Thailand may have seen its best economic days. The one-time star risks settling into a new — and entrenched — role as Southeast Asia’s laggard. The ruling conservative bloc shows scant appetite for rekindling the rapid gains that made the country a model for contemporary standouts like Vietnam.

Once it was clear in this month's general election that royalist legislators had turned back a challenge from progressives, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul declared Thailand was in "a steady state.” Investors praised the result for providing stability to a nation that has been plagued by decades of coups, short-term cabinets and deep social divisions. The stock market soared the day following the ballot and the currency climbed. Foreigners bought the most local equities in four years.

The premier’s assessment was intended as a positive. In a turbulent world, there’s something to be said for minimizing disruption. As far as the economy goes, though, he was making a virtue of mediocrity. It’s hard to see what could lift the country out of the doldrums. Tourism, a reliable source of growth for decades, is having a hard time.

© The Japan Times