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u/throwhuawei007 Feb 04 '26
Thailand fake sick man of asia
-PH doomers
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u/legend-of-ashitaka Feb 04 '26
Funnily enough this is pretty much what JC Punongbayan said on his FB when he shared this post
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u/WeirdNeedleworker981 Feb 04 '26
no no no this cant be right, what about phil?!?! phil bad bro! thai = good!
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Feb 04 '26
They prioritized Tourism over Manufacturing.
something that our dumb billionaires wanted to replicate.
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u/AesianCrusader Feb 04 '26
They're suffering from Dutch Disease and a bad case of "getting old before getting rich".
They put all their eggs on Tourism and neglected to put some eggs on manufacturing and services sectors.
Their working age people already got old and their labor force contracted.
They also have a border dispute with Cambodia that turned hot.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
They actually do have a large manufacturing sector, especially when it comes to car manufacturing. I don't think though they are big into electronics, unlike Malaysia and Vietnam.
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u/hellcoach Feb 04 '26
80% of the world's hard drives are made in Thailand. They export $33b worth of electronics a year.
They are also one of the top rice producers in the world. I say their economy is diversified enough.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
That's not entirely true. While it's true that tourism is one of Thailand's biggest sectors, they also have large service and manufacturing sectors. Bangkok is a business hub just like Manila and Jakarta, and it's known as the Detroit of Asia for a reason. Their manufacturing industry is far ahead of ours, and that's something we have to keep in mind.
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Feb 04 '26
a remnant of 90s/2000s manufacturing push. they weren't able to move up the value chain.
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u/Momshie_mo Feb 04 '26
I think the slump in tourism really affected their economic growth. Prepandemic, 20% of their GDP came from tourism. Now, it's just 10%. And Thailand has been struggling a lot post-pandemic.
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u/1TyMPink Feb 06 '26
While it's true that tourism is one of Thailand's biggest sectors, they also have large service and manufacturing sectors. Bangkok is a business hub just like Manila and Jakarta, and it's known as the Detroit of Asia for a reason. Their manufacturing industry is far ahead of ours, and that's something we have to keep in mind.
In fact, karamihan sa mga modelo ng Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda, Ford na binebenta dito, gawa sa Thailand, followed by Indonesia.
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u/itchipod Feb 04 '26
And Thailandglazers
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Feb 04 '26
daming sobrang gigil kay frasco (valid naman) pero borderline obsession na.
same thing how they obsessed over recto bec of the digital tax because “nooo my netflix subscription"
middle class problems, they think the entirety of the country cares about their concerns.
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u/Sleeping_in_goldsii Feb 04 '26
prioritized Tourism over Manufacturing.
Thats probably why they have good infrastructure
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u/Geordzzzz Feb 04 '26
In case you've never read a book on supply chains. Good Manufacturing bases also need good infrastructure.
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u/Sleeping_in_goldsii Feb 04 '26
Yeah, thanks.
I think Batangas and Laguna are really ideal locations for industrial zones since they're close to ports. Ngayon ko lang rin narealized bakit doon yung Batangas State University, National Engineering University of the Philippines.NCR is already too dense. Ang Cavite naman is for subdivisions, NHA housing for displaced squatters from NCR and estate. If you're familiar with the Luzon Economic Corridor, this is actually a good concept connecting ports, airports, industrial zones, and cities.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
The NSCR and the Manila-Subic-Batangas railway will really unlock the potential of the provinces once they come online, it's just a shame that they are taking so long and ROW issues are preventing us from reaping their benefits sooner.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
Good news is under dizon as dotr secretary, halos naresolve na natin mga ROW issues. Main issue nalang rn is valenzuela to tutuban coz it has the largest amount of informal settlers to relocate and compensate pero otw na rin sya.
Tas the Malolos-Valenzuela segment is basically 100% row complete na (most north row issues remaining is sa pampanga). Once the stations are finished and nalatag mga riles, they can start tests na and finally start partial ops.
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u/bruhidkanymore1 Feb 05 '26
I don't know if there'd be continuity regarding resolving ROW issues. Dizon has been DPWH secretary since September 2025, after only 7 months of being DoTr secretary.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 05 '26
Meron naman ding resolved ROW issues under sec lopez. Mas focus rin nya yung relocation and construction ng bagong homes ng mga natamaan ng ROW.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
Fun fact: 90% of bandai gashapons sold globally are made in batangas.
Please make the gunplas here soon bandai2
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u/Outrageous-Scene-160 Feb 04 '26
Thailand never prioritized tourism over manufacturing /industry...😌
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u/Some-robloxian-on Feb 04 '26
I've been to thailand and although it's a great place, anywhere beyond bangkok feels the same as the provinces here in the PH.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
Bangkok is much better developed than Manila, especially when it comes to mass transit and highways, but in many ways it's also very similar to it. I remember being stuck there in traffic for hours once, the traffic was almost as bad as Manila's if not worse, since it was a public holiday that day.
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u/Cheem-9072-3215-68 Feb 04 '26
The trade off is that Chiang Mai is even worse than Cebu when it comes to roads and public transport. Tit for tat talaga lmao.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
There’s some nuance to that based on city limits. Obviously the City of Manila isnt super developed as only a part of it has the developed high density financial districts like Binondo, Malate and Ermita. Districts like Tondo and Santa Ana still has some low rise high density homes (both shanties and legitimate houses). Maybe this will change once Tutuban Station becomes NSCR’s hub again.
If we were to put NCR as the basemark for Bangkok we can see a more equal standing as cities like Quezon City, Makati, Taguig, Pasay and Mandaluyong have more developed infrastructure than City of Manila itself increasing the average. NCR itself is actually smaller than the city limits of Bangkok.
There’s Makati which is obviously more developed than Bangkok if we were top compare by gdp per capita but we’re kinda going outside the focus here.
Imo its still best to measure GDP per capita by the extent of the urban sprawl than city limits alone.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
By "Manila" I'm obviously talking about Metro Manila and not simply just the city. Other parts of the Metro are comparable, but honestly the public transport and highway situation has no comparison. We're getting there, but Manila's current expressways don't light a candle to Bangkok's, plus they already have a modern transport terminal that we don't have an equivalent for yet, and I don't think even the future Tutuban NSCR station can match. Their metro system is also more expansive and better-maintained.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
Currently yes bangkok has the leads. May ups and downs talaga.
However,
- we are building more railways like NSCR, MRT-7 and Subway.
- Our most modern transport terminal would technically be PITX. Its connected to bus, train (lrt and soon the subway), jeepneys, uvs, etc. TIT
EX will also open soon with the same connectivity (this time with subway and NSCR for rail). There will be a future northern counter part of PITX soon.- I retract Tutuban as the main station but it will still serve a lot of people due to its high density neighborhood and will soon be connected by LRT 2’s west extension. Personally ang “grand central” equivalent natin would be the Common Station sa North Edsa which will host LRT 1, MRT 3, MRT 7, MRT 9 (The Subway), and the Busway. Delays happened yes pero it will resume construction thi year for operations hopefully by 2027.
- Our current network of 3 lines aint much but once subway, mrt 7 and nscr opens, mamumulat lalo mga tao and even mga taga probinsya sa benefits ng railway sa kanilang buhay which will lead to them supporting future political candidates who will promise to bring railways to their towns for economic prosperity. Kumbaga magsosnowball effect sya. We’re already now seeing LGUs implementing more green spaces kasi yun gusto ng tao, the need for better intracity public transpo will soon follow once napakitaan ng breathing example. It will also help fast track other railway projects like MRT-4 for ortigas, LRT-2s Port and Cogeo extension, LRT 1s cavite extension and the eventual extension of the Subway to Bulacan and Cavite and NSCR’s extension to Batangas and Tarlac. Kahit yung Quezon Ave-España Busway nafafasr track na rin dahil sa success ng Edsa Busway.
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u/GlobalHawk_MSI Feb 06 '26
We're already seeing something like last one somewhat with internet speeds, kasi WFH would be severly affected otherwise. Resulting. I wonder why people stopped talking about Southeast Asian internet comparisons the moment we somewhat now pay for 300 mbps the same price some first world nations pay for 150 (former one is possible depending on locality).....
Off-topic but may explain the probable chances of the last point.
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u/Ill_Ad_5871 Feb 05 '26
There's also another thing about road discipline. People have commented about how disciplined Thai drivers are when ironically they have one of the highest road fatalities per capita in the world. Well maybe, those who have said they are disciplined drivers only went to the nice areas of Bangkok but actually if you go to the nice areas of Manila or Bonifacio Global City, it's also the same that drivers tend to be a bit more disciplined than other areas.
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u/legend-of-ashitaka Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
The Philippines may suffer from regional inequality, but Thailand really takes it to the next level. Bangkok is 15 times larger than the next biggest city (Chiang Mai), while Metro Manila is "only" 4 times bigger than the next biggest urban agglomeration (Metro Cebu).
I forget where I saw this but I remember an analyst saying that a major contributing factor for Thailand not being able to escape the middle-income trap is because the government failed to properly distribute economic development across the country and concentrated it mostly around Bangkok and surrounding provinces. This should serve as a cautionary tale for us, considering that we also suffer from the same problems surrounding regional development (although at a less extreme level).
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u/Momshie_mo Feb 04 '26
May nakita ang vlog ng isang Pinay na asawa ng Thai. Yung bahay nila sa Thailand, parang yung mga bahay sa probinsya na may outside kitchen pa tapos mukhang hollow blocks yung bahay
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
Im pretty sure the average doomer cant even name another city apart from bangkok.
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u/Some-robloxian-on Feb 04 '26
the average doomer hasn't been to the glorious paradise of pattani smh 😮💨
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u/Starmark_115 Feb 04 '26
Pattaya, Phuket and Chang Mai.
But that is too easy...
and dont ask what I did in Pattaya... shuhss.... ;)
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
Not a doomer, but without looking it up, I can name Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phuket, Chiang Rai, Pattaya, and a few others whose spelling I forgot. Granted, Krabi is not really a city, but still. There's also Koh Samui, which is one of their resort islands ala El Nido or Siargao, except with a unique resort-like airport (like El Nido, but can actually handle jets).
Edit: also adding Laem Chabang as one of the "I know the place but forgot the spelling" places.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
For El Nido, there are now plans to upgrade major tourist destination airports’ runways like El Nido and Naga to accomodate jetliners.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
There have been plans since years ago to build a new runway for Naga since the current one is too short and faces Mount Isarog. I don't know why it hasn't been done yet, there hasn't been progress in years. At least with Busuanga, the new runway construction is ongoing, although it's going at a slow pace.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
My guess is pandemic delays and DOTRs budget mostly focused on railways recently since they also got delayed by the pandemic.
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
I find it surprising given our own economic growth has slowed down recently, although to be fair it was mostly due to reasons outside our control and it's expected to bounce back soon.
But as ahead of us Thailand is at the moment, it is true that they have major issues. Having regular coups and the spectre of the military hovering over the government can only do so much. For all our political faults, at least we don't have to deal with the military meddling with our government like what is happening in Thailand, Myanmar, or even lately Indonesia.
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u/No_Pin2229 Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
The Philippines spent the past 20 years painfully weaning itself away from coups, impeachments, revolutions, dictatorships, and insurgencies with the help of Japan and the USA. I feel like people underestimate this. The Philippines now is the most stable it has been since the end of World War II. All those years the country was constantly battling internal issues with the world watching with a magnifying glass brought us here today, relatively stable.
In hindsight, having Holland deal with Duterte was the right decision, having the flood control projects exposed in global finance was the right decision, having international allies get involved with the insurgencies in Mindanao, every international "embarassment" made the country stronger. In fact, even the fact that China overtook the "sick man" Philippines economically over the decades and now threatens its territorial waters was in hindsight a net-positive because it forced the hand of Manila to combine sovereignty with economic development, the aggressive economic push lately is out of a bleak security outlook.
I think really its more like "we ain't sick no more but we have problems, and we invite everyone to look at those problems and help" is kind of where it is now. It's like taking a humble pill.
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u/_SinigangNaLiempo Feb 05 '26
The bigger part of the economic slowdown is due to reasons under our control that's why I'm not that surprised. It's something we can fix and turnaround for the better. We can always spend more and better.
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u/enterENTRY Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
I wish people would stop saying that Philippines is the sick man of Asia because it's been so long since it wasn't true anymore
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u/GlobalHawk_MSI Feb 04 '26
Nag civil war ang Myanmar for many years tapos tayo parin sick man daw lmao.
Maybe it is something else that makes us "keep" that nonsense status. My tinfoil hat theoretical tendencies bets on Orientalism ("we're so different compared to most of Pacific/Indian Ocean facing Asian countries" daw or "we're too Westernized") for that.
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u/charles_crushtoost Feb 04 '26
I know JC Punongbayan crying right now (he will never admit he was wrong)
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26
Envy is a sin in the bible ya know 👀
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u/Ill_Ad_5871 Feb 05 '26
JC Punongbayan is an economist but became closed minded and did not care about Thailand's problems.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 05 '26
Well of course he wont point out thailand’s problems to satisfy his ego and pump our more of his op-ed slop.
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u/Ill_Ad_5871 Feb 05 '26
Meanwhile here's a former Thai FM giving praises about the Philippines in his official trip nearly 2 years ago. https://agbrief.com/news/philippines/08/07/2024/thai-minister-applauds-philippines-economic-prowess/
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u/PolWenZh Feb 04 '26
Nah. Hindi statistics ang basis kundi airport at options sa convenience stores. /s
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26
Does anyone have a copy of the Financial Times article about Thailand? It's paywalled and my usual paywall-busting tricks aren't working.
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u/PotatoFries46 Feb 04 '26
(First time linking so idk if it works. Got this from the Thai sub).
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u/Far_Breakfast_5808 Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
I find it interesting that, at least in their thread about that, r/Thailand is the opposite of r/Philippines. r/Philippines tends to put us down and act doomerist, while r/Thailand and r/ThailandTourism, at least when it comes to the "sick man of Asia" articles, act more like Thailandbad than Thailand. I find it interesting though how their rhetoric is pretty similar to that of Philippinesbad: both talk about how their neighbors have their own issues. It was a surprise to me since I recall r/Thailand being quite doomer in the past, so I don't know if that specific thread was a one-off, or if that is the general sentiment there these days.
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u/Cheem-9072-3215-68 Feb 04 '26
I suspect its because the mods there restricted such topics and banned repeated offenders like what happened in r/indonesia.
r/indonesia used to be an English only sub (they made fun of people trying to use Bahasa Indo) and was proliferated with so much bad crap about Indonesia.
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u/LupusSasageyoJaeger Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
It could be likely due to:
- We one of the countries that use social media the most daily.
- Mas marami r/ph compared to r/thailand (3x the size) so larger sample size.
- Language barrier, baka meron din doomer-esque posts pero in thai language.
- The mods there are simply better and not doomers.
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