ISDS Case Map
Thailand
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday relegated the country's parliamentary governance system to the back seat by saying that his administration did not have to seek prior parliamentary approval for free-trade agreements with foreign nations.
When United States negotiators fly into Thailand to thrash out a bilateral free trade deal, next week, they will be greeted with jeers rather than this country's famed smile of welcome.
Services and financial sectors, left aside in early rounds of talks on a US-Thailand free trade agreement, will be put on the table during the sixth round next week, a Thai negotiator said on Friday.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra defended the transparency of his administration in dealing with ongoing Thai-US free trade area (FTA) negotiations, and said that he was unworried that a group of senators plan to challenge the pact by charging that it violates the country's constitution.
Civil society sector is demanding that the Thai government not give in on reduction of tariffs for US agricultural product, not ratify the treaty on plant varieties protection, and not recognise patenting of biological resources. In addition, they said the Thai government must resist the US demand to extend protection of pharmaceutical patent to more than 20 years or to protect data exclusivity.
An official from Thailand's bilateral Free Trade Agreement negotiating team today disputed claims by opposition groups that a free trade agreement with the US would adversely affect the country's prescription drug market.
The Senate committee on foreign affairs will petition the Constitutional Court on Tuesday to seek a review of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) proceedings, claiming they have contravened the constitution.
Opposition to a proposed Thai-US free-trade pact is threatening to escalate into a political time bomb, as a senator yesterday moved to challenge the deal's constitutional legitimacy and called for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to step down.
The heated debate over intellectual property is one of the sticking points in the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between Thailand and the United States, which are scheduled to resume next week.
Farm workers, HIV/Aids, poverty NGOs vow to disrupt event. The sixth round of free-trade talks with the United States next week in Chiang Mai will face the wrath about 10,000 protesters from 12 special-interest groups which have vowed to rally throughout the five-day meeting.
