Officials in Thailand’s Finance Ministry last week prepared a speech for their minister, Sommai Phasee, saying their country was ready for the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) next year, which will include all 10 countries of Southeast Asia. But at a seminar on the AEC, Sommai threw the speech aside and announced Thailand is not ready and has a long way to go before it will be. The minister said this is especially the case with regulations governing the movement of goods, labour, services and investments that need to be amended or removed.
