Thailand

While Thailand is pushing ahead with efforts to expand its network of free trade agreements (FTAs), the lack of a permanent government means that approval and implementation of any deals could be delayed. Thai officials have played down concerns that the political troubles, which may not see a new government installed until at least June 2014,...

Leveraging its central position to drive trade and investment with neighbouring countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) in particular, will be a driving force for Thailand’s economic prospects. Long dominated by trade with Malaysia, which accounted for roughly 60% of Thailand’s border trade in 2013, cross-border trade is...

While both major political parties have tabled successive large-scale infrastructure developments, centring on high-speed rail and dual-tracking of existing lines, political differences have delayed implementation over the past decade. Thailand’s ratio of public investment to GDP fell from 6.9-7.1% in 2002-08 to 5.5-5.9% in 2010-12, according to...

After two years of rapid growth in lending to the private sector, Thai banks started 2013 faced with slowing growth and by building their counter-cyclical buffers. While the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in loans and deposits averaged 3.25% and 5.84%, respectively, in the 15 years to 2012, according to Deloitte, loan growth jumped to 13.7%...

South-east Asia’s second-largest economy with a GDP of $366bn and a per capita income of $5168 in 2012, Thailand has the potential to become the world’s 23rdlargest economy by 2050, according to HSBC, up from 34th now. A diversified and competitive export base accounting for 62.3% of GDP in 2012, ranging from agriculture to high-end manufactured...