The question of what kind of animal would best describe Thailand's economy recently came up for debate after the chief official of the Finance Ministry suggested the Thai economy should follow what he called the "Siam tick model".
The response from Thai policymakers was, naturally, not a welcoming one, seeing as a tick is a creature that feeds on the blood of other animals.
But the analogy seems apt, if ugly, given Thailand's economy is devoid of any distinguishing features that can help it stand on its own against the whirlwind of global economic challenges.
To be fair to Somchai Sujjapongse, the permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry proposed the Siam tick model in good faith.
He made his case by explaining that Thailand should partner with faster-growing economies such as India and South Africa to ensure it can reap benefits.
After all, Thailand's GDP relies heavily on external trade. It makes sense for Thailand to partner with countries that have economic potential. And that's one of the reasons many countries are forming regional or sub-regional free trade agreements with rising economies.
However, using the analogy of the tick was not music to the ears of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who shot down the concept, saying the metaphor was hyperbolic.
Somkid Jatusripitak, the deputy prime minister in charge of economic policy, also dismissed the comparison between Thailand and the parasite. He said Thailand is rather a crouching tiger, waiting for the moment to take off.
Despite Mr Somchai's intention, the latest analogy was too much for people in power to bear, for it seems like a big downgrade to go from a tiger to a parasite.
In fact, in the early 1990s, Thailand once prided herself as being one of the new tigers in East Asia until the economic crisis in 1997, dubbed the Tom Yum Kung crisis because Thailand was at the epicentre of regional economic woes.
These days, the symbol of a tiger does not sound convincing as Thailand has been too slow to improve its economic competitiveness.
Once trailing behind Thailand, Vietnam has already advanced its economy to now be competing neck-and-neck with Thailand. Failing to catch up with our neighbours Malaysia and Singapore, Thailand is stuck in the middle-income trap. The country has been struck with various issues, such as an inability to capitalise on innovation and uncompetitive human resources.
GDP this year is likely to expand only around 3%, lower than the Asean average. Over the past couple of years, the Thai economy has expanded lower than its growth potential of 4-5%.
People are at their wit's end about how to move the economy forward, and Mr Somchai's suggestion seems to be a practical one -- albeit one that could use a better mascot.
Tigers aside, Mr Somchai's tick is not the first time economists have used animals to explain their models. Thailand's early stage of industrialisation several decades ago followed the so-called "flying geese" model, which is the view that Japanese economists used to describe the technological development in Southeast Asia.
Under the hierarchical pattern, the lead goose was of course Japan, while the second-tier of nations consisted of newly industrialising economies such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.
Thailand and much of Asean was in the third tier. Finally, the least developed nations such as Vietnam and China made the rear guard in the formation.
Almost 40 years have passed and the structure of the flying geese has changed.
Technological advancement does not depend on the accumulation of labour, and China has quickly expanded to surpass Japan as the world's second-largest economy.
In the digital age, economic planners are trying to use catchphrases to envision what Thailand wants to be. New terms have been used such as "creative economy" or "Thailand 4.0".
Thailand may need to forge its own direction on economic development, due to the potential in agriculture and services.
It would be, for instance, undesirable to blindly promote new investments regardless of the nature of those businesses as this could have negative and lasting impacts on the environment and traditions.
While many are not clear about which paths to follow to maintain Thailand's competitiveness, they have tried to copy other models instead of focusing on the fundamental issues that matter.
The success of every economy will depend on the quality of its people and their ability to withstand the whirlwind of changes globally. It is easier said than done, but the execution is imperative. Otherwise, we may not have many options left but to be a parasite.