Thai Leaders Won Big. Their Economy Is Still Sick

Thailand may have seen its best economic days. The one-time star risks settling into a new — and entrenched — role as Southeast Asia’s laggard. The ruling conservative bloc shows scant appetite for rekindling the rapid gains that made the country a model for contemporary standouts like Vietnam.

Once it was clear in last week’s general election that royalist legislators had turned back a challenge from progressives, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul declared Thailand was in “a steady state.” Investors praised the result for providing stability to a nation that has been plagued by decades of coups, short-term cabinets and deep social divisions. The stock market soared the day following the ballot and the currency climbed. Foreigners bought the most local equities in four years.