How Thailand Hopes to Capitalize on Its Neighbors' Success

(TAYLOR WEIDMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Construction workers try to fix a broken piece of equipment while working on the construction of a port inside the planned Dawei special economic zone in Ngapitat, Myanmar.

In the past two decades, mainland Southeast Asia has made the slow, painful transition out of a period of intense ideological conflict and stunted development. In the years after World War II, Malaysia and Singapore had strong, consolidated states and experienced steady growth and industrialization. The northern portion of the Southeast Asian peninsula, however, bore the brunt of regional Cold War great power conflict. Today, the eastern half of the peninsula — former French Indochina — is reaping the benefits of a period of relative stability and economic growth. To the west, Myanmar is positioning itself to reap similar gains after emerging from international isolation in 2011. A small landmark in this regional transition for Thailand occurred Dec. 14 when the Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed an agreement with Thailand and Myanmar officially taking a one-third share in the Dawei industrial zone.