We Ask An Economist: Is Thailand a Poor Country? [Season 4, Episode 19]

People are often quick to call Thailand 'developing' or
even 'third world' - but what do those terms even mean?
We decided to find out. 


Ed interviews Dan Honig, a professor of international
development at Johns Hopkins University. After explaining Dan's
unique educational background and world travels, the guys dig
into some basic questions about the Thai economy. Right off the
bat, Dan notes that when compared to the entire world, it is not
accurate to consider Thailand poor. Instead, it would probably be
categorized as 'upper middle income'.


But that describes Thailand as a whole - what about other
indices like inequality, development, or poverty? Dan discusses
different ways of measuring these things and notes that Thailand
has a very low poverty rate, with most Thais generally having
access to health care and education. But the extreme gap between
the one percent at the top in Thailand and everybody else impacts
the political situation, and in Dan's mind definitely is a
problem. 


Last, the guys riff on the oddness of having salaries that
put them in the top one or two percent in the world, but at the
same time feeling 'disadvantaged' in some way. In the end, it's
only traveling and seeing the way most people live that lead to
really appreciating what you have. Something listeners of the
Bangkok Podcast should know already. :)


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