Economic Development of Japan and Thailand: an Historical Perspective

Abstract

Two isolated and underdeveloped Asian countries, Siam (Thailand) and Japan, have diverged in development courses and outcomes. Both were forced to open their economy to Western contacts via trade in mid-nineteenth century. The era of modernization began in Siam under King Chulalongkorn (r. 1868-1910) and in Japan under the Meiji Restoration period (1868-1912). However, the development outcomes were different. In the 1960s, Japan became the first Asian developed country while Thailand struggled to evolve from developing country status. This paper has two aims. The first aim is to compare the initial conditions and the institutional and socioeconomic policy changes in the 19th century between Japan and Thailand by revisiting Japan’s experiences. The second aim is to find how the development courses have been made on two issues, namely, the lack of entrepreneurship and the financial development.