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.