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Published on July 20, 2007

Now, discussion centres around the strong baht and its impact, particularly after the misery that a garment factory recently experienced.

It seems we're so obsessed with problems at hand that we have no time to worry about the future - where Thailand will be in the global market 10 years hence.

For an update, our ranking could drop, partly because of declining competitiveness. More importantly, other countries are sprinting ahead.

China's economy reportedly grew so fast in the first half that it's likely to overtake Germany as the world's third largest by the end of the year. According to the World Bank, Germany's economy last year was worth US$2.9 trillion (Bt97 trillion).

Recent figures show that China expanded even faster than originally thought last year - at 11.1 per cent instead of 10.7 per cent - to produce an economy worth 21.09 trillion yuan ($2.65 trillion).

The revision puts China within striking distance of Europe's largest economy, having overtaken Britain and France in 2005 for fourth spot on the global rankings behind Germany, Japan and the United States.

China is not chugging ahead alone. Many countries have benefited from its upsizing. Now that Thailand's hands are tied with so many urgent problems, will we catch up with the trend? Again, where will we be in the next 10 years?

Bitter sweet

Seen in this photo is a Philippine jeepney, the country's popular form of public transport. It's decorated with a giant mock-up Coca-Cola bottle as part of the US beverage company's outdoor advertising campaign in Manila in February.

Probably this buoyed the company's sales in that market. While second-quarter sales in the company's home North American market fell by 2 per cent, international sales were up 9 per cent by unit case volume.

The Philippines and the other key emerging markets of China, Turkey, India, Brazil, South Africa and Eastern Europe all have double-digit sales growth. In the period, Coke's revenues jumped nearly 19 per cent from last year.

There is no report on sales here.

But certainly, with growing concern over children's health, our health authorities would not be pleased knowing that Coca-Cola sales here could have shown double-digit growth. Then, upon seeing any advertising campaign like with this jeepney, they would taste the bitterness of this sweetened drink.

achara_d@nationgroup.com