5. Resilience of Japanese Automobile Investment in Thailand during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the accompanying rise in unemployment (from 1.5 % in 1997 to 4 % in 1998) caused serious social problems in Thailand. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and UN organisations as well as bilateral aid donors committed a great amount of loans, grants, and technical assistance to combat the country’s social disasters. With continuing unemployment problems (despite the private domestic sector showing signs of revitalisation in 1999), much foreign aid continued to be used to assist Thai government countermeasures. Japan’s ‘Miyazawa plan’ was a representative case. International aid agencies also called for the development of social safety nets such as unemployment insurance schemes. The creation of an effective public social safety net was specifically recommended.