During this period, one of the major factors
affecting the Thai economy was the financial
liberalization over the years 1990 to 1993, and this was
linked to the second phase of the boom in the first half
of the 1990s.13 The liberalization coincided with a
critical period in the capital markets of the developed
world – both Europe and Japan suffered from low
domestic investment, high liquidity, and low interest
rates. Thus, money flooded into Thailand. In the early
1990s, total private inflows were running at 20 times the
level of the mid-1980s. In 1995 alone, more money
flowed in than over the entire decade of the 1980s. The
nature of money flows also differed. Instead of direct
investment, more funds came in as bank loans and
portfolio capital. Among others, these capital inflows
undermined export growth, fuelled a domestic market
boom, and created bubbles in asset markets. By the early
1990s the export boom had already begun to falter. A
growing current account deficit, labor shortages, and
infrastructure bottlenecks signaled a downturn in the
Thai economy.