Don't write us off just yet
Play
Against the background of gloom and doom, no pleasant words about Thailand can be expected from overseas and there will be worse to come from Thaksin's hired foreign lawyers and publicists.
However, one respected credit-rating agency, Fitch Ratings, says that the coup d’état is not itself a “negative trigger”, the focus of concern instead being on its aftermath and whether reforms will be speedy in laying down transparency and anti-corruption measures in our political and economic system. Oddly, there is now a great chance of Thailand getting good corporate governance that could be a surprise to our Western friends and the envy of our Asean neighbours. Or, we could repeat the old pattern of a power-mad regime that is even more corruptible than before.
In the meantime I would ask all foreign observers not to write us off just yet. Watch, wait and see.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Bangkok
