Much has been said about the AEC (Asean Economic Community) and its far-reaching implications for Thailand. During the past two years, the country has been the most active within Asean as far as the AEC campaign is concerned. As much as 8 billion baht (US242 million) in various forms were spent to "raise awareness and preparedness of Thailand and the Thai people for the AEC."
The emphasis has always been largely concentrated on the economic-related activities even though there are two additional pillars concerning political/security and social/cultural which are equally important.