And I've never heard of any Thai auto manufacturers either. Yet S. Korea, another SE Asian country which went full on gov't interventionist/protectionist from the 60s through the 80s, is home to Samsung and Hyundai etc. These conglomerates would never have survived in direct competition, nascent industries require protectionism until they can compete. Completely "free trade" means each country focuses on industries where they have comparative advantage--S. Korea would still be weaving linen.
Well it is in the South East of Asia. Nation groupings aren't exactly scientific taxonomies.
A better comparison: S. Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam all started with sub $200 GDP/capita in 1960. As of last year, S. Korea's has exploded to ~27k, while Thailand and others are below $6k.
"In common usage, the term Northeast Asia typically refers to a region including China.[2][3] In this sense, the core countries constituting Northeast Asia are China, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea."
