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| Pratunam, Bangkok |
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| Siam Paragon |
Recently, I was in Bangkok to run a cross-cultural training program for
a large multinational. Having lived there from 1989 until 1999 and having been
back there a number of times since, I am always eager to register any notable
socio-economic changes in the city.
The euforia of the Nineties, whereby Thailand was one of the early emerging Asian Tigers may have been gone, but the country has since then weathered, with mixed success, the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the global economic crisis of 2008. In the meantime, Thailand is economically on par with its Southern neighbour Malaysia and not that far behind Southeast Asian success story, Singapore.
Emerging from a developing nation into a transition economy is not that hard, but the last stretch, towards a truly developed country, is the toughest. Thailand’s neighbouring countries, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia still have a long way to go and even Vietnam, which was in the economic spotlight in the Nineties too and is back on track again, is not another Thailand yet. In Vietnam, “Made in Thailand” is a status label and is considered poche. And what Paris is to Europeans, is Bangkok to Indochina and even entire Southeast Asia.
The Indonesian Embassy on Petchburi Road in Bangkok’s Pratunam area booked a middle-class hotel for me across the street from the Embassy. My wife used to work at the Embassy and every time I am in town, former-colleagues book a room for me nearby. The hotel appeared to be fully booked, but what was more interesting, that I was one of the few Westerners in the hotel ! Primarily, Indonesian women groups and Vietnamese families were staying there. As the area of Pratunam is known for its wholesale clothing outlets, and is also close to the more upmarket department stores on Ratchdamri Road and Rama I Road, they flock to shopping paradise, Bangkok !
These new middle-class visitors from the region add a new dimension to the city’s tourism landscape. Apart from an increasing number of Chinese tourists, there are more and more Indonesians and Vietnamese who can afford a short trip to the Paris of Indochina !
This article appeared earlier in e-magazine Business Trends Asia
The euforia of the Nineties, whereby Thailand was one of the early emerging Asian Tigers may have been gone, but the country has since then weathered, with mixed success, the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the global economic crisis of 2008. In the meantime, Thailand is economically on par with its Southern neighbour Malaysia and not that far behind Southeast Asian success story, Singapore.
Emerging from a developing nation into a transition economy is not that hard, but the last stretch, towards a truly developed country, is the toughest. Thailand’s neighbouring countries, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia still have a long way to go and even Vietnam, which was in the economic spotlight in the Nineties too and is back on track again, is not another Thailand yet. In Vietnam, “Made in Thailand” is a status label and is considered poche. And what Paris is to Europeans, is Bangkok to Indochina and even entire Southeast Asia.
The Indonesian Embassy on Petchburi Road in Bangkok’s Pratunam area booked a middle-class hotel for me across the street from the Embassy. My wife used to work at the Embassy and every time I am in town, former-colleagues book a room for me nearby. The hotel appeared to be fully booked, but what was more interesting, that I was one of the few Westerners in the hotel ! Primarily, Indonesian women groups and Vietnamese families were staying there. As the area of Pratunam is known for its wholesale clothing outlets, and is also close to the more upmarket department stores on Ratchdamri Road and Rama I Road, they flock to shopping paradise, Bangkok !
These new middle-class visitors from the region add a new dimension to the city’s tourism landscape. Apart from an increasing number of Chinese tourists, there are more and more Indonesians and Vietnamese who can afford a short trip to the Paris of Indochina !
This article appeared earlier in e-magazine Business Trends Asia
