A Voice in the wilderness : Why the AEC in 2015 will lead to few changes in Thailand Economist Saowaruj Rattanakhamfu isn’t employed by the government or a corporate interest, so as an independent she’s one of relatively few people able to make a dispassionate argument about what the Asean Economic Community ( AEC) initiative slated for 2015 will mean for the kingdom. She works as a research fellow for Thailand Devlopment Research Institute (TDRI), one of only a handful of think-tanks in the country, and unlike much of what is published in the media, Dr Saowaruj believes not much will change by 2015.