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Published on October 24, 2007

Forget about a shining knight on a white horse rescuing the economy, and look for networks and collaboration instead.

The twists and turns of economic policies over the past decades have left both consumers and investors confused and both confidence and living standards tattered.

Before the 1997 financial crisis, policy-makers blindly promoted investment, which led to fast economic growth. But excess investment and foreign debt brought an end to galloping growth. Then the International Monetary Fund stepped in and imposed drastic reforms emphasising fiscal discipline, which drove the economy deeper into a slump.

Later Thaksin Shinawatra, leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party, took power and dealt out a series of easy-credit schemes. Voters were happy for a while but populism lost steam in the later years of his administration. Worse, his controversial administration caused a political crisis that sunk his regime. Thaksin was once a man praised by his supporters as a knight - or a knight on a black buffalo in the local idiom - who rescued the country.

Now economy policies have come under the guidelines of sufficiency economics, which stresses moderation.

"Thaksin told us we'll be rich and urged us to borrow money. Now we're suddenly told to be moderate. How can we do that when we've accumulated huge debts?" is a typical response by disappointed and confused voters.

As the general election approaches, many are excited about a new prime minister leading the country and the people to prosperity.

Supporters of the defunct Thai Rak Thai have thrown their support behind the new People Power Party in high hopes that the economy will turn robust again.

Pasuk Phongphaichit, a political economist at Chulalongkorn University, argues that People Power would devote its energy to whitewashing Thaksin and his friends with little attention paid to well-planned economy policies. Treerana Bhongmakapat, an economics lecturer at the same university, points out that populist polices cannot sustain high growth as shown by the economic downturn that emerged in the late years of the Thaksin administration.

Many look for a new leader. Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of the Democrat Party, is now widely seen as taking the helm of the next government on a people's agenda. His election campaign theme is "People Come First".

Pasuk believes that Abhisit and his Democrats are better prepared to manage the economy. However, many economists are sceptical and argue that the Democrat and all other parties plump for populist policies, which would not make any difference.

Narongchai Akrasanee, chairman of the Export-Import Bank of Thailand and an economist who thinks the Democrats are not up to the task, says Abhisit fails to get voters to trust his agenda.

Simple people may look for a hero but experience tells us that we will certainly fail. "Don't look for a knight," urges Deputy Prime Minister Kosit Panpiemras, who is also a veteran economist.

He suggests that people should seek collaboration with others in order to get business done. But sadly, Thais don't seem to be used to the word "collaboration". We often complain that Thais are good not at team sports but only one-man sports.

"There is no word 'collaboration' in the Thai dictionary in the sense that Westerners understand," Kosit said.

He is probably right because collaboration in other cultures is strong and has contributed significantly to their advancement in both social and economic spheres.

In the West or Japan, universities work closely with industry and this spawns innovation and also entrepreneurs. Some university researchers sell their patents to businesses or become entrepreneurs.

Collaboration in Thailand probably can be found only in medical services where universities, hospital personnel and medical doctors have cooperated closely. This may make Thailand highly competitive in medical services in Southeast Asia.

Since the 1997 crisis many institutions have been formally created largely to facilitate effective cooperation among individuals and existing institutions for the sake of economic and social reform. And old institutions are being strengthened. Networks at the grass-roots level are growing.

But so far no signs of strong collaboration have appeared.

Supachai Lorlohakarn, director of the National Innovation Agency, complained that he found much difficulty in seeking close cooperation with researchers at Thai universities - particularly Chulalongkorn, the first-rate local academic institution. His agency also seeks collaboration with counterparts abroad.

If Thais want to stand on their own two feet and move the country toward a knowledge-based, sustained economy, it is worth seeking collaboration rather than looking for another saviour.

Wichit Chaitrong

 The Nation