Thailand's new finance minister predicts ambitious growth

As Greece goes hat-in-hand for its second EU and IMF bailout in as many years, Thailand’s new finance minister, Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who is also deputy prime minister, offered a bit of friendly advice yesterday ditch the euro you’ll struggle now, but in the long run it will be worth it.

Greek politicians may reach a different conclusion, but they should consider the Thai finance minister’s advice. Thailand pegged its currency at Bt25 to the dollar from 1984 until July 2, 1997, when the country was clobbered by the Asian financial crisis. That’s when the government bit the bullet and floated the baht. Sure, it halved in value, with the cost...