Thailand's Crisis

This book is not so much about getting into an economic crisis as getting through one. It reviews what the IMF did, who got hurt, what worked, and what failed in the economic and social management of the crisis. It shows how political change got bound up with economic crisis, resulting in a new constitution, a seismic shift in the political landscape, and greater assertiveness by civil society. It examines how the economic turmoil changed the ways people reacted to political scandal, viewed their own society, and imagined the future. This is a lucid and highly readable account of how Thailand reacted as a society and culture to its worst economic disaster. The final chapters review the changes and lessons from 1997 to 2000 and speculate on how these changes will frame the future.

Pasuk Phongpaichit is Professor of Economics at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.