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Thailand Trapped: Catch-up Legacies and Contemporary Malaise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2018

Veerayooth Kanchoochat
Veerayooth Kanchoochat*
Affiliation:
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan; veerayooth.k@gmail.com
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Abstract

A better understanding of Thailand's contemporary malaise needs a perspective that combines political and economic aspects without losing sight of history. This article applies the concept of path dependence to examine how pre-1997 catch-up industrialisation shaped the post-crisis trajectory. It argues that the catch-up process has left a number of important legacies, especially the symbiotic relationship between the military, banking conglomerates, and technocrats; dominant growth narrative with a focus on macroeconomic stability; and overly centralised and bloated state structures. These legacies have shaped the strategies and legitimacies of today's political actors and rendered the pursuit of growth increasingly contradictory to maintaining order.

Keywords

ThailandCatch-upPath DependenceEconomic GrowthSarit Thanarat
Type
Article
Information
TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , July 2018 , pp. 253 - 277
Copyright
Copyright © Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University 2018 

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