A week on the Thai islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan was a great escape from a cold and sometimes wet winter without having to worry about the lawn getting out of control, and also a complete break from New Zealand’s never-ending media debates about everything that is wrong with this country. I hadn’t realised how depressing it can be to listen to politicians indulging in childish arguments and constantly moaning on the radio, TV and in the newspapers.
So it was good to have warm weather, sun, beach and pool, to be able to avoid the TV and to get to know a country where people seem to be genuinely happy.
I’m not so unrealistic as to confuse a holiday in tropical conditions with the reality of everyday life in a temperate climate, but there were some signs that the Thais are superior to us in some things.
We were there to visit my wife’s son, who has been living there for over a year and wants to stay longer because he likes it there so much and, as a diabetic, he finds the health system very straightforward and receives care and medication without any problems.
A banal example: I was able to buy antibiotics for an insect bite at the pharmacy. In New Zealand, a doctor would have had to prescribe them for me.
In cities, traffic speeds are reduced by simple strips placed at regular intervals across the road, which probably cost no more than a few hundred dollars compared to the monstrous speed bumps and jolts that Auckland Transport deems necessary.
The sensible use of traffic cones was also a relief compared to the horrendous waste of manpower, traffic cones and traffic control that occurs here during minor repairs.
Prices for very tasty food are much lower than in New Zealand, no doubt because overheads, labour costs and raw materials are all cheaper. Although Thailand is certainly not an expensive destination compared to many others, eating out only highlighted how expensive everything has become here.
Contact with animals and livestock was minimal, although at one hotel we were adopted by a dog who insisted on coming into our poolside room when the door was open. We also visited an elephant sanctuary and had the chance to feed them slices of watermelon and pumpkin (did you know an elephant’s trunk has 70,000 muscles?), and a snake farm where we saw a live show with pythons and cobras.
From an agricultural perspective, Thailand is the world’s second-largest rice exporter after India. The start of the rice-growing season is marked in May by the royal ploughing ceremony, which dates back to the 13th century. When the first monsoon rains arrive, farmers plant seeds in seedbeds, traditionally plough their rice fields using water buffaloes, and transplant the seeds when they are about 15cm tall.
The whole congregation takes part in this backbreaking work. They stand for hours with their backs to the sky and their faces to the ground, are generally in high spirits and make lots of jokes and sing.
Harvesting takes place in November or December and is usually done with a scythe through the stalks before threshing to remove the chaff, usually done by hand. The rice is then packed into sacks and stored in the rice barn. During the growing season, farmers worship the rice goddess Mae Phosup, who is invited to take up residence in the barn after the harvest to protect the crops from disease or theft by rats. This final ritual is performed by women because if men were left alone in the barn with the goddess, they would not be able to control their desire for her!
Although Thailand is very different from New Zealand in some respects (land mass, population, climate and trade profile), the two countries have some similarities: Tourism is very important but has declined since pre-Covid times and is not forecast to return to pre-Covid levels until 2025 at the earliest. Goods exports have been negatively affected by the decline in global trade, particularly with China. Inequality is very high: more than half of Thailand’s wealth is in the hands of 10% of the population. Per capita productivity is low and falling. The ageing population will consume an increasing share of health and social budgets. And the quality of education and poor literacy and numeracy threaten to lead to a skills crisis.
The political environment in Thailand is very different from that in New Zealand. It remains a kingdom where the king is forced to worship, although the current monarch enjoys far less love and respect than his father. Despite significant economic growth since World War II, there have been many devaluations, changes of government from military to democratically elected and back again, and large fluctuations in GDP. However, over the past 70 years, Thailand has evolved from a primarily agrarian economy through import substitution with light manufacturing, textiles and food processing to an export-oriented economy based primarily on heavy industry, energy and tourism.
The next phase is for Thailand to build a high-tech economy capable of producing value-added products and services. However, sceptics point out that low internet usage among Thais and a lack of technical skills stand in the way of this goal.
New Zealand and Thailand benefit from various free trade agreements, resulting in mutual export volumes of Thai vans, cars and air conditioners valued at about US$4 billion. In comparison, New Zealand mainly exports milk powder, butter, cheese, beef, crude oil, apples and pears.
This confirms Thailand’s progress towards higher value-added manufactured products, while New Zealand’s economy is still heavily based on agricultural products, supplemented by tourism.
