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This study estimates a medium‐scale dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model for the Thai economy to evaluate the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic containment policy on key macroeconomic aggregates. The shock to labor supply is considered as the main transmission channel. The paper discussed the role of monetary policy in regard to economic recovery and also identified the dominant shocks driving the business cycle. Thai quarterly series from 2011Q1 to 2021Q2 is used for the Bayesian estimation of the model. Though the pandemic shock caused a sharp decline in output, consumption and investment, the results suggest a fast recovery in the growth rates of the variables in about 2.5 years. At the same time, the dominant shocks that account for output variation in the medium to long term are investment, labor supply and productivity shocks. Monetary policy is effective in shortening the recovery due to its impact on private investment. The key drivers of Thai household consumption in the long run are investment, labor supply and productivity shocks. On average, the investment shock appears to be the key driver of the business cycle at all horizons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand and the Republic of Korea were developing at a similar pace during the 1960s. However, the Republic of Korea’s economic development rapidly expanded from the 1970s onward, leaving Thailand lagging far behind. This paper investigates the labor productivity slowdown in Thailand using a nine-sector, structural transformation model setting with policy distortions. Our findings suggest that the economic underdevelopment of Thailand, when compared with the Republic of Korea, lies in a tendency toward relative labor productivity slowdowns resulting from both direct and indirect policy distortions in the agriculture sector. The agriculture sector has consistently been overlooked by the government in favor of the infant industrial sector for many decades. Moreover, as the agriculture sector accounts for a relatively considerable share of employment, the magnitude of the negative impact from policy distortions is amplified, inducing a delay in Thailand’s structural transformation.

This research aimed to 1) define sources of meaning in technopreneurs' commercialization research process, 2) establish the common features of technopreneurs' commercialization research process, and 3) construct a grounded theory of technopreneurs' sources of meaning and commercialization research process. The study employed a qualitative ground theory approach to explain the phenomena and develop theoretical conclusions. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with 15 technopreneurs using theoretical sampling. The interviews used open-ended questions, and the resulting data were analysed via analytic induction to define concepts and construct the grounded theory. The results indicated that technopreneurs elicited sources of meaning through the commercialization research process, which were categorized into three features of idea development with passion, integrated business model development, and innovative and technological business networking. The commercialization research process includes eight stages: 1) business opportunity assessment, 2) technopreneurial mindset and passion development, 3) technology assessment and exploitation, 4) co-research and application to new product development, 5) technopreneurship incubation and business networking, 6) business planning for innovation commercialization, 7) continuous product improvement, and 8) sustainable technopreneurship and development. Finally, this research constructed theoretical conclusions, discussing and suggesting approaches for improving technopreneurs' commercialization research process and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, demand-side populist policies (DSPPs) have played a significant yet controversial role in Thai politics. Most Thai economists disagree with DSPPs. They have argued that such policies are inefficient and have suggested the Thai government drop short-sighted DSPPs and replace them with supply-side policies that are more effective in the long run. However, Thai politicians have viewed DSPPs as unavoidable for political reasons and turned a deaf ear on economists' suggestions to stop issuing them. In this paper, we argue that the domination of the neoclassical economics paradigm prevents Thai economists and politicians from understanding the role of DSPPs in shaping the demand and supply sides of the macroeconomy in both the short run and long run. Based on the theory of transformational growth, DSPPs are endogenous phenomena emerging from Thailand's uneven economic development. Therefore, Thailand could implement the policies to facilitate long-run economic growth. We propose three principles for future DSPPs that can positively impact the economy in the long run: boosting productivity, promoting innovation, and addressing income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will relate a history of planned railway routes passing through Bangkok or elsewhere in Thailand in pursuit of linking the potentially vast commercial market of China with the transport hub of Singapore. Those plans historically did not come to full fruition. But the current Chinese-backed plans mean that a rail link between China and Singapore is finally likely to become a reality within the coming decade. The benefits for Thailand are contested: while there will be more passenger and freight capacity the financial cost will be high. But there will for the first time in history be a direct rail connection from China to the Malayan peninsula. Indeed in theory it will be possible to board a train in Britain and step off one in Singapore, without having used any other form of transport on the way. Chinese motivations are commercial and geopolitical, as were those of historical schemes by other countries. Unlike historical schemes, however, China looks set to make the planned southeast Asian railway network a reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic system of Thailand is predicated on cooperation between parties that are affected by economic decisions, partnerships between public and private entities, and robust relationships in the local community to foster sustainable development. Economic development in Thailand is managed by the community and government with support from the business sector. The economic system of Thailand aims to balance three conceptual pillars that can be described as ‘social, economic, and environmental’ dimensions. However, there is a lack of tools for data analysis and the evaluation of community well-being and economic functioning that can be applied to all relevant situations independent of external factors. In this paper, these authors produced an information analysis and evaluation model of the local economy (IAEM) that is based on the application of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Data were collected using a questionnaire that was evaluated by experts regarding the project's capacity to meet economic, social, and environmental development goals according to the SEP for SDGs, which demonstrated a reliability of 0.88. For our statistical analysis, Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, Decision Matrix Analysis, K-Means, Percentage, and Average were performed for the analysis of data. The results showed that the SEP has a significant relationship to the SDGs at 89.60% (R2 = 0.896, p < 0.001). IAEM provides a framework for analysis and evaluation of the local economy in six clusters that consist of water resources (WAT), human capacities and capabilities (HUM), economic stability (ECO), healthy communities (HEA), climate change (CLI), and the agricultural sector (AGR). Our results indicate that the IAEM can be used for the analysis and evaluation of the sustainability of a local economy based on the three pillars. The IAEM can be applied to policies and projects in sustainable development at each level of the local economy based on the SEP in a partnership with SDGs; this observation suggests that more implementation of development projects in accordance with the SEP will lead to increased development towards SDGs based on the three dimensions outlined.

From past to present, the Thai economy has been heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for more than two-thirds of its gross domestic product (GDP). Agricultural export product is one of the main export products but its tendency is declining. The research objectives were to study the impact of agricultural export products on the income and employment of the Thai economy. In this research, the data applied were collected as the yearly time series for a period of 27 years from 1990 to 2016 by the Bank of Thailand. The primary data were collected from the stakeholders of the agricultural product export policy of Thailand. Data analysis was based on descriptive statistics by the arithmetic mean and standard deviation. The Monte Carlo Simulation technique and time trend analysis was applied to the forecasting of agricultural product export value. In addition, the impact of agricultural export product on income and employment measured by the econometric model and the estimated parameters were calculated by the ordinary least square technique. The research results revealed that: agricultural export product value of Thailand from 1990 to 2016 was $10.270 billion with its yearly growth rate of 4.984 percent, in addition, the forecasting of agricultural product export value of Thailand has increased but its growth rate has declined. The impact of agricultural export products has a positive impact on income in the Thai economy; agricultural product export value of Thailand increased 1 percent which, in turn, led to the income increase by 0.0051 percent. In addition, the impact of agricultural export product value has a positive impact on employment in the Thai economy; agricultural export product value of Thailand increased 1 percent which, in turn, led to the employment increase by 0.079 percent. The Thai agricultural export product policy should be focused on finished or semi-finished agricultural products instead of raw materials by applying technology and innovation to make value-added agricultural product export. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a critique of the Thailand 4.0 strategy to push the country out of the middle-income trap through innovation-driven, inclusive and sustainable growth. First, it argues that the policies have insufficiently analysed the persistence of structural hierarchy and uneven development in the global political economy, which will constrain Thailand's catch-up success in the future. Second, based on writings about progressive mission-led industrial strategies, it is argued that Thailand 4.0 ought to embed a progressive social and environmental agenda more clearly in its industrial strategy. Third, it is argued that Thailand 4.0 neglects to address the high concentration of political and economic power in the country, and also continues to allow unequal access to the policymaking process that has led to socio-environmental problems. Overall, this article argues that Thailand 4.0 will increasingly aggravate the two-tier fragmented nature of the political economic system of Thailand, where few can reap the biggest shares of the surplus and participate in more advanced sectors of the economy. It also calls for a more progressive industrial strategy and an alternative developmental path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines nation branding in the context of post-coup Thailand. It challenges the dominant view within the nation-branding literature that nation branding is an externally-oriented, apolitical, business-derived practice aimed at increasing a country’s global competitive advantage. Instead, the paper argues, nation branding is a highly-politicised practice that is primarily aimed at changing the social attitudes and behaviours of the nation’s citizens. To demonstrate the political nature and internal focus of nation branding, this paper examines one of Thailand’s recent branding initiatives - the Thailand 4.0 project - that promotes sustainable economic growth in a digital age. The paper first discusses nation branding from a theoretical perspective drawing on studies in the fields of business, international relations, culture and the media. Secondly, it contextualises Thai nation branding within the political developments of the past decade. Thirdly, it analyses the project’s contents and surrounding discourses, drawing on primary data gathered during the author’s 2016 field research in Thailand. The paper argues that Thailand 4.0 is an exercise in internal nation branding aimed at enhancing the military junta’s power and legitimacy by “selling” a vision of economic prosperity to the Thai people in exchange for their support, trust and loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the importance of southeast Asia to American foreign policy, this discussion of labor organization in Thailand serves a valuable function in presenting a concise but clear picture of the economic situation of the people of a strategic area, particularly vulnerable to Communist influence. It analyzes the economic and cultural forces which have produced a labor movement similar in form and nomenclature to those in the West but differing radically in spirit and substance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siam's practices of polygamy variously bemused and shocked European visitors to the kingdom in the nineteenth century; however, especially in the case of the early Chakri monarchy, there was always also a strong political rationale to such customs. Multiple liaisons would yield multiple sons who could subsequently serve as defenders of both realm and dynasty; later, as the nation evolved, they could form a pool of ministers and administrators. Multiple daughters, in turn, were always useful in shoring up support from a restive nobility. Sons in particular, however, presented a real estate challenge as they had to be housed in appropriate style and this called for a profusion of both small and large palaces, wang, throughout the old historic city of Rattanakosin. From the locations of wang and their degrees of splendour one might have been able to read the evolving politics and political economy of early Bangkok, also the always evolving role of the monarchy, except that most have been swept away for more mundane urban development. Yet enough evidence remains for the story still to be pieced together, thereby throwing some light on currently fraught debates over the political context and role of the monarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel sensor-based Internet of Educational Things (IoET) platform named OBSY was iteratively designed, developed and evaluated to support education in rural regions in Thailand. To assess the effectiveness of this platform, a study was carried out at four primary schools located near the Thai northern border with 244 students and 8 teachers. Participants were asked to carry out three science-based learning activities and were measured for improvements in learning outcome and learning engagement. Overall, the results showed that students in the IoET group who had used OBSY to learn showed significantly higher learning outcome and had better learning engagement than those in the control condition. In addition, for those in the IoET group, there was no significant effect regarding gender, home location (Urban or Rural), age, prior experience with technology and ethnicity on learning outcome. For learning engagement, only age was found to influence interest/enjoyment. The study demonstrated the potential of IoET technologies in underprivileged area, through a co-design approach with teachers and students, taking into account the local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay elucidates analogies between the financial crisis in Thailand in the 1990s and the ongoing crisis in Greece by drawing on the concept of crypto-colonialism. It explores the analogies not only in the domain of the financialized infrastructure of economies, but also in the domain of racialized superstructures. Both countries experienced exceptionally rapid economic growth in the time preceding the crises, as well as increased current account deficits, but were also first to implode in the time of uncertainty. Production of subjectivities and race through political economy is elucidated as part of the disciplinary austerity mechanisms imposed in the aftermath of the crises in Greece and Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether changes in Thai inflation dynamics during recent decades can be attributed to the process of globalization. The empirical analysis is based on a dynamic factor model and an unobserved components model that is consistent with an Open Economy New Keynesian Phillips curve. The findings suggest that in the short-run, Thai inflation has become increasingly sensitive to global factors since 2001, while becoming less reliant on domestic ones. During 2001-2007, the importance of this global factor can be attributed to a global output gap, while in the period thereafter, it only corresponds to world oil price movements. While global factors are important, Thai inflation is still heavily influenced by domestic monetary policy in the long-run. The implementation of an inflation targeting framework in May 2000 by the Bank of Thailand has led to improved inflation behavior through better anchored long-term inflation expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose is to investigate how do the bank specific factors as liquidity, capital adequacy, assets quality and management efficiency determine performance expressed by return on equity, return on assets and net interest margins of banks listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Further, GDP growth as macroeconomic variable was added into the investigation. The findings showed Banks listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange own the Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management efficiency and GDP Growth as significant variables. While banks listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand own Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality and Management efficiency as significant variables. However, liquidity was found to be insignificant to all chosen banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secure attachment in childhood and adolescence is important to psychological well-being throughout the life span. This cross-sectional study examines the importance of attachment (i.e. parents, peers and school) and self-esteem on the psychological well-being (i.e. total psychological difficulties, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, prosocial behaviours and life satisfaction) among 1360 adolescents (aged 12-15 years) in a district of Central Thailand. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire during school hours. Path analyses investigated the significance of attachment on psychological well-being and the mediating role of self-esteem. Parental and peer attachment were negatively associated with total psychological difficulties, externalizing problems and internalizing problems, while parental and school attachment were positively associated with life satisfaction. More secure peer and school attachment were significantly associated with greater prosocial behaviours. Self-esteem was found to mediate the relationships between attachment and all domains of psychological well-being except prosocial behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of the export-oriented garment industry in the economy of Thailand is very high. Currently, this industry is facing great challenges with respect to its growth rate. Competition in international markets is high due to problems such as low productivity, the high cost of production due to better labour wages, limited capability for development, inefficient management structures, limitations in skills training and inefficient systems. To take advantage of global market opportunities in the context of the Industry 4.0 Era, actors in the sector should accurately identify all dimensions of competitive challenges facing them. This paper focuses on the analysis of the current situation of TEOG (Thai Export-Oriented Garment) industry with respect to its competitive challenges and attempts to develop a model for competitive challenges. It is useful for understanding the groupings of TEOG industry challenges and the related theoretical underpinning, which shows an interactive relationship between the various categories of competitive challenges that are encountered. Additionally, presentation is made of the possible innovation-driven approaches to be used by TEOG industry actors which are suggested for overcoming these competitive challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of Thailand's Universal Health Coverage Scheme (UCS) on households' consumption and savings by using a synthetic panel data approach. Using difference-in-differences estimation, it finds that, in the short run, the UCS had little or no impact on either savings or consumption expenditures. In the long run, the UCS still had no effect on savings, but there is some evidence of an increase in consumption. These effects are generally consistent with economic theory. The provision of healthcare coverage at little or no cost to previously uninsured households has an income effect that will increase both savings and consumption and a risk reduction effect that will reduce precautionary savings and thus increase consumption. These two effects on savings are of opposite sign and appear to cancel each other out, while both effects on consumption are positive and so appear to increase consumption, at least in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Public Health System (PHS) has been established under Ministry of Public Health but its financial practices have to abide by the regulations issued by the Comptroller General Department (CGD), which is responsible for legislating financial regulations for all government organizations to manage their allocated budget within a fiscal year starting from October 1 to September 30 of the following year. The budget is allocated each year for the PHS is a function-based budgeting system. It is mainly used for PHS’s regular works or its normal situations not for any disaster events. Should there be any disasters, an additional burden will fall to local public health staffs that live in those particular areas. To help solve this problem, a review and modification of the function-based budgeting system should be seriously considered and undertaken. This study focused on two main issues concerning the management of disaster budgeting system. The first one concentrated on an appropriate budget allocated for health management expenditure within seventy two hours after a disastrous occurrence based on Public Health Incident Command System (PHICS). The second one emphasized a practical management pattern for each disaster phenomena having occurred before 2016. Each site of disaster such as flood, landslide, and earthquake, etc. was surveyed for its severity and impacts. Based on the Incident Command System (ICS) management, interview and questionnaire were employed to obtain information. The data of disastrous area contexts and characteristics were integrated into a new financial strategy: preparation, protection, response and rescue (2R’s2P’s) for seventy-two hour disaster financial system. The 2R’s2P’s was classified into two levels, national level and local level, with limitations as follows: disaster unpredictability and local agencies’ capacity in collecting data. Consequently, an appropriate financial system was proposed in compliance with real situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, and a popular tourist destination with around 7 million tourists per year. It situated in the Northern region, about 700 kilometers north of Bangkok. Eighty per cent of the area is mountains and 70 per cent of the land is forest area. The topography and the rapid and diverse socio-economic structure of the province have affected not only land use change and economic activities but also the quality of its environment. Chiang Mai has been facing the problem of haze pollution over the past decade, particular during the dry season from February to May. With the exposure and vulnerability of the area, this problem occurred annually and has affected Chiang Mai tremendously. This research aims to investigate the building resilience of Chiang Mai through various sectors (academic, government, private, and local communities) during the past 10 years, between 2007 and 2016. The perception and coping strategies of the villagers and communities in the most affected areas are also examined. Primary data were collected by focus group interviews with people from government, private, academic, and civil society sectors, and interviews with 400 villagers from the most affected areas in San Pa Tong, Doi Lo, Chom Thong, and Hot Districts. Results show the interesting progress in resilience of the population of Chiang Mai province over the past 10 years, from response to recovery, mitigation, and preparation for long term sustainability. It indicates that the road to resilience has faced with many difficulties, particularly at the community/village level where most of the villagers lack the opportunity to participate with the higher levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the disaster of flooding in 2011, it realized over Thailand how important the powerful water management is. It was the worst flooding that caused the severe losses to Thai economy and society of which the contributed factor to this crisis are not only the natural but also manmade. Therefore, the idea of providing effective information of water resources system to the decision makers is considered as necessary tool for coping with flood situation. In order to support the immediately response during flood crisis, the powerful decision support system that can provide important information is needed. Even, the water resource system over a river basin contains a lot of information that is too complex to understand. The decision makers still need all necessary data in the simple form that can assist them to decide not only to minimize loss from flood but also to state the problem in different scenario. Therefore, the one page project management (OPPM) principal has been introduced by Department of Water Resources (DWR) to simplify all necessary information over the river basin in different flood scenario. This information contains the details of flood scenario, tasks in each process of flood risk management as well as the list of responsible organizations in each scenario. The objective of this paper is to share Thailand‘s experience on application of OPPM on flood preparedness. It is obviously that coupling with the result from hydrological study, OPPM can be a powerful visual tool to communicate all the information contained on the one page report for flood risk management purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, Government, NGO and private organizations provided various types of post-disaster permanent housing. This study focuses on Relocate houses in Namkem community, Phangnga after residents live long-term in this post-disaster house. Aims to analyze resident’s satisfaction to Housing after lived more than a decade in the post-tsunami houses and analyze the development to physical of house regard to reconstruction, functions, or size. The relocation effect to the house adaptation and residents life style as a result shown that even self-built house that residents have participate in design and construction process themselves also need the individual renovation, according to that many of residents have change their job or need to travel in longer distance for work, The car park was one of the popular choice for space extension follow after the adding more bedrooms as number of family member increase. Residents who individually renovated and extend the house have gain more satisfy with their house so provided land-plot for self-extension may important more for recovery housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]