Kingdom of Thailand

Abstract

Thailand was on the vanguard of industrialization among Southeast Asian countries. Already in the 1950s the government had established an office to facilitate industrial activities and passed a law to encourage investment in industry, but it was from the late 1950s and into the early 1960s that it began full-fledged work on the infrastructure for industrialization and development. Specifically, in response to a World Bank recommendation the Thai government in 1959 created a system for development by establishing the National Economic Development Agency, then in 1960 passed the Act for Promoting Investment in New Industries and formulated its Regional Development Plan. The Economic Development Plan was formulated in 1960, and implemented in January 1961. Only then did industrialization begin in earnest. In 1964 the government set up its Rural Development Plan, which brought planned development even to the provinces. This Economic Development Plan served as the first step for development under the other above-named plans, but in 1966 Thailand initiated its first Five-Year National Economic and Social Development Plan. Although there have been minor delays owing to changes in government, the country is now on its eighth Five-Year Plan, which started in October 1996.