Asia's recovery from crisis is uneven

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BANGKOK, June 21 (AP): Ten years ago, a plunge in the Thai baht sparked a wave of recessions across Asia's high-flying economies, bankrupting entire nations, putting millions out of work and shaking markets around the world. Some feared that decade of growth would be lost.
Today, the region as a whole has bounced back from the 1997-98 crisis and is better equipped to deal with financial emergencies. Banking is more transparent, corporations are better managed, poverty rates have dropped and the region's collective economic growth has doubled.
Still, the recovery has been uneven. The three countries hit hardest by the crisis that began July 2, 1997 - Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea - have charted sharply divergent paths over the last 10 years, reflecting their differing responses to the crisis and policies since then.
South Korea, which received a humiliating $58 billion bailout arranged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), quickly cleaned up its banking system and started reforming its heavily indebted family-owned conglomerates. The economy shrank and the jobless rate soared, but by 1999 it was robustly growing again.
The crisis, while painful, forced South Korea to make changes that paved the way for more stable long-term growth. Today, it is one of Asia's powerhouses, led by Samsung Electronics Co - the world's biggest memory chip maker - and Hyundai Motor Co.
Indonesia, however, has struggled. The crisis helped bring about the downfall of former dictator Suharto and greater political freedom, but the economy remains beset by rampant corruption, a weak legal system and limited foreign investment. Economic growth has been ticking along at about 5.5 per cent the last two years, but unemployment is rising.
Thailand hovers somewhere in between. Bangkok, where hundreds of skyscrapers froze in mid-construction when the crisis erupted, now has an elevated Skytrain, a subway, a brand new airport and dozens of glitzy malls. Japanese investment has made Thailand a major auto and electronics exporting hub.
But a rise in the baht and political uncertainty caused by a tainted election in 2006 and military coup last September has dragged on growth.
In the wake of the crisis, Thai authorities shut down dozens of insolvent financial firms, vastly improved banking supervision and updated archaic bankruptcy laws. However, it can still take years for creditors to pursue claims, and further reforms of laws governing bankruptcy and repossession of assets from recalcitrant debtors haven't gone beyond the drafting stage.
"Korea restructured its financial sector, but the problem in Thailand has been the inconsistency of reforms," says Sompop Manarangsan, a professor of economics at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "This is not good for the longer term."
Investors got a flashback to the 1997 crisis in December when the Thai central bank imposed capital controls in an attempt to weaken the currency, sending stocks plummeting 15 per cent in one day and rattling regional markets.
Authorities quickly exempted stocks and foreign direct investment from the rules, helping the market bounce back. Investors were also reassured to know that Thailand had $65 billion in foreign currency reserves, far more than in 1997.