These are dramatic successes and they highlight Thailand’s capacity for ongoing economic and social development. However, there is nothing inevitable about the path from an upper-middle income country to a high income country. Thailand faces some important challenges. Domestic consumption needs to be strengthened to balance out some of the heavy dependence on exports; the quality of education needs to be improved so that Thailand can increase its productivity as its low-wage advantages evaporate; and stark socio-economic disparity must be addressed so the benefits of growth are more evenly spread. As Michael Spence writes:
Distribution, as well as growth, matters. Emerging economies still need to manage better their growing domestic tensions due to rising income inequality and uneven access to basic services. A failure on this front would derail their domestic and regional growth dynamics. Among emerging economies and their governments, this is better understood today. Distributional aspects of growth strategy are firmly placed on emerging countries’ policy agenda. (188)
We will soon have a clearer idea how firmy it is on Yingluck’s agenda.