2. Thailand
Accounting developments in Thailand were influenced by the government sector rather than the accounting profession. Before the Asian financial crisis, TASs were criticized as not complying with international accounting standards. The lack of internationally accepted accounting practices led to poor disclosures and less transparent financial reporting, which were contributed to the 1997 crisis. In 1999, the Thai standard setter issued “Policy of Setting Thai Accounting Standards” requiring IASs to be the main guideline for setting TASs2 . Currently, the FAP regulates the Thai accounting and auditing professions and is responsible for developing Thai accounting and auditing standards. The IASs have a significant influence on Thai Financial Reporting Standards (TFRSs) and practices, especially after the financial crisis (Herrmann et al. 2008). Currently, The FAP has revised TASs and TFRSs to be in compliance with IFRSs Bound Volume 2010, which was issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).3 TASs comply in material respects with IASs and IFRSs, with a few exceptions.4
In Thailand, there are a few studies on the usefulness of earnings information. Srisawadi (1996) examines the extent to which the returns-earnings relationship has changed over time and finds the insignificance of earnings association coefficients in the period of 1980–1985. However, the earnings association coefficients became significant in the period of 1986–1991. The findings support the continuing improvement in accounting standards and market regulations. Narktubtee (2000) also finds the consistent evidence that earnings provided information content to market during the period of 1994–1997. However, to my knowledge, there is little evidence on the usefulness of cash flows over time. To extend prior research, this study examines the usefulness of earnings and
cash flows during the pre-crisis, crisis, and postcrisis periods. During the pre-crisis period, this
study predicts that earnings can better explain stock returns and investors pay less attention to
the information of cash flows, consistent with prior research.