Thailand is one of the tiger economies in the 1980s which went through rapid economic growth, averaging growth rates of 10.4 percent from 1985 to 1996. However, growth slowed when the country suffered heavily in the 1997 currency crisis.
The country's economy regained to its positive growth rates after 4 years, in 2001.
In 2001, when businessman Thaksin Shinawatra took office, he introduced a set of economic policies, widely known as Thaksinomics, to increase domestic activity and cut down the country's reliance on foreign trade and investment. During his years in office, the country recorded positive GDP growth rates of between 4.6 to 7.14 percent from 2002 to 2005, before he was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
Thailand's polarized political situation after 2006 threatened economic growth and major industries such as tourism shrank in the midst of frequent protests in the country. Thailand faced a drought of foreign direct investment when consumer and investor confidence decline due to political conflicts.
The Thai economy stabilizes when Abhisit Vejjajiva took office on 2008. At the time of the global economic turmoil, the Abhisit administration introduced two stimulus packages worth $43.4 billion in order to offset weak external demand and improve confidence. Following the introduction of these packages, the Thai's economy recovered from a negative GDP growth of -2.33 percent in 2009 to positive 7.8 percent GDP growth in 2010.
The Thai government welcomes foreign investment and investors willing to meet certain requirements. In order to attract more foreign investment, the government is ready to offer expansion in investment opportunities, especially on green technology/manufacturers. Thailand is a member of World Trade Organization (WTO), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, IOR-ARC and ASEAN.