5) Political and administrative problems The development of Thailand’s economy is slowing or sometimes restricted due to political and administrative problems, such as political conflicts, and the corruption of politicians and government officers causing high hidden costs in the business sector, and the poor performance of government agencies, etc. Given the above analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Thailand, we may question whether Thailand is yet prepared to cope with the AEC. The answer seems to be that we are not clear on our strategic position in the ASEAN arena. Our future direction has been forced by circumstances without planning or advance preparation. Thailand’s preparatory measures for inclusion in the AEC are not yet concrete and this situation is worrisome for the country. The next question is how Thailand should determine a strategy to cope with AEC inclusion. I will answer this question in my next article.