The HDI of Thailand in 2023 is 0.802 while that of the PRC is 0.768.
The HDI of the poorest region of Thailand (Northeast Thailand/Isan) is 0.780. The only provinces in Mainland China that have a comparable HDI are Zhejiang, Liaoang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu. Every other province of China has a lower HDI than the poorest province of Thailand. The only provinces in China that can match Thailand's HDI are Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong yet still lag behind Bangkok region.
The average life expectancy in China still lags by 1-2 years compared to Thailand.
The median income in Thailand is around $7,000 [0] versus around $4,000 [1] in China
> How is that? China has overly concentrated wealth, basically?
Kinda. The Chinese development story is amazing. China basically went from undeveloped in 1990 to middle income by 2020. In 1 generation that is an amazing transformation. Yet, the low hanging fruits of reform and development have largely been harvested.
Now comes the hard part - building a welfare system, reforming business and taxation law, tamping down on corruption, investing in human capital.
Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia were all in a similar position in the 1990s during the Asian Financial Boom (caused by Japan's stagflation) and the subsequent Crash. South Korea was able to develop by working on the hard part above for a generation, but internal poltical strife in Thailand and Malaysia caused them both to fall behind their peer.
It takes around 2-3 generations to actually go from undeveloped to developed. Some countries can do it in 1.5-2 generations, but then they are still stuck with jurisdictional bad practices (SK, Israel, and Poland are notable examples).
[0] - http://statbbi.nso.go.th/staticreport/page/sector/th/08.aspx
[1] - http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202201/t2022011...
The HDI of the poorest region of Thailand (Northeast Thailand/Isan) is 0.780. The only provinces in Mainland China that have a comparable HDI are Zhejiang, Liaoang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu. Every other province of China has a lower HDI than the poorest province of Thailand. The only provinces in China that can match Thailand's HDI are Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong yet still lag behind Bangkok region.
The average life expectancy in China still lags by 1-2 years compared to Thailand.
The median income in Thailand is around $7,000 [0] versus around $4,000 [1] in China
> How is that? China has overly concentrated wealth, basically?
Kinda. The Chinese development story is amazing. China basically went from undeveloped in 1990 to middle income by 2020. In 1 generation that is an amazing transformation. Yet, the low hanging fruits of reform and development have largely been harvested.
Now comes the hard part - building a welfare system, reforming business and taxation law, tamping down on corruption, investing in human capital.
Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia were all in a similar position in the 1990s during the Asian Financial Boom (caused by Japan's stagflation) and the subsequent Crash. South Korea was able to develop by working on the hard part above for a generation, but internal poltical strife in Thailand and Malaysia caused them both to fall behind their peer.
It takes around 2-3 generations to actually go from undeveloped to developed. Some countries can do it in 1.5-2 generations, but then they are still stuck with jurisdictional bad practices (SK, Israel, and Poland are notable examples).
[0] - http://statbbi.nso.go.th/staticreport/page/sector/th/08.aspx
[1] - http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202201/t2022011...