Thailand’s Economic Dilemmas in Post-Pandemic Asia

Thailand’s Economic Dilemmas in Post-Pandemic Asia PDF Author: Richard Yarrow
Publisher: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
ISBN: 9815011790
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 59

Get Book Here

Book Description
While Thailand’s health system has fared relatively well through the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s economy faced significant strains and likely a harsher downturn than other economies in Southeast Asia. In particular, the services sector—heavily reliant on international tourism—suffered, and debt levels worsened substantially during the pandemic. Thailand’s economy has steadily recovered following the peak of the pandemic in 2020, with greater optimism coming from the growing trade in goods and growing investments from China and Japan. The tourism sector has also steadily regained strength since the worst points of the pandemic. Despite these recent positive turns, Thailand still faces daunting long-term economic and societal challenges, many of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Household finances appear increasingly stressed and debt levels have risen sharply across the economy. It is unlikely that Thailand will be able to return its tourism industry to 2019 conditions for the next several years. Meanwhile, deteriorating demographics and education enrolments pose serious threats to long-term macroeconomic prospects. Thailand’s population of young people is falling, but the country appears to lack momentum in elevating enrolment rates and improving the quality in secondary and tertiary education. The agriculture sector remains large, with some crop diversification but with limited gains in productivity, in the face of rising competition—for instance, from India and Vietnam. Policymakers may aim to revitalize Thailand’s economic prospects with policies aimed, for instance, at enhancing agricultural productivity, combining and internationalizing higher education institutions, easing restrictions on foreign investments, and promoting greater competition by smaller enterprises against large conglomerates, in addition to efforts to improve on transparency and stability, and reduce corruption, within Thailand’s political system.

Thailand’s Economic Dilemmas in Post-Pandemic Asia

Thailand’s Economic Dilemmas in Post-Pandemic Asia PDF Author: Richard Yarrow
Publisher: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
ISBN: 9815011790
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 59

Get Book Here

Book Description
While Thailand’s health system has fared relatively well through the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s economy faced significant strains and likely a harsher downturn than other economies in Southeast Asia. In particular, the services sector—heavily reliant on international tourism—suffered, and debt levels worsened substantially during the pandemic. Thailand’s economy has steadily recovered following the peak of the pandemic in 2020, with greater optimism coming from the growing trade in goods and growing investments from China and Japan. The tourism sector has also steadily regained strength since the worst points of the pandemic. Despite these recent positive turns, Thailand still faces daunting long-term economic and societal challenges, many of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Household finances appear increasingly stressed and debt levels have risen sharply across the economy. It is unlikely that Thailand will be able to return its tourism industry to 2019 conditions for the next several years. Meanwhile, deteriorating demographics and education enrolments pose serious threats to long-term macroeconomic prospects. Thailand’s population of young people is falling, but the country appears to lack momentum in elevating enrolment rates and improving the quality in secondary and tertiary education. The agriculture sector remains large, with some crop diversification but with limited gains in productivity, in the face of rising competition—for instance, from India and Vietnam. Policymakers may aim to revitalize Thailand’s economic prospects with policies aimed, for instance, at enhancing agricultural productivity, combining and internationalizing higher education institutions, easing restrictions on foreign investments, and promoting greater competition by smaller enterprises against large conglomerates, in addition to efforts to improve on transparency and stability, and reduce corruption, within Thailand’s political system.

COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

COVID-19 in Southeast Asia PDF Author: Hyun Bang Shin
Publisher: LSE Press
ISBN: 1909890774
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Get Book Here

Book Description
COVID-19 has presented huge challenges to governments, businesses, civil societies, and people from all walks of life, but its impact has been highly variegated, affecting society in multiple negative ways, with uneven geographical and socioeconomic patterns. The crisis revealed existing contradictions and inequalities in society, compelling us to question what it means to return to “normal” and what insights can be gleaned from Southeast Asia for thinking about a post-pandemic world. In this regard, this edited volume collects the informed views of an ensemble of social scientists – area studies, development studies, and legal scholars; anthropologists, architects, economists, geographers, planners, sociologists, and urbanists; representing academic institutions, activist and charitable organisations, policy and research institutes, and areas of professional practice – who recognise the necessity of critical commentary and engaged scholarship. These contributions represent a wide-ranging set of views, collectively producing a compilation of reflections on the following three themes in particular: (1) Urbanisation, digital infrastructures, economies, and the environment; (2) Migrants, (im)mobilities, and borders; and (3) Collective action, communities, and mutual action. Overall, this edited volume first aims to speak from a situated position in relevant debates to challenge knowledge about the pandemic that has assigned selective and inequitable visibility to issues, people, or places, or which through its inferential or interpretive capacity has worked to set social expectations or assign validity to certain interventions with a bearing on the pandemic’s course and the future it has foretold. Second, it aims to advance or renew understandings of social challenges, risks, or inequities that were already in place, and which, without further or better action, are to be features of our “post-pandemic world” as well. This volume also contributes to the ongoing efforts to de-centre and decolonise knowledge production. It endeavours to help secure a place within these debates for a region that was among the first outside of East Asia to be forced to contend with COVID-19 in a substantial way and which has evinced a marked and instructive diversity and dynamism in its fortunes.

Revitalising Asean Economies In A Post-covid-19 World: Socioeconomic Issues In The New Normal

Revitalising Asean Economies In A Post-covid-19 World: Socioeconomic Issues In The New Normal PDF Author: Hooi Hooi Lean
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9811228485
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book Here

Book Description
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was reported in China in December 2019, and later spread to other parts of the world. Countries in Southeast Asia were some of the first nations affected by the pandemic due to their geographical proximities and trade relations with China. In January 2020, the virus spread to some countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The number of confirmed cases kept increasing within ASEAN and other countries of the world. Consequently, countries in ASEAN introduced preventive and containment measures to cope with the pandemic, which include quarantines, lockdowns, restrictions of movements and large gatherings, as well as school and business closures.Beyond the efforts of preventing and containing the spread of the virus, ASEAN's most significant challenges are the social and economic crisis of historic proportions that are beginning to unfold. COVID-19 pandemic has brought interruptions in all sectors of ASEAN economies. It is, therefore, imperative to assess the extent to which the pandemic has impacted the social and economic aspects of the region. This book intends to highlight the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in ASEAN and suggest ways on how to mitigate them. It covers how the shocks from COVID-19 have impacted production, supply chains, demand, commodity prices, consumer behaviour, financial markets, employment, services, transportation and community, and the various policies that ASEAN authorities should put in place to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

Policy Advice to Asia in the COVID-19 Era

Policy Advice to Asia in the COVID-19 Era PDF Author: Changyong Rhee
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513566598
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 105

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Asia-Pacific region was the first to be hit by the COVID-19 pandemic; it put a strain on its people and economies, and policymaking became exceptionally difficult. This departmental paper contains the assessment of the key challenges facing Asia at this critical juncture and policy advice to the region both to address the current challenges and to build the foundations for a more sustainable and inclusive future. The paper focuses on (1) adjusting to the COVID-19 shock, (2) using unconventional policies when policy space is limited, (3) dealing with debt, and (4) helping the vulnerable and greening the recovery. The paper first presents the different ways countries are adjusting to the COVID-19 shock.

Green Finance Strategies for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia

Green Finance Strategies for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia PDF Author: Asian Development Bank
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
ISBN: 9292623818
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 147

Get Book Here

Book Description
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has seen governments across developing Asia move significant amounts of capital into relief efforts that have saved countless lives and livelihoods. But emerging economic recovery packages must not upset the sensitive balance between economic growth and the region’s natural capital. Many global thinkers are advocating the critical role of green infrastructure in supporting economic growth and livelihoods, while safeguarding the Paris Agreement targets. This publication examines green and innovative finance mechanisms that can be incorporated into government recovery strategies to incentivize green infrastructure investment. These mechanisms can play a key role in catalyzing much-needed funds from private capital for a green and sustainable regional recovery.

Thailand: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Thailand

Thailand: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Thailand PDF Author: International Monetary
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513573020
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Get Book Here

Book Description
A nascent recovery is underway in Thailand following the COVID-19 downturn. Ample policy buffers, underpinned by judicious management of public finances, allowed the authorities to implement a multipronged package of fiscal, monetary, and financial policies to mitigate the COVID-19 impact on households, businesses, and the financial system. This, together with rigorous containment measures, led to a successful flattening of the infection curve during most of 2020. Nevertheless, the pandemic has taken a large toll on the economy, potentially inducing long-term scarring and increasing inequality.

Tourism in the Post-Pandemic World

Tourism in the Post-Pandemic World PDF Author: Ms.Manuela Goretti
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513561901
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 115

Get Book Here

Book Description
This departmental paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in the Asia Pacific region, Latin America, and Caribbean countries. Many tourism dependent economies in these regions, including small states in the Pacific and the Caribbean, entered the pandemic with limited fiscal space, inadequate external buffers, and foreign exchange revenues extremely concentrated in tourism. The empirical analysis leverages on an augmented gravity model to draw lessons from past epidemics and finds that the impact of infectious diseases on tourism flows is much greater in developing countries than in advanced economies.

Navigating COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific

Navigating COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific PDF Author: Bambang Susantono
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
ISBN: 9292623567
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Get Book Here

Book Description
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has unleashed unparalleled challenges. At the same time, it offers a window to rethink Asia’s most fundamental development policies and strategies to address inequality, socioeconomic vulnerability, and environmental challenges. This publication gathers blogs and short policy pieces contributed by ADB staff and experts in an attempt to tackle immediate challenges and prepare for what may lie beyond the horizon. It covers a broad range of development challenges and highlights the crucial role of rapid adoption of digital technologies, adequate supply of quality infrastructure, disaster risk management, and strengthening regional cooperation for a resilient and sustainable future by shaping post-pandemic conditions.

Asian Development Outlook 2020 Update

Asian Development Outlook 2020 Update PDF Author: Asian Development Bank
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
ISBN: 9292623621
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Get Book Here

Book Description
Developing Asia has suffered as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Growth, trade, and tourism collapsed in 2020, leading to the region’s first economic contraction in nearly 6 decades. Governments across Asia acted quickly to contain the virus and its economic effects, and signs of bottoming out have now appeared. Inflation remains benign, constrained by depressed demand and declining food prices. A prolonged pandemic is the primary downside risk to the outlook. Persistent or renewed outbreaks and a return to stringent containment could possibly derail the recovery and trigger financial turmoil. Recovery depends on measures to address the health crisis and on continued policy support. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of wellness, both physical and mental. Wellness—the pursuit of holistic health and well-being—is a component of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This report evaluates the state of wellness in Asia, documents how the wellness economy is a large and growing part of the region’s economy, and discusses how policy makers can promote wellness by creating healthy living environments, encouraging physical activity and healthy diets, and enhancing workplace wellness.

The Economics of Belonging

The Economics of Belonging PDF Author: Martin Sandbu
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691204527
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book Here

Book Description
"This is a proposal for a short book (of around 50,000 words) that speaks directly to the state we are in. The populist insurgency on both sides of the Atlantic and in Europe has deep roots in decades of mismanagement of economic and cultural change and as a result there are large groups of people who feel they no longer belong to the societies they live in, the disinfranchised, the left behind. The appeal of the anti-liberal populists who have emerged is that they convince those who feel left behind that national leaders are no longer working in their interests hence the rhetoric of 'putting America first' and 'making America great again' or the Brexiteers claining that they are 'taking back control.' In undemocractic regimes elsewhere populists play on people's feelings of insecurity in an unpredictable and fast changing world, promising security and order in exchange for democratic freedom. Liberal openness has been put on the defensive so it is up to us, electorates, politicians and policy makers, to show how an open and liberal economic system can once again belong to everyone. In the second part of the book Martin Sandbu outlines four key areas of economic policy that he believes will address not just the symptoms but the underlying causes of the current inequality which has led to so many people, especially the young and the most vulnerable being left behind. These include productivity, regional development, improved access to business finance for SMEs, and increaed representation for workers. He makes a number of other recommendaitons regarding housing, education for all, universal basic income and taxation. He concludes by saying that while these proposals add up to a radical package in total they are necessary reforms to ensure a sense of belonging and without them we could be opening the door to a radicalism which is both illiberal and undemocratic"--