A landslide victory by the opposition Puea Thai Party (PTP) in Sunday’s general election has given its political opponents – the hitherto ruling Democrat coalition, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD – also known as the ‘Yellow Shirts’), and the military – little excuse to challenge the outcome of the poll. Indeed, prior to the… [Read more]
Just over a year since widespread political protests and social unrest crippled Bangkok and scared off tourists, Thailand is gearing up for crucial general elections on July 3rd. With only weeks to go, there remains much uncertainty over the elections, the outcome on which could go a long way to determine the country’s economic fortunes over the… [Read more]
Today, in Business Monitor Online: Governments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are facing a massive demographic challenge as large, rapidly growing young populations enter the workforce over the coming years. Failure to invest in labour-intensive infrastructure projects or make necessary reforms to employment law in an effort to stimulate job creation could… [Read more]
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva appears set on wielding the military to enforce a tough crackdown on the opposition pro-Thaksin Shinawatra ‘Red Shirt’ protestors, currently encamped in the commercial Ratchaprasong area. In my view, the use of force will do little to address the deep-rooted issues dividing the urban elites and the rural poor. Thai assets… [Read more]
Kyrgyzstan and Thailand generally have very little in common, but this week they have both found themselves gripped by political crises. Kyrgyzstan’s government has been overthrown, but so far the drama in Thailand has been contained. What to make of this? Kyrgyzstan The immediate crisis has been triggered by massive energy price increases and a… [Read more]
The long-heralded ‘Asian growth story’ is rapidly becoming an ‘Asian collapse story’ in 2009. Perhaps ‘collapse’ is too strong a word, but Business Monitor International (BMI) has recently revised or is currently in the process of revising down its GDP growth forecasts for several Asian economies, including South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong…. [Read more]
