Thailand's
Economy
 The
Thai economy has traditionally relied upon the export of agricultural products
as its chief means of support, particularly rice. This dependence upon one
product caused Thailand great variations in prosperity due to the change in
world rice prices and fluctuations in harvest amounts. As a way of
controlling this, the Thai government started some programs to help balance or
stabilize rice harvests even during periods of drought or scant rainfall.
Many
financial institutions in Thailand during 1997 were close
to bankruptcy, although Thailand has been considered one of the most prosperous
Asian countries, due to attaining bad debts during the successful years of the
1980s and early 1990s. The Thai currency, the baht, was losing a
battle against the US dollar, while investors started losing their confidence in
it.
Things
escalated to the point that businesses started failing, which brought up the
unemployment rate and it even started affecting other Southeast Asian nations'
stock markets and currencies. Thai did receive help from the IMF
(International Monetary Fund) to help stabilize their economy
and they were open to the changes suggested, such as budget cuts, higher taxes
and closing down those financial institutions that weren't stable.
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Information
Provided by the Thai Embassy
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