I’m Chris Anstey, a senior economics editor in Boston, and today we’re looking at how Southeast Asia benefits from geo-economic tensions. Send us feedback and tips to ecodaily@bloomberg.net or get in touch on X via @economics. And if you aren’t yet signed up to receive this newsletter, you can do so here.
As Western powers carved up most of Asia for their empires or spheres of influence, Thailand — Siam at the time — stood out as an exceptional case, maintaining its independence as it pivoted between the British and French colonies to its west and east.