THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IN THAILAND

Abstract

This paper is a survey and analysis of the representations of the economic crisis in Thailand between July 1997 and March 1999. Although the outsiders see Thailand as a good follower of the IMF, the representations are various and can be distinguished into many levels. Their different perspectives have been seriously discussed in many debates in the Thai society. I argue that the responses of the Thais can be separated into the globalists (who follow the world capitalists) and the localists (who resist it). This paper is organized into four sections. The first section is the recent background of the economic crisis before going on to the orthodox explanations. Following this, I will discuss the representations of the Thais to the economic crisis, focusing on the different illustrations of the economic crisis at four different levels. The last section is my critique on the response to the economic crisis. I also argue that the economic crisis has not only bought a disaster to the wealth of nation, but also questioned the "Globalization".