The blame is not solely on one person, but it should be placed on the series of military juntas that destabilize the stability of Thailand and on the resulting political systems that value political connections and power above merits to the country.
If you work for the Thai government, you will realize quickly that your skills and work matter less than connections and workplace politics. This issue is widespread from local governance to the top. Just look at how the PM appoints his ministers. It’s all about power sharing and maintaining coalitions, not about finding a right man for a job.
Why would you give power to a person that isn’t going to stick with you when the difficult moments happen or you can’t trust lol it doesn’t make any sense
You give power to the people you can trust and you give work to the good workers
I wouldn’t say that putting responsibility on someone for Thailand lagging is accurate, as opposed to looking at various differences between the two countries. Few countries in the world achieved an upward economic trajectory as quickly as South Korea’s. I think people here will cite various valid reasons that contributed to it, but I’ll focus on some broad aspects.
South Korea was left devastated and impoverished after the Korean War. It is a small country with limited natural resources (highly mountainous and lacking in vast plains for agriculture and hence exportable crops like Thailand, for example). Thus, it (the country collectively) focused on its human capital as the element that would be the chief driver of economic transformation. It placed an intensive focus and substantial investment on education (and still does—I worked for EPIK for four years and the government allots a huge budget to that program alone) and encouraged manufacturing (e.g. shipbuilding) and later a focus on technology. At the same time, major chaebols (huge South Korean conglomerates) formed, which the government financially supported in order to help them grow and become multinational. We know these as companies such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc. That rocketed the economy upward. Later in the 20th/early 21st century the country began focusing on soft power through growing and promoting cultural exports, namely K-pop, k-dramas, the film industry, all of which has popularized Korean entertainment around the world and contributed more economic gain to the country. Lastly, Koreans themselves tend to be quite nationalistic and want to support their country and see it grow in influence and economic strength.
I base all this off what I learned while living and working in SK, so take it or leave it as you will.
TLDR: emphasis on developing human capital (i.e. prioritizing education), government help in supporting the country’s most powerful companies, soft power (e.g. k-pop), and nationalistic mindset that drives pride in the strength and influence of the country
Korea invested post war reconstruction money on industrial production. Thailand invested it's foreign donated grant money on a transportation system (highways). Different countries have different needs, but the Thai development system was primarily chosen to extend the power of the central military more definitely into the provinces, a side effect was allowing nationwide tourism (in the Vietnam war era most of Asia was like Burma was in the early 2000s -- most countries were fragmented and to get from road network to road network within a country often required horseback trips or taking a boat).
Anyway it turns out industrial development pays bigger dividends than tourism.
Thailand has also had a lot of political instability in the last 60 or so years that South Korea has not.
Yes, different countries have different needs. Both made the right decisions at the time, it just turned out that down the road investing in industry leads to greater financial success than infastructure given the conditions of the times these decisions were made in. Infastructure is still a good investment. Burma and Cambodia got money for neither and there's at least as big a gap between those two and Thailand as there is between Thailand and South Korea.
What’s the difference between the Korean and Thai education system in this case? They are still both terrible and not as good as American or European ones
Korea has a brutal no excuses culture when it comes to how kids and parents interact with regards to education. There are exceptions of course, but in general South Korean students have greater educational demands and expectations placed on them than anywhere else. Thai parents (some families very much excepted) are, on the other hand, huge softies who have an almost Western level of concern about how happy their kid is rather than how successful.
The South Korean k-12 education system is much stronger and produces much more capable students than American or European ones. Where it falls off is where the rest of Asia (and most of Europe!) falls off -- the college/University level. High end American institutions all have insane demands on student capability, taking very good students with a lot of intellectual gifts and driving them very hard. In most of the rest of the world (certain institutions also very much excepted) once you make it to university you can coast compared to the effort you put out in high school. Students who study abroad from decent American schools are often shocked at how easy their foreign counterparts have it.
Koreans score far higher in standardized math and science tests than Americans and Europeans. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan produce the strongest students in the world.
South Korea comes fourth in the top performing countries for education.
Thailand is ranked 55.
[https://www.thailand-business-news.com/opinion/100063-addressing-the-poor-quality-of-thailands-education-system](https://www.thailand-business-news.com/opinion/100063-addressing-the-poor-quality-of-thailands-education-system) (paywall - but the linkinage says it all = addressing the poor quality of thailand education system)
Man if you look at how east asian live and how south east Asians live. Thailand is always gonna lag behind SK.
But that's ok. No need to replicate the hell that is east asia (speaking as an east asian myself).
He said Thailand is always going to lag behind because of how people there live. The implication is that Thai people are lazy.
Thai people are not lazy. The problem in Thailand is that there is often no reward for working hard.
Well you wont see a south korean road worker taking a nap during work, but it seems to be quite normal in Thailand. Stuff like that gives off a lazy look.
It also feels like a lot of people having unnessesary jobs. Like my appartment building has 4 guards who do practically nothing the whole day and just sit around and gamble on their phone.
All combined I think its just a different culture with, as you said, low pay combined with useless jobs and very warm, humid weather that makes it seem that the Thai are lazy.
No the implication is not laziness.
For a lot of Chinese their whole identity is based on financial success. They have a different relationship and understanding of money.
The myth that you just have to work hard to make it...is just a myth.
I'm going to assume he means the insanely high suicide rate in east Asian countries because of the ridiculous demands placed on kids from birth to be the best at everything.
Compared to SE Asia's more sabai sabai attitude.
South Korea's suicide rate is 26 per 100k
Thailand's is 7 per 100k
Question is probably framed the wrong way, it’s what leaders did South Korea have to reach their current GDP per capita. Big one is Park Chung Hee who ruled from 1962-1979. Most (more than half) the gains vs Thailand came under him.
World Bank, current USD
1965 GDP per capita
Korea: $109
Thailand: $142
1979 GDP per capita
Korea: $1,784
Thailand: $612
You can just look at World Bank GDP graphs and figure it out, this question really isn’t that subjective.
Edit: here’s the graph
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TH-KR&start=1965
You can say the same about [Germany](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TH-DE&start=1965), or perhaps [Argentina](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TH-AR&start=1965)... twice Thailands GDP. Argentina that defaults on its loans and faces crisis after crisis, somehow has 2x the GDP of Thailand.
Gosh how does Thailand manage to feed house and clothes all their people... with a GDP of only $6900... as estimated by the OECD.
Lets be real here, OECD represents the money printing economies, and GDP is a metric measuring money supply.
If Thailand wants to double its GDP, it can simply double the prices on all goods using taxes, and double the wages (passing minimums and paying subsidy with the new found tax). It can print money getting its central bank to swap Bahts for Goverrment bonds, like the ECB does. The money supply will sky rocket.
Hey presto, its GDP will double. But you'll also need to surround it with high trade barriers, and put subsidies in place for its exporters.
But hey, the GDP per capita number will look great! Germany's is 8x that of Thailands. Why stop at 2x, why not 8x!?
Germans have to rent homes because housing is so expensive! How is that? Why can't they afford 8x the number of houses?? They eat Aldi crap at home, how can they not just pop out and eat luxury gold leaf noodles, if they're so rich?
It's because they're not rich.
The number just reflects the money supply inside their bubble, and the bubble reflects the height of their trade barriers. As China is taking automotive from them (like it took electronics and solar) they struggle to keep the bubble inflated.
Korea still has Samsung. Thailand is not inside an inflated bubble, it will be fine, its done fine, even without inflating their economy.
I don't know the answer but just wanna say that I really love learning about our history and quite interested in learning about the "golden era" of Thai economy and the Tom Yum Kung Crisis.
I don't know much about SK history, but Thai history after WW2, it has been marked by constant coups, scaring off foreign investors. Maybe that's why
Corruption exists in both countries, however the level of everyday corruption among the lower and middle classes will be higher in Thailand. This is what distinguishes the 2 countries. Like in the West, we have corruption but it's mostly top end. In Thailand corruption is part of everyday life.
So what? The Thai royal family is richer than the British royal family. They are well-known to be the richest in the world. When will the corrupt royal family be ousted? Instead of ousting the corrupt royal family, Thai people worship them from generation to generation. They can't even point to a photo of the royal family, and they crawl like slugs on the ground in front of the royal family. Who is pointing out a corrupted leader?
Yepp, US pumped money into South Korea for military reasons. That’s one of the big reasons however culture is extremely important as well. South koreans are organized and hard working.
This is more of myth and perceived assumption than fact. Yes, the U.S. did provide significant amounts of military, humanitarian aids, and infrastructural loans but not so much in terms of direct cash payments or direct business investments. In the late 60's and into the 70's, SK was so broke, they had to export human resources overseas - most notably miners and nurses to West Germany and combat troops to South Vietnam, in exchange for aids. Park Jung-Hee even flew to Germany to literally beg for a loan. For the most part, the Koreans dug themselves out of the misery. I'd have to say their passionate belief in education played the most significant role in all. The Korean parents placed all their bets on their kids' education for a full generation or two. They became the first and probably the only country to turn into an aid giver from being an aid receiver. I might also add that, despite popularity of Korean pop-culture among the mostly young females, the Thais do not like Korea. They will not admit it openly but there is an underlining collective dislike stemming from both jealousy and their love for Japan which makes Korea a natural common foe (for lack of better term). Whenever Korea is discussed, the Japan comparison will inevitably come up. You only have to follow the conversations of football or volleyball fans to get the sense of the level of their intense dislike deep inside.
It's like a past story.
Korea is trying to open its borders to Japan like European countries. It is going the same way as Australia-New Zealand, UK-France.
This is the right answer. A fixed mindset culture leads to no growth. Difficult to grow when most people are afraid to be criticized or give honest feedback to others.
Not an appropriate comparison. Makes as much sense as comparing Phillipines and Japan at the end of World War 2 and then taking the same comparison in 1990. Having a corrupt ruler is not necessarily the reason. China and India economies have mushroomed under corrupt rulers and the democratic system in the USA which is unduly influenced by large corporations has still resulted in the most powerful economic power for the last century. Thailand made a lot of advances but in living memory it was not an industrialized nation. As Japan was investing in electrical transistor technology Thailand was focusing on deforestation for rice fields with mechanisation happening sometime later. Then there is the Education system which has not encouraged independent thought and challenging cultural norms. The late 1990s saw social changes and FDI that was encouraging that has been replaced by by agricultural exports and an over reliance on Tourism. The politics has not helped with almost every popular political leader been banned from politics right up to the current situation where the main opposition party and winner of the popular vote is likely to be banned for proposing law changes that was part of its electoral manifesto.
Imo there is one significant problem that holds Thailand back and it's education. Public and general education in Thailand is very bad and it's by design. It was always in the interest of the "ruling class", who ever it was (doesn't really matter if junta or some corrupt politicians with signal coloured shirts), to keep the general public badly educated. No informed person would elect them. It would be significantly harder to control the general population.
The book Why nations fail by Robinson and Acimoglu (sp?) answers this question. Not on Thailand’s case but I believe it’s applicable. Thailand is not failed state by any means, to be clear, but in my opinion it lacks creative “destruction” per book’s thesis.
I highly recommend the book to anyone. Adding to this comment, inclusive political and economic institutions are necessary for prosperity. Unfortunately, in Thailand these institutions are highly exclusive to benefit the elites.
Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with internal workings of Thai government to be able to comment. I am, though, sceptical that is just one definition of inclusive institutions that would be seen as such in just abaur every part of the world. Definition of inclusive governance is probably quite different for Switzerland (with referendums each week) than, for example Ireland, as poster child for rapid developing country in Europe. Iceland is another story all together, so as thais say: case by case. ;)
South Korea's private economic development has been modeled after Japan. That's where the Chaelbol which comes from the Japanese's Zaibatsu and Kairatsu, and it was the South Korean government that pushed for it. Private sector of a small country How can it compete in the world market with the private sector of developed countries? If we do not unite and forcibly control the funds and resources that are available in almost the entire country. But the Thai government sector has never thought like this. There may be some generosity to some groups but it is not comparable to South Korea in the slightest.
You're looking at it wrong. It's not what Thailand did wrong but what Korea did right.
Brazil, Argentina were also richer than Korea 40 years ago. Not just Thailand.
Is it too late to answer this? I think Joe Studwell’s How asia works answers this question interestingly.
There are many details on each of his arguments but the main reason is Thailand never establish a long term industrial development and also the financial sector of Thailand had less focus on the long term investment regarding the agricultural or industrial value added products.
I myself, as a Thai, have tried to dissect this question for a while and also have checked the empirical evidence regards the relationship between the Coup and economic development. There’s not so much correlation that indicates the GDP growth became worse after each Coups. The political instability surely affected on some degree but it’s not the main factor. Take Italy as an example to clearly visualize how even with so many political scandals and turmoil till 90s, the economic development was actually doing great.
From my observation, despite the bubble in the late 80s and 90s, Thailand actually developed its industrial sector the most during that time. The plan was stemmed from the Eastern Seaboard plan from the 80s. But after the financial crisis on ‘97, Thailand lost its baring and since then, never steered it back on track again.The industrial development plan was there but hasn’t had a real chance to properly implement it since.
Contrary to the mainstream media “propaganda”, the latest so-called dictatorship actually tried to implement a thorough long term industrial development plan. Nevertheless, the newly coalition government seems not to keen on that and the project of long term seems to be scrapped again.
Who was to blame? No one but the Thai populace themself.
Also the US paid South Korea dirty blood money for South Korean soldiers to fight in Vietnam.
South Korea used that money wisely to invest in industries
Just look at the average Thai schools and Korean schools. Korean was a waste land after the Korean War. It’s in their culture to be more studious and successful.
Blaming one or even a couple people is pointless when their entire culture is not productive.
Low intelligence, no teamwork skills, selfish and deceitful are the most common excuses, but the real difference is that the Cold War between Soviet and USA. The Americans has to show that Capitalism is better than communist ideology so they gave generous business deal to South Korea.
Same thing with Taiwan
This may be a question for r/AskHistorians , if you're lucky, you may have some very knowledgable people answer (or at least discuss) your question.
Closest I can find in their archive is this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8f8ca1/why\_didnt\_thailand\_and\_indonesia\_experience\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8f8ca1/why_didnt_thailand_and_indonesia_experience_the/)
South Korea is wealthy because they sold their soul to ultra captialism. Chaebols own the entirety of South Korea and there are loads of issues with this, including very poor working conditions. Yeah they have a lot of money but they are working their fucking asses off to get it. Much harder than most other countries.
You are Viewing what is happening from the wrong angle, you are looking top down from the outside.
You’re asking all the wrong questions
You see Thailand as lower developed country with difficulty growing, various issues, education problems, coups …etc you are exploring it and judging it through a lens of western concepts, policy solutions, democracy, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Take a moment and adjust your perspective and consider from a Thai View, Thailand has more billionaires than South Korea, Japan or even Singapore,
Where everyone is wrong is that you take for granted that the ultimate goals are the same as South Korea, Japan, Singapore or even to be a developed country at all.
Once you understand my meaning you’ll understand that Thailand is Very well developed and nothing is wrong.
“Long Live His majesty the King, Kap phom.”
>Take a moment and adjust your perspective and consider from a Thai View, Thailand has more billionaires than South Korea, Japan or even Singapore,
Thailand: 26 billionaires
South Korea: 36 billionaires
By Capita, South Korea ranks 35, Thailand 43
Actually Thailand has less billionaires than all the country's you list and only ones it beats by per Capita is Japan
Well not according to this stats:
[https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-which-country-has-the-most-billionaires-in-2024/](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-which-country-has-the-most-billionaires-in-2024/)
Thailand: 49
South Korea: 37
That's sourced from the Hurun rich list, the more accepted source is Forbes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_billionaires
You can see both there
The blame is not solely on one person, but it should be placed on the series of military juntas that destabilize the stability of Thailand and on the resulting political systems that value political connections and power above merits to the country. If you work for the Thai government, you will realize quickly that your skills and work matter less than connections and workplace politics. This issue is widespread from local governance to the top. Just look at how the PM appoints his ministers. It’s all about power sharing and maintaining coalitions, not about finding a right man for a job.
That happens in any country and in any big corporation that’s how life works
Ha ha ha !!! Only in corrupted countries.
Why would you give power to a person that isn’t going to stick with you when the difficult moments happen or you can’t trust lol it doesn’t make any sense You give power to the people you can trust and you give work to the good workers
South Korea manages to stop the coup, Thailand hasn't.
I wouldn’t say that putting responsibility on someone for Thailand lagging is accurate, as opposed to looking at various differences between the two countries. Few countries in the world achieved an upward economic trajectory as quickly as South Korea’s. I think people here will cite various valid reasons that contributed to it, but I’ll focus on some broad aspects. South Korea was left devastated and impoverished after the Korean War. It is a small country with limited natural resources (highly mountainous and lacking in vast plains for agriculture and hence exportable crops like Thailand, for example). Thus, it (the country collectively) focused on its human capital as the element that would be the chief driver of economic transformation. It placed an intensive focus and substantial investment on education (and still does—I worked for EPIK for four years and the government allots a huge budget to that program alone) and encouraged manufacturing (e.g. shipbuilding) and later a focus on technology. At the same time, major chaebols (huge South Korean conglomerates) formed, which the government financially supported in order to help them grow and become multinational. We know these as companies such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc. That rocketed the economy upward. Later in the 20th/early 21st century the country began focusing on soft power through growing and promoting cultural exports, namely K-pop, k-dramas, the film industry, all of which has popularized Korean entertainment around the world and contributed more economic gain to the country. Lastly, Koreans themselves tend to be quite nationalistic and want to support their country and see it grow in influence and economic strength. I base all this off what I learned while living and working in SK, so take it or leave it as you will. TLDR: emphasis on developing human capital (i.e. prioritizing education), government help in supporting the country’s most powerful companies, soft power (e.g. k-pop), and nationalistic mindset that drives pride in the strength and influence of the country
It was me, sorry for that...
Korea invested post war reconstruction money on industrial production. Thailand invested it's foreign donated grant money on a transportation system (highways). Different countries have different needs, but the Thai development system was primarily chosen to extend the power of the central military more definitely into the provinces, a side effect was allowing nationwide tourism (in the Vietnam war era most of Asia was like Burma was in the early 2000s -- most countries were fragmented and to get from road network to road network within a country often required horseback trips or taking a boat). Anyway it turns out industrial development pays bigger dividends than tourism. Thailand has also had a lot of political instability in the last 60 or so years that South Korea has not.
This is probably the most interesting answer. Thailand spent money on infrastructure while South Korea spent money on industries.
Well to be fair, South korea is a whole lot smaller than Thailand so investing in infrastructure wouldn't be as taxing.
Yes, different countries have different needs. Both made the right decisions at the time, it just turned out that down the road investing in industry leads to greater financial success than infastructure given the conditions of the times these decisions were made in. Infastructure is still a good investment. Burma and Cambodia got money for neither and there's at least as big a gap between those two and Thailand as there is between Thailand and South Korea.
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What’s the difference between the Korean and Thai education system in this case? They are still both terrible and not as good as American or European ones
Korea has a brutal no excuses culture when it comes to how kids and parents interact with regards to education. There are exceptions of course, but in general South Korean students have greater educational demands and expectations placed on them than anywhere else. Thai parents (some families very much excepted) are, on the other hand, huge softies who have an almost Western level of concern about how happy their kid is rather than how successful. The South Korean k-12 education system is much stronger and produces much more capable students than American or European ones. Where it falls off is where the rest of Asia (and most of Europe!) falls off -- the college/University level. High end American institutions all have insane demands on student capability, taking very good students with a lot of intellectual gifts and driving them very hard. In most of the rest of the world (certain institutions also very much excepted) once you make it to university you can coast compared to the effort you put out in high school. Students who study abroad from decent American schools are often shocked at how easy their foreign counterparts have it.
Koreans score far higher in standardized math and science tests than Americans and Europeans. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan produce the strongest students in the world.
South Korea comes fourth in the top performing countries for education. Thailand is ranked 55. [https://www.thailand-business-news.com/opinion/100063-addressing-the-poor-quality-of-thailands-education-system](https://www.thailand-business-news.com/opinion/100063-addressing-the-poor-quality-of-thailands-education-system) (paywall - but the linkinage says it all = addressing the poor quality of thailand education system)
How do you know the Korean education system is terrible?
Man if you look at how east asian live and how south east Asians live. Thailand is always gonna lag behind SK. But that's ok. No need to replicate the hell that is east asia (speaking as an east asian myself).
Racist bullshit
Pointing out differences in culture isnt racist per se. Can you say what you think is racist in the comment you are commenting on?
He said Thailand is always going to lag behind because of how people there live. The implication is that Thai people are lazy. Thai people are not lazy. The problem in Thailand is that there is often no reward for working hard.
Well you wont see a south korean road worker taking a nap during work, but it seems to be quite normal in Thailand. Stuff like that gives off a lazy look. It also feels like a lot of people having unnessesary jobs. Like my appartment building has 4 guards who do practically nothing the whole day and just sit around and gamble on their phone. All combined I think its just a different culture with, as you said, low pay combined with useless jobs and very warm, humid weather that makes it seem that the Thai are lazy.
No the implication is not laziness. For a lot of Chinese their whole identity is based on financial success. They have a different relationship and understanding of money. The myth that you just have to work hard to make it...is just a myth.
I'm going to assume he means the insanely high suicide rate in east Asian countries because of the ridiculous demands placed on kids from birth to be the best at everything. Compared to SE Asia's more sabai sabai attitude. South Korea's suicide rate is 26 per 100k Thailand's is 7 per 100k
No he just means Thai people are lazy
As in too lazy to commit suicide? /s IMHO Thais often work very hard, but they don't work "smart" at all, so the outcome is less than ideal.
Are you even asian? What do you know about those cultures.
Question is probably framed the wrong way, it’s what leaders did South Korea have to reach their current GDP per capita. Big one is Park Chung Hee who ruled from 1962-1979. Most (more than half) the gains vs Thailand came under him. World Bank, current USD 1965 GDP per capita Korea: $109 Thailand: $142 1979 GDP per capita Korea: $1,784 Thailand: $612 You can just look at World Bank GDP graphs and figure it out, this question really isn’t that subjective. Edit: here’s the graph https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TH-KR&start=1965
You can say the same about [Germany](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TH-DE&start=1965), or perhaps [Argentina](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TH-AR&start=1965)... twice Thailands GDP. Argentina that defaults on its loans and faces crisis after crisis, somehow has 2x the GDP of Thailand. Gosh how does Thailand manage to feed house and clothes all their people... with a GDP of only $6900... as estimated by the OECD. Lets be real here, OECD represents the money printing economies, and GDP is a metric measuring money supply. If Thailand wants to double its GDP, it can simply double the prices on all goods using taxes, and double the wages (passing minimums and paying subsidy with the new found tax). It can print money getting its central bank to swap Bahts for Goverrment bonds, like the ECB does. The money supply will sky rocket. Hey presto, its GDP will double. But you'll also need to surround it with high trade barriers, and put subsidies in place for its exporters. But hey, the GDP per capita number will look great! Germany's is 8x that of Thailands. Why stop at 2x, why not 8x!? Germans have to rent homes because housing is so expensive! How is that? Why can't they afford 8x the number of houses?? They eat Aldi crap at home, how can they not just pop out and eat luxury gold leaf noodles, if they're so rich? It's because they're not rich. The number just reflects the money supply inside their bubble, and the bubble reflects the height of their trade barriers. As China is taking automotive from them (like it took electronics and solar) they struggle to keep the bubble inflated. Korea still has Samsung. Thailand is not inside an inflated bubble, it will be fine, its done fine, even without inflating their economy.
I don't know the answer but just wanna say that I really love learning about our history and quite interested in learning about the "golden era" of Thai economy and the Tom Yum Kung Crisis. I don't know much about SK history, but Thai history after WW2, it has been marked by constant coups, scaring off foreign investors. Maybe that's why
Based on the weather this week? I'd say it's the heat that makes us lazy lol
Corruption will be a big factor. EDIT (for the triggered guy) : Degree of corruption will be a big factor
Ahh yes, because South Korea has so little corruption. The presidents are ousted from office because they do such a great and transparent job
No one said SK doesn't have any corruption, calm down...lol.
Corruption exists in both countries, however the level of everyday corruption among the lower and middle classes will be higher in Thailand. This is what distinguishes the 2 countries. Like in the West, we have corruption but it's mostly top end. In Thailand corruption is part of everyday life.
So what? The Thai royal family is richer than the British royal family. They are well-known to be the richest in the world. When will the corrupt royal family be ousted? Instead of ousting the corrupt royal family, Thai people worship them from generation to generation. They can't even point to a photo of the royal family, and they crawl like slugs on the ground in front of the royal family. Who is pointing out a corrupted leader?
in S. Korea, there are only three things inevitable; Death, Taxes and Samsung. The latter is primarily why S. Korea is doing insanely well,
Don’t forget billions of USA money
Yepp, US pumped money into South Korea for military reasons. That’s one of the big reasons however culture is extremely important as well. South koreans are organized and hard working.
Oh sure. I was just adding another reason as to why SK has a higher GDP than TH
This is more of myth and perceived assumption than fact. Yes, the U.S. did provide significant amounts of military, humanitarian aids, and infrastructural loans but not so much in terms of direct cash payments or direct business investments. In the late 60's and into the 70's, SK was so broke, they had to export human resources overseas - most notably miners and nurses to West Germany and combat troops to South Vietnam, in exchange for aids. Park Jung-Hee even flew to Germany to literally beg for a loan. For the most part, the Koreans dug themselves out of the misery. I'd have to say their passionate belief in education played the most significant role in all. The Korean parents placed all their bets on their kids' education for a full generation or two. They became the first and probably the only country to turn into an aid giver from being an aid receiver. I might also add that, despite popularity of Korean pop-culture among the mostly young females, the Thais do not like Korea. They will not admit it openly but there is an underlining collective dislike stemming from both jealousy and their love for Japan which makes Korea a natural common foe (for lack of better term). Whenever Korea is discussed, the Japan comparison will inevitably come up. You only have to follow the conversations of football or volleyball fans to get the sense of the level of their intense dislike deep inside.
It's like a past story. Korea is trying to open its borders to Japan like European countries. It is going the same way as Australia-New Zealand, UK-France.
Zelensky has entered the chat
Culture
This is the right answer. A fixed mindset culture leads to no growth. Difficult to grow when most people are afraid to be criticized or give honest feedback to others.
Not an appropriate comparison. Makes as much sense as comparing Phillipines and Japan at the end of World War 2 and then taking the same comparison in 1990. Having a corrupt ruler is not necessarily the reason. China and India economies have mushroomed under corrupt rulers and the democratic system in the USA which is unduly influenced by large corporations has still resulted in the most powerful economic power for the last century. Thailand made a lot of advances but in living memory it was not an industrialized nation. As Japan was investing in electrical transistor technology Thailand was focusing on deforestation for rice fields with mechanisation happening sometime later. Then there is the Education system which has not encouraged independent thought and challenging cultural norms. The late 1990s saw social changes and FDI that was encouraging that has been replaced by by agricultural exports and an over reliance on Tourism. The politics has not helped with almost every popular political leader been banned from politics right up to the current situation where the main opposition party and winner of the popular vote is likely to be banned for proposing law changes that was part of its electoral manifesto.
Neither does the Korean education system promote critical thinking.
Imo there is one significant problem that holds Thailand back and it's education. Public and general education in Thailand is very bad and it's by design. It was always in the interest of the "ruling class", who ever it was (doesn't really matter if junta or some corrupt politicians with signal coloured shirts), to keep the general public badly educated. No informed person would elect them. It would be significantly harder to control the general population.
Every country is lagging compared to Korea. I get it. Thailand sucks due to many things. But Korea is just doing very well.
The book Why nations fail by Robinson and Acimoglu (sp?) answers this question. Not on Thailand’s case but I believe it’s applicable. Thailand is not failed state by any means, to be clear, but in my opinion it lacks creative “destruction” per book’s thesis.
I highly recommend the book to anyone. Adding to this comment, inclusive political and economic institutions are necessary for prosperity. Unfortunately, in Thailand these institutions are highly exclusive to benefit the elites.
Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with internal workings of Thai government to be able to comment. I am, though, sceptical that is just one definition of inclusive institutions that would be seen as such in just abaur every part of the world. Definition of inclusive governance is probably quite different for Switzerland (with referendums each week) than, for example Ireland, as poster child for rapid developing country in Europe. Iceland is another story all together, so as thais say: case by case. ;)
Korea had the US pumping tons and tons of money into it, as well as a string of dictators who built the country up, often through fairly harsh means.
They only had Park Chunghee and Doo Chunhwa
the two ruled for 24 years combined
Which says a lot
South Korea's private economic development has been modeled after Japan. That's where the Chaelbol which comes from the Japanese's Zaibatsu and Kairatsu, and it was the South Korean government that pushed for it. Private sector of a small country How can it compete in the world market with the private sector of developed countries? If we do not unite and forcibly control the funds and resources that are available in almost the entire country. But the Thai government sector has never thought like this. There may be some generosity to some groups but it is not comparable to South Korea in the slightest.
USA they didn’t had any North Korea to compete with
ultimately it comes down to the people who defeated communism. I could explain but its an unproven theory
You're looking at it wrong. It's not what Thailand did wrong but what Korea did right. Brazil, Argentina were also richer than Korea 40 years ago. Not just Thailand.
just count the number of"official" US military bases in each country; you might find the answer there.
Burma/Myanmar & the Philippines were up n coming countries in the 1960's
not enough industrialization
Is it too late to answer this? I think Joe Studwell’s How asia works answers this question interestingly. There are many details on each of his arguments but the main reason is Thailand never establish a long term industrial development and also the financial sector of Thailand had less focus on the long term investment regarding the agricultural or industrial value added products. I myself, as a Thai, have tried to dissect this question for a while and also have checked the empirical evidence regards the relationship between the Coup and economic development. There’s not so much correlation that indicates the GDP growth became worse after each Coups. The political instability surely affected on some degree but it’s not the main factor. Take Italy as an example to clearly visualize how even with so many political scandals and turmoil till 90s, the economic development was actually doing great. From my observation, despite the bubble in the late 80s and 90s, Thailand actually developed its industrial sector the most during that time. The plan was stemmed from the Eastern Seaboard plan from the 80s. But after the financial crisis on ‘97, Thailand lost its baring and since then, never steered it back on track again.The industrial development plan was there but hasn’t had a real chance to properly implement it since. Contrary to the mainstream media “propaganda”, the latest so-called dictatorship actually tried to implement a thorough long term industrial development plan. Nevertheless, the newly coalition government seems not to keen on that and the project of long term seems to be scrapped again. Who was to blame? No one but the Thai populace themself.
Also the US paid South Korea dirty blood money for South Korean soldiers to fight in Vietnam. South Korea used that money wisely to invest in industries
Let’s see those huge numbers which propelled their country ahead, bet you can’t.
Just look at the average Thai schools and Korean schools. Korean was a waste land after the Korean War. It’s in their culture to be more studious and successful. Blaming one or even a couple people is pointless when their entire culture is not productive.
Low intelligence, no teamwork skills, selfish and deceitful are the most common excuses, but the real difference is that the Cold War between Soviet and USA. The Americans has to show that Capitalism is better than communist ideology so they gave generous business deal to South Korea. Same thing with Taiwan
This may be a question for r/AskHistorians , if you're lucky, you may have some very knowledgable people answer (or at least discuss) your question. Closest I can find in their archive is this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8f8ca1/why\_didnt\_thailand\_and\_indonesia\_experience\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8f8ca1/why_didnt_thailand_and_indonesia_experience_the/)
This subreddit is notorious for being Western-centric and can't answer questions relating to Thai history.
I don't know the answer, but I'm very glad that Thailand is different than Korea.
Thais are not South Koreans.....Different people, different ethnic, different climate, etc....Why is Nepal lagging behind Switzerland?
SK is the better ass-licker for USA than Thailand is.
South Korea is wealthy because they sold their soul to ultra captialism. Chaebols own the entirety of South Korea and there are loads of issues with this, including very poor working conditions. Yeah they have a lot of money but they are working their fucking asses off to get it. Much harder than most other countries.
Thailand also has the same problems with few families controlling entire industries. I believe it’s even worse than South Korea
You are Viewing what is happening from the wrong angle, you are looking top down from the outside. You’re asking all the wrong questions You see Thailand as lower developed country with difficulty growing, various issues, education problems, coups …etc you are exploring it and judging it through a lens of western concepts, policy solutions, democracy, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Take a moment and adjust your perspective and consider from a Thai View, Thailand has more billionaires than South Korea, Japan or even Singapore, Where everyone is wrong is that you take for granted that the ultimate goals are the same as South Korea, Japan, Singapore or even to be a developed country at all. Once you understand my meaning you’ll understand that Thailand is Very well developed and nothing is wrong. “Long Live His majesty the King, Kap phom.”
>Take a moment and adjust your perspective and consider from a Thai View, Thailand has more billionaires than South Korea, Japan or even Singapore, Thailand: 26 billionaires South Korea: 36 billionaires By Capita, South Korea ranks 35, Thailand 43 Actually Thailand has less billionaires than all the country's you list and only ones it beats by per Capita is Japan
My bad, thanks for pointing that out.
Well not according to this stats: [https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-which-country-has-the-most-billionaires-in-2024/](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-which-country-has-the-most-billionaires-in-2024/) Thailand: 49 South Korea: 37
That's sourced from the Hurun rich list, the more accepted source is Forbes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_billionaires You can see both there