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adjusting to the economy’s changing structure. It also requires
complementary initiatives that can bring benefits to different segments
of the economy, in order to maintain broad societal support for change.
In the Thai context, this could mean creating effective programs to
support small- and medium-scale enterprises (SME) that employ over
80% of the Thai labour force, most far from the technological frontier;
and that often employ lower-skill workers who are at the greatest risk
from shifting globalization and new disruptive technology.

It is possible to consider an innovation strategy aimed at SMEs
that can be complementary to Thailand 4.0 and the EEC and sees
innovation not only as advanced high technology- and high skill-driven,
but more broadly as also adapting existing technology to particular
needs and constraints of Asian emerging market customers. This is
sometimes referred to as frugal innovation, a strategy that can provide
additional opportunities for the internationalization of Thai SMEs, and
therefore generate productive jobs and incomes for a wider segment of
the population, helping to build the necessary societal consensus for
economic transformation. 23

The general implications are as follows. From an economic
perspective, an inclusive economic strategy that provides clear and
increasing benefits for the majority of the population is necessary for
maintaining societal consensus for implementing change. From a political
perspective, long-term economic restructuring must be anchored in a
political system that is able accommodate emerging differing interests
over the extended period required for the transformation of an economy.
This is the essence of the political economic challenge facing South
East Asia.

Thailand’s attempt to address this difficult challenge has involved
introducing the “National Strategy Preparation Act (NSPA)”, effective on
1 August 2017, mandating that Thailand must have a National Strategy

23 See George Abonyi, “Adapting Thailand 4.0 to an uncertain world”, The Nation,
March 2, 2017.

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