Thailand is being too good for its own good

The currency is strong and the current-account surplus is big versus the neighbourhood.

Thailand really should let its hair down. The currency is strong and the current-account surplus is big versus the neighbourhood, while there’s a lot of scope for fiscal expansion. The Bank of Thailand has been grudging in cutting interest rates, in contrast to the easing party under way not just in Asia but in emerging and developed markets the world over.

On one level, the sobriety is admirable. Thailand was the first domino to fall in the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98; the baht’s collapse and Bangkok’s flimsy economic management will forever be associated with one of the most wrenching periods in Asia’s postwar history. But Thailand may have learned the lessons too well.