The world has made a wrong turn since Thailand last hosted the IMF gathering in 1991: ALEX BRUMMER

When the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank last held its annual gathering in Bangkok in 1991, the world was in a very different place.

Thailand’s capital has blossomed into a metropolis with dozens of glass-and-steel towers reaching to the heavens.

At street level, however, it seems little has changed, with food stalls, open-fronted bars beckoning you in and Thai massage parlours by the score.

On my arrival here 35 years ago, I was immediately drawn to a press release announcing that Boris Yeltsin’s Russia had applied to join the IMF’s citadel of free-market capitalism.

Many of the subsequent sessions were concerned with

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