Since the mid-1980s, Thailand has experienced a period of remarkable
economic growth and structural change. But is Thailand’s pattern of
development sustainable, especially in view of the 1997–8 financial crisis?
This volume looks at the origins and consequences of this period of
accelerated growth, with particular emphasis on the historical development
and contemporary economic structure that tend to set Thailand apart from
other Asian, African and Latin American countries, such as the non-colonial
mode of incorporation into the global economy. Beginning with an overview
of Thailand’s economic growth since the eighteenth century, Chris Dixon
goes on to look at such key factors as:
• the role of the state since the late 1950s
• the neglect and underdevelopment of the agricultural sector
• the uneven pattern of development and regional disparities in income
• the continuing gap between Bangkok and the rest of the Kingdom