‘Post-war’ Thailand on the up under Prayut

Thailand is moving upward in the Legatum Prosperity Index and is now among the most prosperous countries in the world, ranked 15th. Under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha the country is heading not backwards, as some claim, but in a positive direction. That is in essence what I extracted from the Legatum Index, to counter some of the unfair criticism of Prayut’s performance. But some people refuse to listen.

As everybody knows, the economies of all countries swing back and forth over time under the influence of many different factors. Hence, in order to judge the Thai economy today, shouldn’t we look at the factors over the years leading up to the current situation? Where is the arrow pointing? Why must Gilles Bernard talk about gold medals? How does it help to look at previous years, when the conditions and situations were totally different?

Other countries, like Finland, flourished years ago, but have since tumbled down the economic rankings. Finland suffered from the collapse of Nokia. Thailand suffered violent political unrest, so we can expect more prosperity as calmer times prevail. Thailand is now in something like a post-war phase. Harking back to “former glory” under fairly corrupt conditions won’t help Thailand today. In contrast, Prayut is keeping Thailand stable and on an upward trend that is reflected in the Legatum Index. 

Perhaps Mr Bernard should look deeper into the factors behind these rankings.

A Johnsen