Straits Times (July 15)
“Thailand’s decades-long manufacturing-driven economic model is broken.” The nation “has witnessed nearly 2,000 factory closures in the last year, upending its manufacturing sector that contributes nearly a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP).” The main drivers appear to be “cheap imports from China and a slide in industrial competitiveness due to factors including rising energy prices and an ageing workforce.”
Tags: Ageing workforce, Broken, Cheap imports, China, Economic model, Energy prices, Factory closures, GDP, Industrial competitiveness, Manufacturing, Thailand
Institutional Investor (July 18)
“The cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio for emerging market equities is 15x, compared to 27x for those in developed markets and 34x for those in the U.S.” At just above 10x, “China is trading at a significant discount,” but investors can also easily “steer clear of China.” Other emerging market opportunities “worth considering” include Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, Hungary, Thailand, Mexico, and much of Latin America where P/E ratios range from 10x to 25x.
Tags: Brazil, China, Cyclically adjusted, Developed markets, Discount, Emerging markets, Equities, Hungary, Investors, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, P/E ratio, Thailand
The Economist (August 14)
Japan’s “financial heft in South-East Asia” is vastly understated. It still ranks as the biggest “investor in the region’s infrastructure projects.” While “China’s financial reach overseas attracts enormous attention, when it comes to infrastructure in South-East Asia, Japan is still very much the leader…. In total, it has $259bn invested in unfinished projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam…compared with China’s $157bn.”
Tags: China, Financial heft, Indonesia, Infrastructure projects, Investor, Japan, Leader, Malaysia, Overseas, South-east Asia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam
1843 (November Issue)
“Globalisation has turned citizenship into a commodity.” Estimates suggest that each year, “several thousand people spend a combined $2bn or more…on adding a passport or residence permit to their collection.” Convenience and instability are two of the factors encouraging the acquisition of additional passports, which do not come cheap. “The required investment ranges from upwards of $10,000 (Thai residence, for instance) to more than $10m (fast-track residence in Britain).”
Tags: Citizenship, Commodity, Convenience, Globalization, Instability, Investment, Passport, Residence permit, Thailand, UK
New York Times (October 14)
“He was a curious amalgam of modern and feudal: an American-born, Swiss-educated king who could not be criticized under Thailand’s stern lèse-majesté laws…. Perhaps it was because he was all these things that King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on Thursday at age 88, became the personification of Thai nationhood in his 70-year reign. And that is also why his passing is so troubling to his country and its allies.”
The Economist (December 3)
“If Thailand’s economy could be said to belong to any foreign country, it would be Japan. After floods devastated Thailand in 2011, Japanese firms poured in nearly $30 billion to rebuild their favourite production base in Asia. That is more investment in three years than everything that American firms have poured in since the Vietnam war, plus everything Chinese firms have ever invested on top.”
Tags: Asia, China, Economy, Floods, Investment, Japan, Production base, Thailand, U.S., Vietnam
New York Times (May 30)
Following the recent coup in Thailand, “the military is operating an increasingly authoritarian government intent on silencing all forms of dissent or disobedience.” If the military truly intends to deliver a “genuine democracy,” it needs to “provide a plan for a return to civilian rule, including setting a date for an election.”
Tags: Authoritarian, Civilian rule, Democracy, Disobedience, Dissent, Election, Government, Military, oup, Silencing, Thailand
The Economist (May 10)
“Long in crisis, Thailand is close to the brink. Without compromises on both sides, it may well collapse.” Thailand has fallen hard. Not long ago, it was a “shining example” of democracy with its booming economy. Now “everything is broken.” The latest blow came when a court dismissed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine cabinet members in what is being viewed by many as a political intervention. The country remains split in two politically. “The irreconcilable differences between the two sides have swallowed up Thailand’s courts, its army and even the monarchy—and left Thailand at the abyss.”
Tags: Army, Brink, Broken, Cabinet, Collapse, Compromise, Courts, Crisis, Democracy, Economy, Monarchy, Politics, Prime minister, Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra
Wall Street Journal (December 9, 2013)
Former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and the protesters he leads have shown a remarkable “capacity for self-delusion. They dismiss anyone who supports the government as either ignorant or in the pay of Ms. Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra…. The country will continue to pay the price as Mr. Suthep defies the will of the majority. It’s hard to escape the suspicion that a revolution is coming in Thai politics, but it won’t be one to the opposition’s liking.”
Tags: Government, Opposition, Politics, Prime minister, Protesters, Revolution, Self-delusion, Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra
Euromoney (May Issue)
“The record stock market debut of BTS Group Holdings in Thailand provides fresh hope of a broader revival for public offerings across the Asia Pacific region.” The $2.1 billion IPO was the region’s largest in a year when “deals have been notoriously difficult” amid “volatile equity markets fuelled by geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.” The BTS deal may prove a bellwether, prompting “long-awaited rush of listings.” In contrast, the otherwise successful $1 billion IPO of Japan Prologis REIT in February proved a “false dawn;” the rush of deals never followed.
Tags: Asia Pacific, BTS, Geopolitical, IPO, Japan Prologis, Macroeconomic, REITs, Thailand, Uncertainty
