The static latest GDP numbers of course do not reveal recent trends in income across Thailand. When looking at the data as provided by NESDB for the period between 2001 and 2010, it is clear that there is a pronounced difference in GDP growth rate between Bangkok (and its surrounding provinces) and the other regions of Thailand.
GDP growth is highest in the Eastern Region, where a lot of heavy industry is located. What is most interesting is that growth in Bangkok is the lowest in the country. Obviously, the provinces have a lot of catching up to do, and they are slowly doing it.
While the Northeast and the North of the country still have an enormous way to go, the development is promising. For all his faults, the policies of the Thaksin Shinawatra governments between 2001 and 2006 (universal health care, a farm debt moratorium, village microcredit programs, entrepreneurial programs and rice price pledging schemes) may have had a modest beneficial effect.