Driving Strategy of Eastern Special Economic Zone Policy: A New Path of Capitalist Industrial Development in Thailand

Abstract

There are three objectives of this research article – analyzing the process of capitalist industrial development according to the special economic zone policy in Thailand, analyzing the driving strategy of the special economic zone policy in the East, and studying problems and obstacles of the driving strategy of the special economic zone in the East. The study finds that the special economic zone policy was initiated in 1998 under the support of Asia Development Bank. This policy has been implemented by the government of the National Peace Keeping Council in 2014 through setting up the special economic zones in 23 districts in 10 provinces. According to the study of the driving strategy of this policy in two provinces of the East, the research finds that the strategy in Sakaeo province is ‘to create the hub of processing of agricultural products and multimodal transport’, and in Chachoengsao ‘to create the hub of wholesale, international multimodal transport, and tourism services in the region’. The obstacles for driving this strategy in two provinces are as follows: 1) the State Property’s appropriation of public land for the private sectors’ leasing for the establishment of industrial estate, 2) lack of public participation in the policy process, 3) the problem of unclear border line between Thailand and Cambodia, and 4) the problems of legal dimensions preventing the development of the special economic zones in the East.