Recently, you may hear people talking a lot about the AEC and ASEAN .Are this two words are similar? ASEAN stands for The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand while AEC as known as ASEAN Economic Community which is one of the three filed of the ASEAN Community. It aims to increase the economic growth and cultural development in the region. Moreover, AEC will transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services investment, and skill labor. By the end of this year, ASEAN will have been embracing so what about Thais? Are you ready for AEC? .You will have to prepare yourself to meet changes since the AEC can impact on Thailand in terms of economic conditions, cultural aspects and job opportunities.
Firstly, one impact of The AEC on Thailand is economic conditions seeing that AEC has purposes of open market and allow for free movement of goods, services, and investment. Due to, an FTA policy (Free Trade Area) that allows people to exchange their goods and services among ASEAN countries easily so that Thai people can enjoy exotic products and services in lower prices because of reducing tariffs. Furthermore, Thailand will gain advantages from service sector in terms of tourism because Thailand has various tourist attractions. For instance, the South of Thailand where there are a lot of beautiful beaches and Islands and the Northern Thailand where you can appreciate mountains and beautiful flowers. As from the geographic location of Thailand, is located in the center of the region, not only attract tourists but also investors from member countries to invest in Thailand. Many people from ASEAN countries coming into Thailand for business and investment that can make Thailand's economy expanded. On the other hand, the more foreign investment may lead to the higher competition in business between Thai and foreign investors that can bring negatively for Thais if they do not have enough power .