Kwanho Shin, Korea University: This paper investigates the paradox of Thailand's success in controlling COVID-19: While Thailand has been remarkably successful in containing COVID-19, the economy is expected to contract by 8 percent---the largest drop in Southeast Asia. It argues that the paradox can be explained by Thailand's low potential GDP growth rate, high dependence on tourism, and overly strict measures used to contain the disease.
This paper explains how Thailand has been successful in in containing the spread of COVID-19. In addition, it also presents the economic impacts of COVID-19 on the Thai economy. Nonetheless, the paper lacks rigorous analytical reasoning. I have two major comments, as follows.
First, the author claims that it is a paradox that the Thai economy suffers from severe contractions due to COVID-19 despite its success in containing it. However, theoretical models document that there is a tradeoff between lives and livelihoods (e.g., Acemoglu...