Slave labour won’t save Thailand’s economy, but European action can
TO Southeast Asia pundits, it comes as little surprise that Thailand’s economy is in the doldrums, faring significantly worse than most of its regional peers. Financially, it continues to perform alarmingly poorly, spluttering from one poor set of results to the next. With no path for recovery in sight, this is an economy already both morally and financially bankrupt. After close scrutiny of Thailand’s reliance on cruel slave labour to prop up its fishing industry, and many others, the time has come for Europe to use its considerable financial muscle to ensure that Bangkok’s junta understands that an economy riddled with bad practices is a false economy doomed to failure.