By some measures, rural
areas were particularly hard hit. In these areas, unemployment
increased from 3 percent to 8 percent. In the
poor northeastern region, real earnings fell by 8 percent.
8 Workers with little education were particularly
vulnerable. Real earnings fell 13–20 percent among
those who had, at most, completed primary school.
Prices also rose during this period, with the Consumer
Price Index increasing by 14 percent from 1996 to
1998. From 1998 to 2001, annual inflation in Thailand
averaged 1.2 percent