Thailand deserves an applause for being one of the worst performing markets this year and it’s only 1 month into 2025.

As the smartest man in Thailand commented:

“…it can be said that Thailand’s socioeconomic structure has always enabled the ruling classes to be lazy, complacent and ignorant. The Chinese immigrants that provided the vitality to drive Thailand through the last century have been assimilated too well into the Thai ruling class…”

Or as I un-intellectually put it “the inter-$#@king between the ruling merchants and the ruling class has resulted in this laziness. Economically, Thailand is now closer to Malaysia and the Philippines faster than I thought possible”

*Note: I love the King – do not send me to jail.

When you look at the capex or r&d figures in Thailand, it can be quite disconcerting to see that there hasn’t been much of either since 2010.