The Asian economic crisis and the current global economic crisis:

A comparison with special focus on Thai economic policy 

Andreas Gärtner

Thailand has suffered both from the Asian crisis during the 1990s and the current financial crisis. Thailand played a key role in the origin of the Asian crisis. When it had to give up its defense of the Thai baht and let it float against the US dollar, it was the beginning of a financial crisis which swept over the whole region. Unlike the Asian crisis, the country has been little involved in the subprime crisis, but it is faced with a recession due to its economic reliance on export. In this context, it is a second round effect that has caused negative growth. It is obvious that the country, despite the fact that it had learned from the past Asian crisis, is not immune to events in global financial markets.

Download full paper in PDF here.

Research Paper #2

Tourism Development in Thailand

Julia Ledl

 ‘Tourism has become the world’s largest industry and an important social factor in our world. It has become an unofficial civil right and normalization in Western society to escape and “get away” from a monotonous life.’ (Hitchcock et al. 1993:16) For Thailand, tourism has grown to be the leading source of foreign exchange and has been booming for years now. Thailand is one of the most popular destinations in Asia for international and domestic visitors, because of its richness of natural beauty, temples, well-known hospitality, famous and unique cuisine, and Thai ancient kingdoms. With all its resources, Thailand captures the attention of a wide range of visitors. The attractions of Thailand have often been featured in film and media, making Thailand even more attractive. For the country itself, tourism has become an important economic factor. The most popular destinations are the coasts as well as Bangkok and the hills in the northwest.

The main goal of this essay is to analyse tourism development in Thailand over the last few decades. I will highlight the weaknesses and strengths of different tourism sectors, the evolution of tourism in Thailand and the image of the country held by international visitors. Central issues, such as sex-tourism, commodification and trivialization of the culture and the need for sustainable tourism development will be addressed. Unfortunately there is not much recent literature in English language available. Most empirical studies of these issues date back to the beginning of the 21st century. However there is some online data and some recent articles by European scholars.

Download full paper in PDF here.