Forbes has been busy this week on talking about Thailand, with articles covering both the politics and the “bubbles” forming within the country and the market.

My thoughts on the two..well politics, I’ve commented almost daily on this and essentially my viewpoint is that Mr. T is pushing his luck, I haven’t seen so many white collar workers at protests as I have here and the Democrats now suddenly have some following on the street and if they are any good at politics can use this and the Preah Vihear case to their benefits.

Bubbles – Sure of course, the amount of debt swilling around because of the consumption driven policies of the government, are we worried? Slightly, esp for consumer related industries and companies, but for the overall economy, nope not really, as long as there isn’t a another global recession we’re fine.

I’ve included snippets and links to both articles, enjoy the reading.

It’s clear that Thaksin and Yingluck can deliver a plurality at the polls. They have done it repeatedly since 2001. Their opponents must accept this fact. But an electoral mandate isn’t a right to govern unfettered. Back in 2006, when Thaksin faced mass protests against the sale of his family-owned telecoms company to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, he pulled the same trick. He won the election, but Thailand faced a deadlock and the military stepped in. This is a poor substitute for legitimate checks on elected officials. Perhaps the only thing worse than too many democratic checks are no checks at all.

Source: Forbes

As with most other emerging market nations, Thailand is currently experiencing a dangerous credit bubble that is helping to boost its economic growth and consumer spending. Though traditionally an export-driven economy, debt-funded domestic demand has replaced the country’s export sector as the primary economic growth engine since 2008.

Source: Forbes