Thais must change their contented mentality that has existed since the post-colonial period to adapt in a highly competitive global environment, says Surin Pitsuwan, the former secretary-general of Asean.
Though it was a founding member of Asean in 1967, Thailand has been surpassed by other Asean nations in economic integration because of said mentality, corruption and inadequate attention to improving competitiveness, he added.
"Five years as Asean's secretariat has given me opportunities to reflect on Thailand from the outside," said Mr Surin, whose term ended on Jan 1.
"We keep holding on to our pride that Thailand has never been colonised as a justification to remain contented despite our shortfalls, such as poor English proficiency and lack of competitiveness.
"Nearby countries struggled for their identity and national interests, but Thais have thought this unnecessary. Now we are unprepared for an increasingly competitive world."
He said comparatively less expansion abroad by local companies than other Asean members reflected the Thai acceptance of staying in the "comfort zone".
Corruption and public apathy are worsening, resulting in foreign direct investment shunning Thailand in favour of other regional countries, he noted.
Thailand has the potential to be the centre of regional aviation, but it must make sure its operation and infrastructure uphold high standards, he said. The country is also at risk of losing new foreign automobile investment to Indonesia, which has a much larger domestic market, unless it beefs up its competitiveness, added Mr Surin.
The food industry could be affected by the labour shortage if immigrant workers return to work in their home countries, he said.
"We have no clear labour policy yet. To cope with the labour shortage, we might need to use more technology, but there is opposition to this due to the cost. But we have not decided as a country if we want to shift away from labour-intensive industries," he said.
The Thai education system is focused on rote learning instead of competency in creating value using technology, he said. Thailand invests little in R&D and science, only 0.2% of GDP, far less than Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and China. This lack of innovation has led Thailand to be "trapped" as a middle-income country, falling short of Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia, he said.
Kittiratt Na-Ranong, deputy prime minister and finance minister, said the government planned to offer for parliamentary consideration this month its 2-trillion-baht infrastructure investment budget for the next seven years.
Some 80% of the country's transportation linkage is based on wheels, rather than rail or water, a number the government hopes to change. Because construction will take several years, Mr Kittiratt is pushing for an off-budget bill.