bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo
  1. Negotiations

US-Thailand


The US and Thailand started negotiations on a comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement in June 2004.

Like other recent bilateral free trade agreements with the US, the US-Thailand FTA will cover investment, services, government procurement, intellectual property, as well as agriculture. Many expect it to be modeled on the US-Singapore FTA.

The negotiations have attracted strong opposition and concern among many Thai social movements, farmers to people with HIV/AIDS. A broad civil society coalition, FTA Watch, was formed at the outset to closely monitor the process from a public interest perspective. (Likewise, business interests set up their own US-Thai FTA Coalition.) Under the banner of "sovereignty not for sale!", key issues of popular concern include access to medicine, GMOs in agriculture and patents on life.

The last round of talks took place in Chiang Mai in January 2006 with 10,000 people protesting in the streets and disrupting the meeting. Negotiations have not resumed since.

last update: May 2012

Thai Human Rights Commission criticises FTA with US
27-Jan-2007    
In what is believed to be the first ever human rights impact assessment of a US FTA conducted at national level, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand in a draft report concludes that the FTA that Thailand has been negotiating with the United States will violate the human rights of Thai people and affect the country's sovereignty.
US postpones FTA talks with Thailand
6-Nov-2006     Asia Pulse
The United States government used a Malaysian platform Friday to warn Thailand's interim government that reinstating democracy was a precondition for the resumption of US-Thai trade negotiations.
Aids activists bring patent-drug fight to US
10-Oct-2006     The Nation
The Thai Network of People Living with HIV/Aids will launch the country's first campaign abroad against the Thai-US free-trade agreement (FTA) from tomorrow to October 29 in US cities, including San Francisco, New York, Washington and Chicago.
Playing our own game
4-Oct-2006    
Sripai Noonsee was in despair after her latest attempt to find a job at an electronics factory at Bang Kadee Industrial Estate ended in failure like so many others. She has been jobless for many months.
US elections key to FTA progress
2-Oct-2006    
The result of the US mid-year elections holds the key to whether the Thailand-US free-trade agreement (FTA) negotiations will continue or break down, according to Puangrat Asavapisit, Thailand's permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation.
Pro-FTA advisers a worry for HIV groups
28-Sep-2006    
HIV/Aids groups claim that if Thailand signs a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, the access to life-saving treatment for HIV positive people could be considerably compromised.
US still hopeful of free trade agreement
20-Sep-2006     Business Week
The impact of Thailand's coup on negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United States wasn't immediately clear, but Washington still hoped to secure a pact when democracy is restored, the top US trade official said on Wednesday.
Thailand may lose US trade privileges
9-Aug-2006    
Thailand is included in a group of 13 countries that may lose preferential tariffs when the US revamps its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program at the end of the year, US officials said yesterday.
Thai-US FTA talks left for new Thai govt
13-Jul-2006     Bangkok Post
Thailand's current caretaker government has decided to leave new rounds of the Thai-US FTA talks to the new government after the next general election so that the parliament and the public can fully participate in the talks, according to the Thai foreign minister.
US says FTA talks must be pursued
10-Jul-2006    
President of the US-Asean Business Council Matt Daley is to propose a continuation of bilateral trade talks between Thailand and the United States, despite the Kingdom's political deadlock, when he meets caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripi-tak in Washington today.