LEX On the evidence so far, smaller nations need two things to fight a global financial crisis. First is a bedrock of loyal foreign investors who won’t bolt for the exits at the first sign of trouble. Second is a reasonably popular, fully functioning government, able to deploy whatever tools it deems necessary without fear of anarchy.
Thailand has neither. The SET index of Bangkok’s 50 largest stocks is heading for its worst year since 1997 while the baht has erased all its gains against the dollar since 2006. Since August, the government has, in effect, been unseated, forced to work out of temporary offices in an old airport. Its tormenters, the People’s Alliance for Democracy, are now escalating their six-month campaign to eject a regime they see as a puppet for the exiled leader, Thaksin Shinawatra.
