WB upbeat on Thailand

WB upbeat on Thailand

BANGKOK (Reuters): Thailand should largely escape fallout from
Indonesia's economic crisis, but it will still feel some impact,
the World Bank's Thailand country director said yesterday.

"I think because of what is happening in Indonesia, there
could be some setbacks to the way foreign investors look at the
region as a whole. But Thailand has differentiated itself from
the rest of the pack," J. Shivakumar told Reuters in an
interview.

"As a whole, I would say yes there would be impact. In a
direct sense, however, this will not affect Thailand that badly.

However, in as much as financial institutions in the region
are affected by Indonesia, obviously that will have an (indirect)
effect on Thailand," he said.

The World Bank's Shivakumar said Thailand would not be that
badly affected by Indonesia because Jakarta was not a major Thai
export market.