Within the last 45 years, per capita income in Thailand has risen from ฿1,748 in 1956 to ฿81,435 in 2001 at current market prices.3 Such a success can be attributed to the development strategy and economic policies aimed at stabilization, close
cooperation between the government and the local private sector, the encouragement of foreign investment, an export-oriented strategy and the building up of economic institutions which were encouraged to coordinate and manage the development process using the private sector as the spearhead of economic growth.