It has been argued that export-oriented industrialization, to be effective in the
development process, often requires active and strong government intervention in human
capital development. Those countries which have succeeded in achieving high rates of
growth and an expansion of exerts not only have rather controlled economies, but also a large,
highly educated labour force in which has often been cited as a matter of ethics, namely
Confucianism (see Oshima, 1993). It is doubtful whether Thailand is capable of catching up
with the East Asian NIEs under the existing condition that by the year 2000, at most three
quarters of the working age population will have had only six years of education. Having
high ratios of secondary enrolment to working-age population is a sufficient condition not just
to bring Thailand ahead, but to guarantee sustainable development.