Philippines offers lessons

Jofelle Tesorio’s well written reply to my response to a letter is correct on virtually all counts and yet, the Philippines still does have a very long way to go. 

Provinces and urban areas alike are underdeveloped, overpopulated and lacking in development opportunities. Floods and natural disasters wreak havoc on unprepared low-wage communities and slums. Pay is so low that the country would nearly collapse without foreign worker remittances. 

The tourism industry is anaemic – only 15 per cent as many arrivals as Thailand – which is a crime considering the billions of dollars in revenue awaiting a country rich in tourism potential.

My focus in comparing the two wasn’t to put down the Philippines but to make the analogy that while countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar – in which socio-political conflicts progress into rapidly developing nation status – stagnate for periods of time, Thailand is moving in reverse.

Most Thai economic and quality-of-life indexes are flat-lined or falling. Blatant nepotism and cronyism is the new normal, as nouveau-riche, patriarchal dominance has risen within the political spectrum. Education standards, business sentiment, lack of government transparency and more have all seen declines in recent years.

Predicting growth in most major economic engines now is subject to constant downward revisions. Many youngsters are addicted to computer games and mobile devices, making them increasingly selfish and uninterested in furthering society’s wellbeing. Massive drug busts are the norm, jails and government hospitals are woefully overcrowded and underfunded, transportation networks are overcrowded, urban decay is growing. 

More and more people will come to view Thailand as doomed to failure rather than a future success. The Philippines’ past experience is a guide in “how not to” for Thailand’s leaders and younger generations alike.

Never Too Late in Bang Na

Bangkok