As documented in Disyatat and Nakornthab (2003), while Thailand’s banking sector is not excessively large relative to GDP from a cross- country perspective, it is the predominant channel of intermediation of funds in the economy. Thus compared to other countries in the region such as Hong Kong and Singapore, Thailand’s f inancial structure is much less balanced, relying heavily on bank-finance. That said, the importance of non-bank sources of intermediation has risen, on both the lending and saving sides