailand’s export-competitiveness. Unlike the tigers of East Asia or, more recently, Vietnam, Thailand has failed to invest in education such as it would need to produce higher-value goods for export. In sum, a self-sustaining export-led recovery is beyond the control of the Thai state—it relies on good times in China, Europe and America, Thailand’s main export markets.

 

[Scumbag]

I think the key long term is the education system in Thailand.

From what I have read that isn't likely to improve as it is too difficult to weed out the many useless teachers and resistance to change.

[momo5]

Thailand is not 2nd World or 3rd World. Second world was/is the communist countries and their allies. The terms first, second and third world countries came about during the cold war and were based on which side the country was aligned to, or not in the case of third world countries. However, you are thinking about the use of the term in economic terms. Officially Thailand is classed as a 'newly industrialised country' (source, defininition).

Glad to see someone actually understands the original connotation of 'third world'. For example, Switzerland is rightfully a third world country.