His Economy on the Mend, Thai to Visit U.S.
As Washington policymakers fret over the worsening economic crisis in Indonesia and new signs appear that President Suharto may be ready to jettison an international rescue package, the Clinton administration is preparing to host a more low-key Southeast Asian leader whose quiet style and determined commitment to reform have won him widespread popularity at home and plaudits abroad.</br></br>When Thailand turned to Chuan Leekpai to take over the premiership last November, the country was the epicenter of the Asian economic meltdown. Its currency, the baht, was in free fall, the stock market was plummeting, the banking and finance system was a shambles and a hapless government gave the widespread impression that Thailand was in a collective state of denial, unable or unwilling to institute a badly needed but painful restructuring of the economy.</br></br>In just four months, Chuan and his widely respected team of economic technocrats have turned that perception around. He bluntly warns of even tougher times ahead, but he is unwavering in his public determination to implement the stringent reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.</br></br>As a result, Chuan is riding an unprecedented wave of popularity, with a 73 percent approval rating, according to one recent survey. And that, in turn, has helped boost the confidence of Thailand's foreign bankers and investors.</br></br>"The thing that we love is the consistency factor," said Douglas M. Logan, managing director of CitiCapital Ltd., the investment arm of Citicorp. "There's not a lot of flip-flopping on policy. He said, `We will follow the IMF reforms,' and they've done that."