The rising prices of imported goods is a serious problem. For example the cotton thread imported for traditional ikat weaving has more than doubled in price, leaving producers unable to make a living. In Thailand a recent World Bank report highlights the impact on the poor from increased unemployment, price rises in basic foodstuffs and cuts in basic services. In particular, the report emphasizes the impact of the crises on children. As family incomes fall, growing numbers have been forced to work, beg or enter prostitution.
School drop out rates have risen and some families can no longer afford education or transport.
In Thailand unemployment is expected to rise to 1.7 million in the coming year. IMF medicine is hard to swallow The challenge for the international community is to develop a response to the crises which protects the significant social gains of the past, while supporting the reforms necessary to maintain future social, political and economic progress. The international community is failing in this challenge. The failure is not in the speed or scale of resource mobilization. The problem is that insufficient attention has been paid to the specific circumstances of East Asia.