Thailand and Globalization

Thailand has been open to global political and economic forces for more than a century. This article investigates the implications of such openness for domestic politics and policy. It argues that while Thailand has often been responsive to external forces, globalization has not generated a predictable set of pressures. In the 19th century and in the wake of Thailand’s currency crisis of 1997, the demands of integration in the world economy prompted attempts at rationalizing and strengthening state structures, as well as curtailing some types of government policy. In the decade prior to 1997, in contrast, Thai policymakers and commentators interpreted globalization as a force impelling more consistently deregulatory policies, particularly in the financial sector. This policy shift, was a critical factor behind Thailand’s financial crisis. Each episode suggests that the role played by structural economic forces in bringing about change was minor. Capital mobility can raise the costs of some policies, particularly attempts at an independent monetary policy, but the direction of policy change is determined less by such objective constraints than by the preferences and agency of political actors.