Our great concern is the coefficients of dummy variables to describe the intensity of
trade integration beyond the gravity-model level, which are introduced for CLMV,
advanced ASEAN, and the other major economies as the trading partners of Thailand.
Regardingwith Thailand’s exports in Table II, towards CLMV, the export to Cambodia
significantly exceeds the gravity-model standard in the 2000s; the export to Lao PDR exceeds the standard after the 1990s; the export to Myanmar, which is significantly below
the standard in the 1980s, is not beyond the standard even after the 1990s; the export to
Vietnam, which is significantly less than the standard in the 1980s, is above the standard in
the 2000s. As a total, the exports to CLMV, which fall below the gravity-model standard in
the 1980s, and then exceed the standard in the 1990s and the 2000s. In comparison with the
exports to advanced ASEAN, which exceeds the gravity-model standard in all the periods,
the intensity of the export integration of Thailand with CLMV nearly catches up with that
with advanced ASEAN in the 1990s and the 2000s. The coefficient of dummy variables
signifies that in the 2000s, Thailand’s exports to CLMV are 4.26 times (exp. (1.45) ¼ 4.26)
larger than the gravity-model standard, whereas those to advanced ASEAN are 4.57 times
(exp. (1.52) ¼ 4.57) greater than that level. As for Thailand’s exports to the other major partners, the export to theUSAkeeps the above-standard level inall the periods, the exports
to China and Japan stay mostly at the gravity-model level, and the export to India falls
below the standard in the 1990s with being still negative in the 2000s.
Concerning with Thailand’s imports in Table III, from CLMV, there are no countries
except Myanmar in the 2000s, from which the imports are significantly above the
gravity-model standard, while the imports from Cambodia in the 2000s and from
Vietnam in the 1980s are even discernibly below the standard. The imports from CLMV
show a clear contractwith those from advanced ASEAN, which remarkably exceeds the
gravity-model standard in all the times. The imports from China, Japan and the USA
indicate the above-standard level, respectively, all through the periods, although the
import from the USA reduces its intensity towards the 2000s. The import from India,
however, stays at the standard level all the times.