ISDS Case Map
Thailand
Four anti-free trade groups will today seek an emergency order from Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court to stop the signing of the free trade area (FTA) agreement with Japan next week. They are the Khao Kwan Foundation, the Bio Thai Foundation, the Consumers' Foundation and the Aids Access Foundation.
I walked down to Seoul Plaza last Sunday in front of city hall, hoping that some of the estimated 7,500 protesters there could give me a glimpse of what Thailand can learn from South Korea when it comes to dealing with Washington on a free-trade agreement (FTA).
The cabinet has approved the signing of a free trade area (FTA) agreement with Japan, overriding civic groups' protests that the government is exceeding its authority under the interim constitution. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont will sign the controversial Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The That cabinet Tuesday gave consent for Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Japanese government during his upcoming trip to Japan, despite strong opposition from activists.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday signalled his government would sign the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) next week after the cabinet gives official consent today.
Thai activists opposed to the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan last night persuaded the TITV channel to air their views on the issue. About 300 members of consumer groups, HiV/Aids groups and farmers marched to the TITV studios on Vibhavadi Rangsit road after a seminar on the possible impact of the FTA deal which the interim government plans to sign with Japan next week.
FTA Watch yesterday published a document entitled "The Inconvenient Truth of Jtepa" to increase awareness about issues that it claims the government has hidden from the public.
Despite the positive prospects of the tuna industry, key players are alarmed with the recent move of other countries like Thailand which is seeking bilateral free trade agreement with the US.
Opponents of the draft Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) have asserted that the Surayud Chulanont government needs to take two controversial issues in the pact seriously.
The recent decisions of the Thai Ministry of Public Health to announce the Government Use of Patents on three patented drugs, i.e., Efavirenz (Stocrin®) of Merck Sharp and Dohme), Lopinavir+Ritonavir (Kaletra®) of Abbott Laboratory) and Clopidogrel (Plavix®) of Sanofi-Aventis), based on proposals from the National Health Security Office, have raised several questions among the public and also the concerned partners as well as the pharmaceutical industries, both in the country and internationally.
