by Mia Hill

Created on: March 25, 2010

Kingdom of Thailand’s (Thailand) economy has experienced an exponential growth in recent years. By most accounts, Thailand has had the fastest recovery of all the countries that were affected by the 1997 Southeast Asian financial crises. Indeed, from the time of the compilation of the statistics for this article to the time of its presentation, there will no doubt be changes in the financial positions of the Southeast Asian economies – Thailand’s in particular. According to the World Bank, Thailand’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2007 was US $245,818 million, a 52.03% increase over its 2004 GDP of US $161,688 million.

Manufacturing is Thailand’s principle industry, which holds the title of the world’s largest exporter in many manufacturing products. The broad-focused differentiation strategy adapted by the Thai government has worked well. This strategy has resulted in an increase in productivity by allowing the Thai people of various skills and talents to take advantage of the many job opportunities that have been created in recent years. For years, the Thai government operated with a deliberate budget deficit; this deficit coupled with the increased productivity has resulted in a decrease in the unemployment rate of 3.7% in 2000 to 1.7% in 2007.

Thailand has moved from a poor to an upper-middle class economy in a relatively short period; this is the result of the Thai government’s successful execution of its long-term strategic goal of engage neighbouring Southeast Asian nations in multilateral trade agreements, which have proven beneficial to the entire subregion. Additionally, Thailand has nurtured amicable relationships with western counties including the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (US); these relationships have led to an increase in Thailand’s market share of the international trade. The integral role the People’s Republic of China (China) has in the supply chain for the Southeast Asian economies is less significant to Thailand than to other countries in the subregion.

One of the primary factors that allure foreigners to Thailand is the culture. Tourists visit Thailand and are enamoured by its beauty and the warmth of its people. Many people who have established businesses in Thailand, had initial contact as a tourist with the country.  All foreign applications to establish a company must be translated into Thai before being submitted to the relevant government departments

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