45 International Review of Korean Studies Vol.12, No.1, 2015 * A Comparative Analysis of Creative Economy Policies of Thailand and South Korea Sineenat Sermcheep † , Piti Srisangnam ‡ and Seksan Anantasirikiat § The aim of this paper is to compare the creative economy policies of Thailand and South Korea under four key themes; the creative economy as a new engine of growth, the scope of creative economy policies, the role of government and private sectors in the policy process, and success factors and obstacles in policy implementation. Results from this paper contribute to Thailand’s search for a new engine of economic development, especially in its pursuit of innovation-driven economic growth. Lessons learnt from the experience of South Korea in nurturing its own creative economy could benefit Thailand and its movement towards building a successful creative economy. Keywords: Creative economy, Comparative analysis, Economic development Introduction Thailand was first introduced to the notion of the creative economy in 2009 as a strategy to promote country’s economic development and enhance its competitiveness. Even though Thailand became an upper- middle income category country in July 2011, the middle income trap is * Short running title: Erroneous Use of Australian Professional Terms † Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, E-mail: Sineenat.S @chula.ac.th ‡ Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, E-mail: Piti.S@Chula.ac.th § ASEAN Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University Thailand, E-mail: seksan.a@chula.ac.th