Globalization in Thailand
When visualizing Thailand, the initial picture many think of is not the developing nation that is currently losing its freedoms; however, Thailand’s culture contains this and more than this basic fact. After struggling through many different regimes, Thailand is at least globalizing a little every year. At the United Nation’s (UN) Millennium Summit in 2000, Thailand agreed to meet eight different development goals by the year 2015, all of which happened to be relevant to children (The Millennium, Online). Many provinces in Thailand continue to issue reports updating the UN on their individual progress, and as time went on, Thailand slowly moved towards achieving many of these goals. A related factor is that Thailand has been struggling to maintain a single regime since its revolution in the twentieth century. It is challenging to understand why Thailand’s globalization has been slowing over time, which may have been the reason they were unable to achieve all of the goals set. Thailand started out the twenty-first century with high hopes and determination, but even so, regime changes and occasional military rule may have held it back. Without more efforts put into globalizing and opening up its trade, Thailand has little chance of developing at the pace it would prefer. Thailand first chose to eliminate the restriction placed on interest rates for multiple forms of borrowing and lending early in the 1990s. This likely contributed to the rapid
The ideal environment also is to learn good family values. In Thailand children learn to take care of each other from their parents and grandparents, respect elderly; love
As a Thai woman who has relocated to the United States of America in 2009. The first thing I noticed about the US is the size of the country. The difference between Thailand and the United States that affected me the most is the “Culture”. There are three cultural values between Thais and the US are Collectivism-Individualism, Competitive and Cooperative, and belief about talk-silence.
In the mid 1900s the world experienced a major change, no more was there a war between two major nations, rather the threat of war between the Soviet Union and the United States, a conflict that always threatened to boil over. Within this tug of war of power, nations broke free from their imperialistic ties, and became individual entities. Southeastern Asia was very much influenced by imperialism, with the Dutch controlling Indonesia, the French controlling Cambodia, and the British presence in Thailand. The cold war was a dissolving factor of imperialism and once these countries gained freedom, without the support of the countries controlling them, they inevitably fell into poverty. The first challenge critical to any country’s success would
The economic boom of 1977 to 1997 had a dramatic impact on Thailand’s northern villages. While the center of the country, Bangkok, was rapidly industrializing, the north fell behind. Due to a lack of income and resources, the north had to watch the
The country of Thailand is an emerging nation in the globalized world. Over the past two decades, the country has experienced a multitude of changes in the political, economic and international arenas. As a nation, it has survived the economic crisis of 1997, the tsunami of 2004, the government coup in 2006, the flooding of 2011 and is preparing for a change in the views of the nation with the demise of their king. The AIDS explosion in the late eighties and early nineties seems to have targeted the country and the sex industry placing Thailand on the map for many of the wrong reasons. As Thailand continues to confront its own
Gill and John witnessed first hand a problem that had not only afflicted Thailand, but was prevalent in many Southeast Asian countries. Instead of retirement, they rolled up their sleeves and went to work on a problem, that many never wanted to face, let alone
Economic Considerations: Thailand is great developing country because of the smart economic policies but political environment is not stable so there is effect for investors to pay attention much to invest.
However, I always understood that in order for anything to change, the country itself had to be educated on what current societies look like in developed countries. Reading this chapter changed my views on undeveloped countries because I now see they are attempting to adapt their traditions to provide all individuals with fair treatment. Obviously, this will take time, help, and effort from both undeveloped and developed countries but I have a strong respect for the changed and struggles they have gone through to reach this point of understanding.
Research into Thailand showed that Thailand’s budget deficit narrowed to $4.2 billion (USD) from $5.1 billion (USD) in 2009. This demonstrates that the government is committed to meeting its foreign debt obligations and has not overextended itself concerning external borrowing. The baht (Bt) will remain strong against the United States dollar and the Bank of Thailand (central bank) will continue to intercede in the market if necessary to limit currency instability. Thailand’s banking sector is currently in a healthy state. It is adequately capitalized and has recorded strong profits in the last couple of years. Thailand’s political risk remains high due to the impending passing of the king and the difficulties that the prime minister has had with the House of Representatives. The economic structure risk is minimal even though the GDP growth has been low in the recent years, but Thailand has demonstrated a strong rebound in 2010 (Economist Intelligence Unit: The Economist [EIU], 2011).
Bangkok 8 is an excellent book to be used in studies for begining students interested in studying development or just the non-western world in general. It provides excellent examples of sociological concepts such as globalization and development. There is also a lot to learn about the clash between Eastern and Western culture, It can be reccommended that students in the fields of sociology, criminology, urban studies, world studies and politics read this
Indonesia is the sixteenth largest economy, the largest economy in the South-east Asian economic region with the world's fourth largest population (263 million in 2017). It is an emerging economy that has increased its international integration, trade liberalisation and diverted from policies of import substitution towards export-led development. Indonesia is a member of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies and has been an active founding member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The impact of globalisation has benefited Indonesia as quality of life indicators and economic developments have improved but it also presents the challenge of improving regulations, building more competitive industries, increasing investment into education and infrastructure to remain competitive. Consequently, Indonesia has introduced numerous strategies to promote economic growth and development.
Burma, like many other Southeast Asian nations, is a land of much culture and diversity of ethnic groups. Unfortunately, unlike the people of other nations, the people of Burma have been stripped of their human rights. Since the military junta had overtaken the Burmese government in 1988, the people of Burma have been among the most oppressed people in the world. The continuation of the government’s brutality has caught the attention of many outside nations around the world who increasingly have been intervening in Burma’s issues to help its people. As these occurrences are a major issue for the people of Burma, these problems are not restricted to its boundaries. They are also becoming a problem for
“A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment.” These are the wise words of Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Thus, there are a set of tangible criteria to help determine the development of a country, of which economic criteria tend to dominate, with indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as other social and security needs of the people, with the recent Human Development Index (HDI) which measures overall well-being of the people. So, with the recent phenomenon of globalization becoming ever more widespread in our society today, there is no doubt that it has impacts, both positive and negative, on the development of Singapore as
And Thai government should improve standard legal and institutional framework, enhancement of good governance and transparency, capacity building, ensuring fair competition, balanced liberalization and sustainable development, full participation of the host economy
Improving the value of exports is the primary goal of Thailand’s international trade policy. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) was established as an effective cooperative strategy for gaining market advantages through regional market integration. Thailand aims to capitalize on trade agreements by networking and entering partnership with neighboring countries. Currently, Thailand’s cross-border trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) plays a crucial role in globalization, because it facilitates rapid and convenient trade and investment. Countries seek new export markets to disperse the risk of domestic market concentration, as evidenced by the economic recessions affecting