Openness
The Thai economy was opened almost the time could be dated back to the middle of
nineteenth century under the Bowring treaty. Before the Bowring treaty, all international
trade was conducted by the clique of the royals and his associates, the Bowring treaty
dismantled this monopoly at once. With a central of Southeast Asian, Thailand benefits from
its location advantage since its location surrounds by many major international trade.
Furthermore, most rulers, be they the monarchs or subsequent democratic governments after
encourage international trades to be active since income from taxation could be used to invest
in public utilities. Since 1950, the economy has been opened to foreign investors, the
nationalistic sentiment which was dominated over 1932-1949 was completely abandoned by
General Sarit Thanarat. Since then the more or less, the Thai economy has been strict to the
so-called laissez-faire policy.