"Daniel Lian" is a Southeast Asia Economist for Morgan Stanley, based out of Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Lian is perhaps best known as a prominent proponent of Thaksinomics, a set of economic policies advocated by Thailand/Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra designed to steer Thailand out of the Asian financial crisis.

Lian's close personal relationship with Prime Minister Thaksin has raised concerns of a possible conflict of interest that could impugn his impartiality and credibility in his role as an analyst of the Economy of Thailand/Thai economy. In October 2005, more light was shed on the nature of his relationship with Thaksin when a letter that Lian had written to the Prime Minister was leaked to the Bangkok-based English language/English-language newspaper Thai Day. In the letter, Lian thanked Thaksin for a dinner he had recently hosted and also noted the efforts that Lian had made on Thaksin's behalf. These efforts included assisting with a road show held in Hong Kong. He then questioned whether Thailand's Opposition (politics)/opposition Democrat Party (Thailand)/Democrat Party and its leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had anything to offer "the Thai people" other than a "pretty young face", a sarcastic reference to Abhisit's reputation as a handsome young politician.

More Daniel Lian on Wikipedia.

It is quite clear from our conversation with a significant number of portfolio money managers in the past three to four weeks that Asian and European moneys are lightening up on TIP [Thailand Indonesia and the Philippines] markets and venturing into Malaysia aggressively.

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While many investors spoke of 'trading' the market, we were pleasantly surprised that some also were thinking of maintaining a more permanent presence. None said they were thinking of a permanent pull out.

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