Japan, South Korea and Taiwan manufacture and export high-value products that can compete in the international market. Japan and South Korea rank fourth and fifth for global exports. This model has in fact worked very well to bring Thailand to its current level of development, but without high-value exports and technological innovation Thailand will remain stuck in the middle-income trap. Thailand, like the other Southeast Asian countries, but unlike the countries of NE Asia, lacks a military incentive to develop its economy since it has no reason to fear invasion by its neighbours. The economic leaps achieved by Meiji Japan, the South Korea of Park Chung-hee, and Taiwan after the Communist Revolution were driven by exactly this motivation.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 10, 2017 18:11 UTC