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COVER:
CHUAN INTERVIEW:
SILVER LINING:
VIEW FROM WASHINGTON:
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ASIA | March 30, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 12 |
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 He's no tough guy, but Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai may be just the man to restore global confidence in Thailand's shattered economy
By TIM LARIMER Bangkok  he man trying to rescue Thailand's sinking ship is a narrow-shouldered, sweet-voiced ascetic who prefers to sketch portraits of the people he meets rather than look them in the eye. Dashing, Chuan Leekpai is not. Civil, he is. On a hectic recent day that includes cabinet meetings, sessions with speechwriters and a press conference, the Prime Minister steps out of a meeting of his Democrat Party to offer a pastry to a reporter tagging along. When a photographer drops a camera on Chuan's foot, the Prime Minister apologizes. "He is polite in a way that is almost unreal," says Charnvit Kasetsiri, a political historian at Bangkok's Thammasat University. "He is not a politician that people love," says Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan. "He is someone they admire."
Thailand's slump, the worst since its economy took off a decade ago, needs more than politeness. The baht has fallen 40% since last July, and the stock market is recovering from an eight-year low. Though the decline was probably inevitable, because of weak economic fundamentals, the trick now is to win back investor confidence. Chuan, 59, is no visionary, more of a details man obsessed with procedure. He was so plodding during his first tenure as Prime Minister, from 1992 to '95, that his nickname was Chuan Chuengcha-Chuan the Slow Mover. Is this congenial, detail-obsessed ex-lawyer up to the job? So far, the answer is yes. Chuan has assembled a team of accomplished technocrats who took quick measures to shut down money-sucking finance companies, cut government spending, raise taxes and liberalize foreign investment laws-all risky moves that threatened a backlash from political opponents and friends alike. Such actions have revived international faith in Thailand, attracted new investment and pushed the baht to its highest mark in nine months. Another shot in the arm came just last week, when abn-amro bought a controlling stake in one of the country's mid-sized banks. Changing investor sentiment is no easy task, but it's the first, critical step toward reviving the economy, and on this front Chuan has succeeded. "He is moving the country in the right path," says financier George Soros, not one to lavish kudos on Asian leaders. Cover: Photograph for Time by PETER CHARLESWORTH-Saba
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