Lack of initiative far too prevalent in Thailand.

[thailiketoo]

Thailand has done a better job by a long shot than any of it's immediate neighbors; Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma. People determine governments and Thailand's is better and more innovative than any of the above mentioned countries.

Compare apples to apples and in this neighborhood Thailand is and has been the big winner. So I don't buy the lack of initiative thing at all.

I know the purpose of your post is to bash Thailand and does not reflect reality but Thailand is not in Europe or America. It is in South East Asia and its neighbors (apples to apples) are Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Because Thailand has, among other things, more initiative than its closest neighbors Thailand is more successful. Sorry if you want Thailand to compete somewhere else. The problem is, it is not somewhere else.

I'm sorry but your consistent blind bias in the forum leads me to suspect perhaps you've been a bit brainwashed. I don't know how that's happened, unless you are actually Thai - in which case may I congratulate you on your English, excellent for a Thai - or perhaps you're employed by a Thai org to mitigate the admittedly unfair Thailand bashing that goes on here.

However you very conveniently left out Malaysia and Singapore (Brunei fair enough). True, these had an unfair advantage in having been colonized, perhaps that's what has allowed them to improve their education standards and reduce corruption much better than Thailand.

And Thailand does indeed compete not only in the region but on a global basis, and must do so more effectively since its labor costs are no longer low. Vietnam in particular has taken the initiative and will see much faster and more stable growth in years to come - for example, hardly affected at all by the post-2008 financial crisis.

And in my experience in both Cambodia and Vietnam, individual entrepreneurship is actually much stronger there than in Thailand, especially given how much they have been held back by their regimes there.

So not intending to bash Thailand, I'm usually called a "Thai apologist for my acceptance even enthusiasm for Thai cultural differences, but wanted to give your macro-economic boosterism a bit of perspective.

I left off Singapore because it is only a city. I guess we could debate that. I think you have a point about Malaysia but not my area of expertise. Having lived in and visited Vietnam, Burma, Laos and Cambodia I don't agree with your estimate of the future.