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Poverty: Philippines vs Thailand
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Thailand has so many modern malls even in its poor provinces but the Philippines doesn’t. Why?
rocketman202
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Im not exactly sure if that’s true, but I do know that Thailand’s tourism is very strong compared to other Southeast Asian countries. I also happen to know that they also have quite big malls and have been constructing and planning to build more in the near future. Regardless if they have malls in poor provinces, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their economy has been growing a rapid rate. In fact, their economic productivity has gone down in recent years. Especially since Thailand’s economy thrives mainly on tourism, however, because of COVID-19 and the restrictions on travel, the country had lost a lot in the year 2020 alone. This has negatively impacted Thailand, thus causing a halt in the country’s planned progress. Fortunately, statistics predict a rebound for Thailand’s economy this year, on a less fortunate note, statistics also say that Thailand's economy is having the slowest rebound and growth so far in Southeast Asia. (Icon Siam) The presence of these malls doesn't always mean that local people go there every now and then since we are talking about “poor provinces” here. Meaning that the majority of the population in these poor provinces may not even be able to afford shopping in these luxury malls. Thus the malls built in these provinces are usually aimed at targeting foreigners and travelers as a way of income for the country. The question- “Do the local people that live in this province actually buy things from these malls?” is debatable. (Siam Paragon) We also need to consider that the Philippines ’ inequality rate is much higher. Meaning that there is a much bigger margin gap between the rich, and the poor, whereas Thailand has a smaller inequality gap, it is somewhat visible, but the gap between the two social classes isn’t as differentiated compared to PH’s. Also, please note that some of these malls in Thailand are also created by private investors, who are pinpointing places where they see opportunities for financial growth and urbanization. This may also explain why these malls seem to have been planted in these provinces. Now let's look at the Philippines. The way the mall layout is set up in the Philippines is like this- provinces or cities that usually have high-income earning jobs, are places where you can find most of the high-end malls. SM malls dominate most of the malls in the Philippines and have also begun expanding their company overseas. The SM company has also built SM Tianjin, in China, which is the second biggest mall in Asia. (SM megamall) Thailand’s ICONSIAM follows behind at third while the Philippine’s SM City North EDSA, SM Megamall, and SM Seaside City Cebu take up 5th,6th, and 7th places in the charts of the top biggest malls in Asia. The malls in the Philippines are clumped together in these areas instead of being evenly distributed throughout the country. (SM mall of Asia) -Why build high-end malls in poor provinces if the majority of the locals can’t afford to buy anything inside? The country would only be losing money. So they think- “just build multiple malls in and around Metro-Manila and 1st class cities, where most of the rich people live.” There are also malls in poorer provinces as well, these malls mostly have supermarkets and such inside. Not many branded stores, but the inside of the malls are still very well maintained and designed. Many of the times, they remain basic structural and architectural-wise (Outside of Robinson mall, Tacloban Leyte ) (Inside of Robinson mall Tacloban Leyte) This explains why you can find most of them in the higher class cities and provinces. When it comes down to it all, what really matters is how and where both countries set up their malls, as well as how they plan on expanding and earning money. In recently proposed projects for the Philippines, several investors have actually fallen to the idea of creating top-notch buildings such as resorts and business districts in rural and poorer provinces. The idea is to create more jobs in and around these areas for foreign and local people, as well as to create a smaller division between the rich and poor to lessen the inequality rate within the country. This may be something investors in Thailand have actually thought of already. Thailand has had a low debt low growth. This means that productivity in Thailand has been declining recently in contrast to the Philippines. While the Philippines has so far maintained rapid growth and low debt. And although PH had taken a big impact from COVID cases, the rebound and comeback for the country's economy is said to be strong. To conclude, I definitely do not think that the number of malls and stores, or how big they are, should be used as a source to track a country’s growth. But instead, I suggest you use Nominal GDP growth, GDP per capita, GDP PPP, or videos on such topics as references to see where countries rank on the charts. To read more about the advancements of southeast Asian countries, feel free to view my other articles. 1>What are the upcoming/recently finished infrastructural projects of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam? Which country has the most projects underway? Will this greatly impact the country's overall growth? 2>Do Southeast Asian countries have the possibility to become the biggest economies by 2060? Could they compete with other big economies like China and India? Can Southeast Asia become a economic powerhouse region? Sources: Thailand’s economy and predicted recovery for 2021 1:What’s Next for the Thai Economy After the COVID-19 Pandemic? 2:Thailand's economic recovery may be the slowest in Southeast Asia, Nomura says 3:Post-virus economy may worsen inequality in Thailand' Philippines’ economy and predicted recovery for 2021 1:PH sees economy roaring in 2021 after harder-than-expected drop in 2020 2:PH economy forecast to grow 6.8% in 2021 – The Manila Times. 3:Philippine central bank governor says rate cuts so far are ‘more than enough’ to support economy through 2021 4:Philippine Economy to Decline Further in 2020 Amid COVID-19, With Recovery in 2021 Philippine’s and its malls 1:'Mini economies': Pandemic tests the Philippines' mighty malls 2:EXCITED FOR 2021? MALLS AROUND THE CITY ARE READY TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR
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I can’t speak for Thailand, but the Philippines certainly has a lot of malls, even in provinces. By the way, some malls in the Philippines are actually much older compared to those in other Southeast Asian countries, they were either constructed back in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s… they just get “updated/renovated” from time to time. Malls in Metro Manila Resort’s World Manila Manila City of Dreams Uptown Mall SM Aura The Venice Mall Green Belt Mall Glorietta Mall SM Megamall SM Mall of Asia complex Powerplant Mall Shangri-La Plaza Mall SM North EDSA Malls in the provinces SM Seaside Cebu SM Lanang Davao Ayala Center Cebu SM Clark SM Pampanga Marquee Mall There are many more but it would take so long to post all of them.