1-Mar-2006
Reuters
Thailand has suspended free trade talks with the United States and delayed signing a deal with Japan until after an April 2 election called by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, officials said on Wednesday.
28-Feb-2006
Bangkok Post
Amidst the promises of positive benefits of FTAs to Thailand, more and more citizens are raising questions, especially in relation to the services and investment sectors.
28-Feb-2006
Thailand has postponed the signing of its Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan, and suspended free trade area (FTA) negotiations with the US until the formation of the new government, chief negotiators for the two pacts said yesterday.
27-Feb-2006
Bangkok Post
Thailand and Japan have postponed off the signing of their bilateral trade pact earlier scheduled for April 3-4, pending the outcome of Thailand’s upcoming general election, a senior offcial said Monday.
27-Feb-2006
The Nation
The dissolution of the House of Representatives has put the Thai government’s key economic policies - free-trade deals, the privatisation of state enterprises and investment in mega-projects - in limbo.
24-Feb-2006
Bangkok Post
When the former head of the Thai negotiating team, Nitya Pibulsonggram, was asked why the Thai-US trade deals must be kept confidential, he told journalists that he was asked by the US negotiation team to initial the agreements, but that he refused to do so. We asked US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce some questions concerning the confidentiality of the Free Trade Agreement.
19-Feb-2006
Bangkok Post
Differences over pharmaceuticals could be overcome, but the countries are far from reaching a common understanding on biodiversity issues.
19-Feb-2006
MCOT
Although the local political situation has become heated, with rumours on dissolving the parliament prevaling in the country, the Thai-US negotiations will continue,
Naris Chaiyasoot, Director General of the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Policy Office, said.
18-Feb-2006
A seminar heard yesterday that although US negotiators had asked Thailand to fully deregulate its financial services and allow US investors unrestricted stakes in the brokering and banking sectors, Bangkok was insisting that the sector was not ready to face direct competition.
18-Feb-2006
Bangkok Post
Supara Janchitfah looks at the rules of the Thai-US FTA negotiation process and finds them more favourable to the American side.
14-Feb-2006
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak asked academics to keep an open mind on the proposed Thai-US Free Trade Area agreement, saying that the FTA would benefit the two countries equally.
12-Feb-2006
MCOT
Economists at the KASIKORN Research Centre (KRC) on Sunday urged Thailand’s service sector to adapt if it plans to survive stiff competition caused by free trade area (FTA) agreements Thailand has signed with other countries.
11-Feb-2006
The Nation
The new Royal Plaza alliance of senators and civic groups has boosted the credibility of the movement to oust Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and produced an array of new issues from free trade to human rights violations and the plight of the rural poor
9-Feb-2006
A free-trade agreement (FTA) that Thailand signed with China a little over two years ago has begun to worry politicians and academics, who say it has proved disastrous for the Southeast Asian country’s farmers.
9-Feb-2006
The National Economic and Social Advisory Council yesterday warned the prime minister not to let the immediate gains from opening trades with the US blind him to the latent risks of rushing into an economic partnership.
9-Feb-2006
FTA Watch
On 7 February 2006, the FTA Watch warned about the catastrophe that would arise from the US’s FTA proposal to Thailand on Intellectual Property Rights which was submitted in the sixth round of negotiations.
8-Feb-2006
Details of US proposals in free-trade talks with Thailand - perceived by many Thais as “forbidden information” the government has tried to cover up - were recently posted for all to see in cyberspace. Witoon Leanchamroon, director of BioThai, a non-government organisation working for bio-diversity and community rights, said at a press conference yesterday he had been told a group of Americans involved in public health issues had posted a full text of the patent chapter from the Thai-US free trade talks at www.bilaterals.org.
8-Feb-2006
The Nation
For the United States, intellectual property rights represent the single most valuable asset in light of the new reality of information-based economies and where they derive their national wealth. The supremacy of the US as a global power depends on how effective it is in acquiring and maintaining its ownership of knowledge assets.
8-Feb-2006
Bangkok Post
Opponents of a free trade area (FTA) agreement with the US have lashed out at the government’s proposed amendment of Thai patent law to facilitate the United States’ patenting of drugs and living organisms in Thailand. They fear it would lead to greater control of the country’s resources by American firms.
7-Feb-2006
Kyodo
Japan and Thailand are likely to sign a bilateral free trade agreement in April, a high-ranking Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official said Monday.
